Grand Forks, ND Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Grand Forks City Code section 10-0301 declares any elm tree within the city that is infected, or later becomes infected, with Dutch elm disease to be a public nuisance in the interest of general welfare. Section 10-0302 then hands enforcement to the Park Commission of the Park District, which is authorized, directed and empowered to inspect any tree in the city, public or private, that is reported or suspected of infection. If inspection confirms Dutch elm disease, the Park Commission may immediately remove and burn a tree located on public property, but a privately owned infected tree cannot be removed until at least five days after the Park Commission serves or mails notice to the owner.

If the owner cannot be found, the Park Commission posts a copy of the notice on the infected tree itself and the five-day clock starts running from the posting. An owner may voluntarily waive the five-day notice period to allow faster removal. The cost of the inspection, removal, and burning of infected trees is borne by the Park Commission rather than billed to the private owner, distinguishing this from the special-assessment cost recovery used for other nuisance abatements elsewhere in Chapter X. This is a narrow, disease-specific removal authority; the Grand Forks City Code does not otherwise require a permit to remove a healthy tree from private property.