25 verified laws filed under Nature & Environment, each checked against the statute and sourced.
Hawaii's Act 96 of 2025 added 0.75 percentage points to the state's transient accommodations tax, marketed as the nation's first 'Green Fee' for climate resilience. The rate hike is real, but the money legally flows into the general fund and only about a third is directed to climate adaptation.
The claim that Californians must obtain a hunting licence before trapping or killing mice is false. In reality, California law explicitly exempts house mice from all trapping licence requirements and even legally obliges residents to exterminate rodents for public health reasons.
Florida law prohibits any person from intentionally feeding or enticing wild American alligators or crocodiles with food. Violations are a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Naked hiking is NOT illegal across Switzerland under federal law. But the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden banned it at its 2009 Landsgemeinde, and its fixed-penalty schedule still sets a CHF 200 fine for "being naked in public" — though cantonal police say nobody has been reported in years.
Oshawa's City Trees By-law (78-2008) makes it illegal to climb, damage, or interfere with trees on City-owned public land. The widely-shared claim that climbing ANY tree in Oshawa is illegal is an exaggeration — the restriction only applies to municipally-owned trees.
Declawing cats is illegal in six U.S. states — New York, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and California — plus the District of Columbia. There is no federal ban, and the procedure remains legal at the state level in the other 44 states.
Ohio explicitly bans taking catfish, bullheads, trout, and salmon by hand (including noodling) statewide under the Ohio Administrative Code. Violations are a misdemeanor of the 4th degree, carrying up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.
Utah law explicitly prohibits the use of any explosive, chemical, or other destructive method to take fish or crayfish from state waters. The restriction is codified in the Utah Administrative Code and actively enforced by the Division of Wildlife Resources.
Generations of Texans have grown up believing it is illegal to pick the state flower, the bluebonnet — but no such law exists. The Texas State Law Library, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Snopes have all confirmed this is a persistent folk myth.
It is illegal in New York State to declaw a cat for cosmetic or convenience reasons. The state became the first in the U.S. to enact such a ban when Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the legislation on July 22, 2019.
The claim that collecting or storing rainwater is illegal in Australia is completely false. In reality, rainwater harvesting is legal across all Australian states and territories, actively encouraged by federal and state governments, and even mandatory for new homes in South Australia.
Colorado's notorious Prior Appropriation doctrine once made almost all rainwater collection illegal without a water rights permit. Since 2016, most residents can collect up to 110 gallons in two rain barrels — no permit required — but large-scale collection without authorization remains prohibited.