All due respect to you, rockm; however, I think you are mistaken regarding some assertions while also bringing up some interesting points that made me think. I am thankful for any lecturing or thoughts you ever have.
My post above applied briefly to my experiences in my state regarding roadside collection. Perhaps, BN could be of benefit from a single thread regarding any/all country, region, providence, state, county, city, town, settlement, community, etc. collection law and protocol in general.
That said, I took the time to try to search for laws from many different angles on Minnesota. This led to finding the absence of any documentation of a prohibitive law prohibitive regarding roadside collection of plants. I certainly could (likely) have missed something. I did find things on collecting wild things in MN including along roads, these seemed to have a best practices slant, not renegade. MN seems a wild place where people appreciate their natural resources. While I have not spent much time in Minnesota, I have dear friends who have, whom knowledgeably speak very highly of natural areas and biota there within. We could have moved there more than once in very recent years. Additionally, adjacent to MN is where Aldo wrote A Sand County Almanac -a book I'd rather read than the bible, and upper N.W. MI is somewhere I have spent some time looking at plants.
The same result I find when searching for any such roadside law in my own state -search inquiries included terms (such as: laws, statutes, fines, illegal, codes, plants, plant poaching, trees, flora, road, DOT, highway, harvest, collect, collecting, dig, etc.) in array of assemblage, I have searched several times. This is in part why I said what I said above -"..and guess Minnesota is similar."
@Minnesota Madman, forgive me for getting off topic here.
I have been looking at plants on the side of the road for well over a decade. I am on roadsides looking at plants year round (not just trees), collecting pre-bonsai or not. Not once have I ever observed, "bewilderment." People in Tennessee are generally nice people, regardless of politics. This can be odd to people who come here from other places... I find people not accustomed to this region relating the quasi-concept of "southern hospitality" as -what do you want to take from me? In my experience, if a farmer or anyone looks at you (seldom occurrence in my experience) with one eyelid slightly lowered in suspicion, they want to decipher if you are someone trying to cook meth on the edge of a farm, plant mary jane maybe, or are up to something not welcomed...tell them what you are doing and their demeanor immediately changes. WAY outstandingly more often than not, if I have spoken to someone on a country road, people stop and are just nice people who tell ya there is a rare plant over there, or something about the area, or a place that may be good for such...police/sherriff same, and meanwhile a zillion or no cars may drive by.
Should I ever see bewilderment, because I have any association with plants on the side of the road, I may be inclined to think they are on meth or such. If someone inquires WTF I am doing on the side of the road looking at plants I will continue to tell them what I am doing and even what I do. Aside from consistently observing and researching botanically related things in my spare time, I have a BS in natural sciences, a MS in Botany, my vocation/career is botanic-based as well and requires me to study plants; so, not, "...basically a lie...".
My MS degree required me to teach field botany and botany to undergraduate students. Students were also directed to collect plants on their own. All standard legal things applied (don't collect in parks, get permission on private lands, use (x) best practices, etc.) including roadside collection (TN) within 8' of road. This is generally public property that if not mowed consistently by DOT or public works, vegetation would easily encroach or grow across the road. I have also worked on other projects requiring collection of plants (including roadside) which included being overseen by two former chairs of the biology department at the university that I attended. I seriously believe these respected professors would not condone said roadside collection, or the recommendation of students to do so on their own, if these practices were illegal -or could put their careers, the department, or the university in jeopardy. In addition, I have discussed roadside collection of trees with our state botanist with no mention of legal issues or taking something that does not belong.. Aside from public roadsides, all other known locations I am aware of are either off limits or require permit/permission -which I have done in the past.
However,
@rockm you have convinced me that perhaps I have missed something and should reach out to proper authorities on the matter for definitive clarification and will do so before collecting anything this coming late winter. Furthermore, I too advise anyone to do the same. For example, it is illegal to collect roadside plants in Florida, as well as Missouri (statute 171.6, RDS(E7). Additionally, those who do collect should do so with respect to best conservation practices or stay home. Another side note is that if you plan on selling anything you collect, this is a different ballgame -in TN this requires a $200 permit.
