"The commissioner may, in consultation with the Noxious Weed Advisory Committee, accept and consider noxious weed designation petitions from Minnesota citizens or Minnesota organizations or associations."
Do you have a particular plant species of concern to you that you would like to see the Department of Agriculture review for potential regulation? You can submit your recommendations. Minnesota Statutes 18.79 subdivisions 13 and 14 allow Minnesota citizens, organizations, associations, and counties to petition the review of species by the commissioner of agriculture.
The commissioner, in consultation with the Noxious Weed Advisory Committee (NWAC), will consider submitted petitions and determine which species will be reviewed. This includes petitions submitted by NWAC members. Note that the commissioner and NWAC follow a standard timeline for planning out species review and that submitted petitions will be considered according to the meeting schedule.
To accept petitions, detailed factual information about this species must be submitted for it to be considered for further risk assessment. If information is not available for a particular subject, please state that in the petition.
Requirements:
- Petitioner must be a Minnesota citizen, or work for an organization, association or county in Minnesota.
- The petition must be submitted using the Noxious Weed Petition online form.
- All petitions should include the following supporting evidence why a species should be considered for a risk assessment:
- Name, organization (if applicable), and contact information of the person petitioning the species
- Species common name and scientific name
- Species distribution in Minnesota and the U.S.
- Basic biology and life cycle
- Documentation of invasiveness (in Minnesota, U.S. or both)
- Ecological, environmental, agricultural and economic concerns
- Human or animal health concerns
- Impacts to industry, private business or commerce
- Cost to control; does effective management implementation exist?
- Any other relevant information, including documents and photos (these can be attached to the form)
Considerations:
- A petition does not guarantee regulation under the noxious weed law. If a petition is accepted by NWAC, it will be reviewed using the Plant Risk Assessment and Management Protocol for Minnesota. Through this process the commissioner, members of NWAC and their constituents make the final decision on a plant species regulatory status.
- Listing a species as a noxious weed requires a landowner to control or eradicate noxious weeds with legal consequences for failing to do so. Landowners and managers are responsible for providing the resources, skill, finances and time to control or eradicate noxious weeds.
- Any species listed as a noxious weed can become a serious financial burden for any landowner or manager once regulation is enacted. It can also become a challenge and expensive for local governments to enforce. It is important for the overall petition and review process to document control costs and how successfully it can be controlled with available methodologies.
- Local funding sources and community organization are other methods of managing invasive plants that bypass regulation. These methods focus efforts on control or eradication of a targeted species.
- Be aware that it could take a few years for a petitioned species to be reviewed based on the determination by NWAC members.
