9-1301 - White pine blister rust and currant rust.

§ 9-1301. White pine blister rust and currant rust.    For the purpose of suppressing and controlling white pine blister rust  and  currant  rust (Cronartium ribicola), the following provisions shall  apply:    1. Certain cultivars of black  currant  declared  a  public  nuisance.  Unless  otherwise  provided  for by this section, the planting, growing,  propagating, cultivating, or selling plants, roots, or cuttings  of  any  species of cultivated black currants (Ribes nigrum) other than cultivars  that  are immune or resistant to white pine blister rust or currant rust  is  hereby  prohibited  in  this  state;  provided,  however,  that  the  planting, growing, propagating, cultivating, or selling plants, roots or  cuttings  of  any  species of cultivated black currants is authorized in  all  fruiting  currant  districts  or   potentially   fruiting   currant  districts.  Such  unauthorized bushes, roots, cuttings, or plants may be  destroyed by the agents of the department.    2. Fruiting currant districts and potential fruiting currant districts  defined. Districts  where  the  growing  of  all  species  of  currants,  including  black currants, for the production of fruit is carried on and  is  a  commercial  enterprise  or  a  potentially  important  commercial  enterprise  shall  be  determined  and  designated  as "fruiting currant  districts" or  "potential  fruiting  currant  districts",  and  in  such  districts  the  provisions  of  subdivision  three of this section shall  apply. The location and extent of such districts shall be determined  by  the department and the state department of agriculture and markets.    3.  No  measures  for  the control of white pine blister rust shall be  undertaken  by  the  department  within  the  boundaries  of  designated  fruiting currant districts or potential fruiting currant districts.    4. Control measures outside of fruiting currant districts or potential  fruiting currant districts. Whenever such action is desirable as a means  of  controlling  white pine blister rust or currant rust, the department  or its duly authorized agents may eradicate any unauthorized  plants  of  the  genus Ribes (currants and gooseberries), either wild or cultivated,  except within nurseries  which  are  annually  certified  by  the  state  department  of  agriculture  and markets to be free from disease. Owners  shall remove from their lands, subject to the direction and the approval  of the duly authorized agents of the department, the plants of the genus  Ribes within a distance of not more than 900 feet of the white  pine  on  the  land  of  adjoining owners who have protected their white pine from  white pine blister rust. If any owner, upon not less than  thirty  days'  notice  in  writing,  fails  to destroy unauthorized Ribes on his or her  property as provided in this subdivision,  the  commissioner  may  cause  such  plants  to  be  destroyed, and the expense of such work shall be a  charge against the owner, which shall constitute a lien upon the land.    5. Quarantine regulations. The department shall have the authority, by  order, to establish quarantine districts in any part  or  parts  of  the  state.  In  such  districts,  it  may  prohibit  the  possession  of any  five-leafed pine trees or  plants  of  the  genus  Ribes  (currants  and  gooseberries),  or  so  much thereof as is deemed necessary. It may also  prohibit the transportation of any plants, roots,  or  cuttings  of  the  genus  Ribes  (currants  and  gooseberries)  from  or  to any quarantine  district within the state, or from any  diseased  area  or  locality  in  which  the  disease  exists outside of the state to any point within the  state. Such prohibitions shall be effective on and after the  tenth  day  from  the  date of the order made with respect thereto. On the making of  such order, the department shall cause a certified copy of the  same  to  be  filed  in  the  office  of the clerk of each county affected by such  quarantine and shall give such other  notice  thereof  as  it  may  deem  necessary.  The  provisions  of  this  subdivision  shall  not  apply toundiseased cultivated plants or to the fruit of diseased plants  of  the  genus Ribes (currants and gooseberries) included within fruiting currant  districts or potential fruiting currant districts or to the merchantable  contents  of  any pine trees; provided that any diseased part thereof is  first destroyed.    6. Diseased trees or plants defined. A plant of the genus Ribes  which  is visibly infected by Cronartium ribicola or any five-leafed pines upon  which  white pine blister rust has been found growing shall be construed  to be and be, within the meaning of this section only, a diseased plant,  and, as such, may be destroyed without compensation under the provisions  of this section.    7. Authority to eradicate and compensation. Agents or employees of the  department may enter upon any land to carry out the provisions  of  this  section  if  proper  precautionary measures are taken by them to prevent  the spread of this  disease,  and  no  action  for  trespass  shall  lie  therefor. Fair compensation shall be allowed for all undiseased trees or  undiseased  cultivated  Ribes destroyed, except for prohibited varieties  of cultivated  black  currants  (Ribes  nigrum)  located  outside  of  a  fruiting  currant  district  or  potential fruiting currant district. No  compensation shall be paid  by  the  state  for  any  species  of  Ribes  destroyed  in  connection  with  the  establishment of a Ribes-free zone  around commercial nurseries, but fair compensation for such  Ribes  must  be  paid by the person owning or operating the nursery protected by such  destruction of bushes. The rate of fair compensation shall be determined  by the commissioner of agriculture and markets or a committee  appointed  by him or her. If the commissioner of agriculture and markets determines  to  appoint  a  committee  for the purpose of making such determination,  such committee shall be appointed prior to May 1 in each year.