Can we talk about the tumbleweed ban in Australia?

I saw a video last year from a guy in New South Wales showing tumbleweeds piling up against his fence like snowdrifts. Fast forward to a news clip from last week - cops are actually fining people for letting tumbleweeds grow on their property. They call it a fire hazard from dry invasive plants. But the thing is, a botanist quoted in the article said native spinifex gets caught up in the same rules and gets ripped out too. It feels like this law went way past what people expected. Has anyone else seen a local ban that spread way wider than the original problem?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor2199d ago

Five years back in my county they banned any shrub over three feet tall within ten feet of a house. Sounds reasonable until you realize that includes rose bushes, young oaks, and even some tomato cages if they get ambitious. @hannaho52 hit it, these blanket rules never account for what's actually growing. The tumbleweed fine is just the newest version of that same old problem. Lawmakers sit in a room and write a rule for one plant, then slap a fine on anything that looks dry. At least in my area you can appeal the ticket if you prove it's a native species, but most people don't bother because the process takes two months.

hannaho529d ago

Watching native plants get yanked out because of a law aimed at invasive weeds always stinks. A friend in Colorado told me about a similar mess with cheatgrass rules, where the town ended up fining people for not mowing their wild prairie flowers too. It reminds me of when my city tried to ban certain bushes because of fire risk, but the rules were so vague they could ticket you for a dandelion patch. Sometimes it feels like lawmakers write these things from a desk without ever stepping into an actual backyard.

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