5 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Minnehaha County, South Dakota.
Verified from official government sources
Minnehaha County does not regulate private tree removal on rural or residential property in the unincorporated area. The county Planning & Zoning Department administers zoning, subdivision, nuisance, solid-waste, and floodplain ordinances — none of which create a freestanding tree-removal permit. The Revised Joint Zoning Ordinance (Minnehaha County / Sioux Falls) only requires landscape plans inside Planned Development districts. State law (SDCL Title 9 / Title 11) gives no county-level tree-protection mandate.
Minnehaha County has no heritage-tree, landmark-tree, or significant-tree ordinance. Neither the County Code of Ordinances nor the Revised Joint Zoning Ordinance for Minnehaha County and the City of Sioux Falls designates protected individual specimens by size, age, or species. South Dakota state law does not authorize or require county heritage-tree programs. The closest analogue is the SD Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources' state-champion tree register, which is a recognition program — not a regulatory protection.
Minnehaha County has no general tree-replacement ratio (e.g., 1:1, 2:1) applicable to removals on private property. Tree replacement only enters Minnehaha County regulation through Planned Development (PD) landscape plans under the Revised Joint Zoning Ordinance §14.04, which require new developments to identify trees and shrubs on the Final Development Plan. The City of Sioux Falls is currently running a separate USDA-funded $3 million boulevard tree replacement program (2026–2031) following emerald ash borer removals.
Minnehaha County does not maintain a list of protected tree species. Two state/federal overlays apply: (1) the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (SD DANR) emerald ash borer (EAB) quarantine, which restricts movement of ash wood/nursery stock out of Minnehaha and Lincoln counties under SDCL Chapter 38-22; and (2) state-listed endangered/threatened species under SDCL §34A-8-10, which require a SD Game, Fish & Parks permit to remove or harm. Knowingly damaging a federally threatened or endangered species is a federal Endangered Species Act violation (16 U.S.C. §1538).
Minnehaha County does not maintain a 'parkway' or boulevard tree program in the unincorporated area — rural county roads have ditches and gravel shoulders, not landscaped parking strips. Planting in the county highway right-of-way is governed by the Obstructions of Highway Right-of-Ways Ordinance, which requires Highway Department approval to place anything in the ROW. Inside Sioux Falls city limits, all boulevard (parking-strip) trees are 'public trees' managed by the Sioux Falls Forestry Division — planting, pruning, and removal require a city permit and must use the city-approved tree-species list.
1 cities in Minnehaha County have their own tree protection rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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