Do You Need a Permit to Clear Land in Indiana?

Indiana has no single land clearing permit, so the answer depends on how much ground you disturb, what you do with the wood and whether water, a drain or a road is involved. Check with IDEM, Indiana DNR, your county surveyor and your county or town planning office before the first tree comes down.

The short answer: it depends on the land, not the chainsaw

Cutting brush or timber is not, by itself, something one Indiana office issues a permit for. What brings in an agency is what the clearing touches: the amount of soil disturbed, a stream or wetland, a floodway, a county drain, a public road, or a plan to burn the debris. A wooded acre in the middle of a dry field and a wooded acre along a creek can be very different jobs on paper.

So the honest answer is never that no permit is needed. It is a short list of questions, each with an office that can answer it for your parcel. The sections below go through them in the order they usually come up. Confirm each one with the office named, because rules change and every county runs its own.

Stormwater: IDEM and the one-acre line

IDEM's Construction Stormwater General Permit covers construction activity that disturbs one acre or more of land. Clearing and grubbing for a house, a barn or a subdivision counts as part of that disturbance. A smaller lot can still fall under it when it sits inside a larger common plan of development, such as a lot in a subdivision that is being built out.

Since May 2025, local construction stormwater programs in Indiana, including city and county programs, cannot be stricter than IDEM's general permit, but they still administer it locally. Ask IDEM or your county whether your project needs coverage before work starts. Forestry mulching that leaves the roots and ground cover in place disturbs far less soil than full grubbing, and that difference is worth raising when you ask. Our mulching versus clearing guide explains it.

Burning the brush: IDEM approval and local rules

Open burning is generally prohibited in Indiana. IDEM lists burning for land clearing among the activities that need its prior approval, and local ordinances apply on top of the state rules. Some towns and fire departments have their own restrictions, and a dry spell can bring a county burn ban.

If you want cleared timber and brush burned on site, ask IDEM about approval first, then check with your local fire department and town or county office. The alternatives are to mulch the material and leave it as ground cover, chip it, or haul it away. Which one fits changes the job and the price, so it is a decision to make before clearing starts, not with a pile already standing.

Water: floodways, wetlands and county drains

Ground near a creek or river may sit in a floodway. Under Indiana's Flood Control Act, placing a structure, an obstruction, a deposit or an excavation in a floodway needs a permit from the Indiana DNR before work begins. The DNR's Floodplain Portal lets you check whether your property is mapped in a floodplain.

Wet ground may be a wetland. IDEM says the key first step is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determination of whether the water is federally regulated; that decides whether federal rules or the state wetland law applies. Land along a regulated county drain carries a right-of-way where the drainage board's written consent is needed for permanent structures and new trees. Ask the county surveyor's office, which our regulated drains guide explains.

County and town offices, roads and classified forest

Your county or town planning and building office is where zoning, subdivision rules and building permits live. If the clearing is the first step toward a house or a pole barn, that office will be involved anyway, and it can tell you whether anything about the clearing itself needs its attention. Inside a town, ask the town; outside, ask the county.

A new drive onto a county road goes through the county highway department. On a state highway or US route, INDOT requires a driveway permit, and any excavation or grading in the state right-of-way needs its own permit. If the woods are enrolled in Indiana DNR's Classified Forest and Wildlands program, talk to your district forester before clearing any of it.

Indiana 811 before the roots come out

Pulling stumps and grubbing roots is digging, and Indiana 811 asks for at least two full working days' notice before any digging. Lines often run through wooded edges and along old fence rows, and a stump pulled out with a power line wrapped in its roots is a dangerous day for everyone.

Indiana 811 marks the public lines. Private lines, such as power to an outbuilding or a water line to a barn, and old field tile on former farm ground are not part of that locate. Tell your contractor what you know about them. Our Indiana 811 guide covers how the ticket works.

How On Grade helps before the clearing starts

On Grade LLC clears land, lots and brush across Putnam County, Indiana, Hendricks County, Boone County and the west side of Indianapolis. When Travis walks a property, he looks for the things that bring in an office: a creek, a drain, a wet corner, the road frontage and how much ground the job will open up. He points out which offices to check with before the job is scheduled.

To start, call or text Travis at (317) 203-8928 with the address, a rough outline of what you want cleared and what the ground is for. See land and lot clearing for how the work is done. Estimates are free.

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See the land & lot clearing service or call (317) 203-8928.

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