Scheduled maintenance: Tuesday, 11/25/2025 from 6-7pm. Users may experience a short downtime to the county website during this maintenance window.

St. Louis County office buildings will be closed Thurday and Friday, November 27-28, in observance of Thanksgiving.

If your property was affected by the wildfires in May, find resources and information on relevant county services here: 2025 Spring Wildfires

Roadside Vegetation

 
 

Roadside-Veg

Maintaining 6,000 miles of roadside vegetation (3,000 miles of roads times two sides) is another important Public Works Department responsibility. We maintain roadside vegetation to meet a number of public safety and environmental protection goals.

Mowing

Mowing is used to maintain site lines so that vehicles on the road can see vehicles on cross streets and driveways, as well as animals, especially deer. Mowing also prevents trees from taking over, keeping roadsides more like open meadows than forests.

Tree Clearing

Tree clearing is important for two reasons. First: safety. The #1 cause of fatal vehicles accidents are those involving one vehicle driving off the road and striking an object, often a tree. Second: habitat enrichment. Mowing helps to create or maintain good habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators that use roadside nectar sources. (It's not that we don't like trees - we just don't like them close to high-speed roads.)

Invasive Plant Species Control

For more information on Invasive Plant Species Control, click here.

Contact

Carol Andrews
Environmental Engineer
218-625-3862
Email

Samuel Cook
Environmental Project Manager
218-625-3871
Email

All contacts