This page was last updated on December 6, 2017. For the most updated version of the Wildflower Preservation Act please check the Code of Georgia.

Wildflower Preservation Act of 1973

Georgia Code Title 12 Chapter 6 Article 3

§ 12-6-170. Short title

This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Wildflower Preservation Act of 1973."

§ 12-6-171. Definitions

As used in this article, the term:

  1. "Person" means any natural person, firm, corporation, partnership, proprietorship, or other legal entity.
  2. "Protected species" means a species of plant life which the department shall have designated as such and shall have made subject to the protection of this article.
  3. "Public lands" means all those lands within this state which are owned by the state or which are subject to the dominion and control of this state and which are not owned and controlled by any private person.

§ 12-6-172. Powers and duties of Department and Board of Natural Resources as to wildflower preservation

  1. The Department of Natural Resources shall from time to time designate as a protected species any species of plant life within this state which it may determine to be rare, unusual, or in danger of extinction, and upon such designation such species will become subject to the protection of this article.
  2. The Board of Natural Resources shall issue such rules and regulations as it may deem necessary and proper for the enforcement of this article.
  3. The department may delegate the powers and duties which this article grants to it to any official or officials of the department.

§ 12-6-173. Cutting, pulling up, digging, or removing protected species

No person within this state shall cut, dig, pull up, or otherwise remove any protected species from any public land unless such person has secured written authorization from the department.

§ 12-6-174. Sale of protected species

No person within this state shall sell or offer for sale, for any purpose, any protected species unless such species was grown on private land and is being sold by the landowner or with the permission of the landowner.

§ 12-6-175. Transporting, carrying, or conveying protected species without tag and written document

No person within this state shall transport, carry, or otherwise convey any protected species from the land of another unless each shipment thereof has affixed thereto a tag supplied by the department showing that the person so transporting, carrying, or conveying such protected species has removed such specimen from the private lands of another person with the permission of such other person and has a written document in his possession evidencing such permission and further evidencing that such specimen has not been sold in violation of Code Section 12-6-174.

§ 12-6-176. Penalty

Any person who violates any provision of this article or a rule or regulation promulgated by the Board of Natural Resources pursuant to this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.