The Linn County Secondary Road Department and the Linn County Conservation Department remind county residents that state law prohibits mowing roadside vegetation in the rights-of-way or medians on any primary highway, interstate highway, or secondary road before July 15.
This law protects roadside habitats for nesting game birds, songbirds, and other ground-nesting birds in the spring and early summer until they are ready to fledge. The law also protects habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects, including crop-pest predators.
Exceptions for visibility and weed control are built into the law, but non-essential mowing—including cutting for hay—is prohibited.
Iowa Code 314.17 states:
Mowing roadside vegetation on the rights-of-way or medians on any primary highway, interstate highway, or secondary road before July 15 is prohibited, except as follows:
• Within 200 yards of an inhabited dwelling
• On right-of-way within one mile of the corporate limits of a city
• To promote native species of vegetation or other long-lived and adaptable vegetation
• To establish control of damaging insect populations, noxious weeds and invasive plant species
• For visibility and safety reasons
• Within rest areas, weigh stations and wayside parks
• Within 50 feet of a drainage tile or tile intake
• For access to a mailbox or for other accessibility purposes
• On right-of-way adjacent agricultural demonstration or research plots
Iowa’s roadsides provide a valuable refuge for wildlife. The mowing law serves as a reminder to only mow shoulders during the critical nesting season and leave the rest of the roadside for the birds.
For more information, a brochure called Iowa’s Mowing Law for Roadsides, is available at: tallgrassprairiecenter.org/irvm-brochures.
Mowing roadside vegetation prohibited until July 15 to protect roadside habitats
May 23, 2024