Pocatello, ID Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Sensitive Lands under Title 17, chapter 17.04.170 cover basalt cliffs, the Edson Fichter Nature Area, petroglyph and other archaeological sites, Idaho State University's Red Hill, the City Creek Management Area, and other areas the Comprehensive Plan designates for conservation. Within those areas, section 17.04.170(E)(1)(k) requires nonresidential landscaping to draw on native species of the sagebrush steppe plant community rather than ornamental or turf plantings, and it limits nonvegetative ground cover, gravel, mulch or hardscape, to half of the landscaped area. A property owner who wants an exception must get city approval and show the substitute planting is drought tolerant and adapted to the site.

The same chapter separately bans removing native plant species in Sensitive Lands without an approved replacement or mitigation plan under section 17.04.170(C)(3)(b), and in the overlapping Resource Protection Overlay, section 17.04.150 requires any revegetation after a permitted cut or fill to use native plant species and requires landscape plans submitted with a building permit to use native or approved alternative species. Together these sections push development in the city's protected natural areas toward the native sagebrush-steppe palette rather than conventional turf and imported ornamentals.