Sioux Falls, SD Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

Authority: Sioux Falls, SD Code Chapter 94 (Forestry) and § 94.038 (Planting in Public Rights-of-Way). No private-property tree species is protected from removal — there is no list of off-limits species under city code. Instead, the regulatory pattern is REVERSE: the City Forester maintains an Approved Street Tree List for what may be planted in the parkway/boulevard, and species not on that list may not be installed in the ROW. New ash (Fraxinus) plantings are effectively prohibited in the public ROW because of the active EAB infestation (confirmed in Sioux Falls in May 2018). Other species commonly excluded from the boulevard list include species prone to disease (American elm cultivars without DED resistance), weak-wooded or messy species (Siberian elm, silver maple, boxelder, Norway maple, cottonwood, willow), and those with surface roots that lift sidewalks. The CommuniTree-recognized approved species include honeylocust, northern catalpa, Kentucky coffeetree, hackberry, bur oak, New Horizon elm, and DED-resistant elm cultivars (Accolade 'Morton', Danada Charm 'Morton Red Tip'). South Dakota has no Endangered Species Act analogue for trees; federal protection (Endangered Species Act, 16 USC § 1531 et seq.) does not list any tree species in this region. DANR administers statewide forest-pest quarantines (currently EAB and statewide tree-pest survey).