Land Clearing Cost Per Acre in Rhode Island (2026 Guide)

You might have an Exeter hayfield going back to bittersweet and rose, a stony woodlot west of the Scituate Reservoir, or a house lot near the water where every tree seems to need a permit. Our crews in the Hudson Valley clear ground like this for $1,500 to $4,500 an acre, and that is the budget to use for Rhode Island land, based on the prices they publish.

A vine tangle along an old field wall sits near the floor of that range. A wooded Tiverton lot opened to bare ground on dense till, with a supply reservoir 150 feet off, sits near the ceiling.

At a glance:

• Understory, field edges and wall rows under trees you keep: $1,500 to $2,500 an acre
• Shrub regrowth mulched where it stands: $1,500 to $4,000 an acre
• Woods or a house site taken to open ground: up to $4,500 an acre
• Freshwater wetlands: DEM’s reach extends 200 feet from a river, stream or drinking water reservoir and 100 feet from other wetlands, and clearing counts as altering them
• Burning: an open fire tied to commercial work is unlawful unless DEM’s Director approves it in writing; a homeowner burning brush from their own land needs a local fire district permit

Describe your Rhode Island parcel and where it is, and our crew will contact you to discuss your property, access and the clearing you need.

How Much Does It Cost to Clear an Acre in Rhode Island?

We price a clearing job by what covers the ground, since that sets how long the machine stays on each acre. For Rhode Island land, the four bands look like this.

What covers the ground	Reference price per acre	A typical Rhode Island setting
Understory under oaks you are keeping, field edges, wall rows	$1,500 – $2,500	Multiflora rose and bittersweet climbing under oak and white pine on western hill farms
Old field gone to shrubs, mulched in place	$1,500 – $4,000	Former potato and sod ground near Charlestown filling back in with vines and rose
Wooded parcel to open ground	$1,500 – $4,500	Stony upland woods west of the Scituate Reservoir; flat-stoned till on Aquidneck Island
House site, drive and service run	$1,500 – $4,500 per acre equivalent	A building envelope cut from second-growth woods, priced as one job

Travel and your property set the quote.

We publish these bands for our Hudson Valley crews on the Hudson Valley pricing page, and they are the rates we hold Rhode Island land against. A single visit has a practical minimum near $1,500, because bringing a tracked machine costs the same whatever it does once it arrives. Grading, stabilization and permit filings belong to your own site contractor.

What Moves a Rhode Island Clearing Price

Walking a Rhode Island parcel, these are the things we weigh before we write a figure.

Two lines drawn out from every wetland. Under DEM’s Freshwater Wetlands Rules, in full force since 1 July 2022, the regulated area takes in the wetland, its floodplain, and a strip reaching 200 feet from any river, stream or drinking water reservoir and 100 feet from every other wetland. The rules name clearing as one of the acts that alter a wetland, so opening woods inside those lines needs a permit unless a narrow exemption fits, such as cutting back shrubs that are creeping into an existing field. Reclaiming a hayfield edge can qualify; turning a swamp-edge woodlot into a yard does not.

The shoreline’s own rulebook. The Coastal Resources Management Council regulates coastal features and the 200 feet inland of them. For a new house, its Red Book sizes the coastal buffer by lot and water type: a lot of 20,001 to 40,000 square feet keeps 50 feet, or 75 feet on CRMC’s Type 1 and 2 waters. Inside that buffer, clear-cutting is prohibited, and clearing to control ticks or pollen is expressly not allowed. On a waterfront lot, the permitted area sets the bill more than the acreage does.

Flat stone and a hard layer in the East Bay. The Newport soil series, described from a site in Middletown, formed in till from dark sandstone and phyllite. Somewhere between 20 and 40 inches down it turns very firm and brittle, and water moves through that layer slowly. In a wet spring the water has nowhere quick to go; the same field in late summer carries a tracked carrier far better.

Boulders under the western woods. The Canton series is described from an extremely stony forested site, with stones and boulders on up to 15 percent of the surface. NRCS notes that most Canton ground is still wooded and that the farmed parts are the areas where surface stones were picked off. Near those boulders a mulching head rides higher and travels slower, and the hours add up.

Vines that come back, and one plant to leave alone. URI’s Rhode Island Woods program reports that Asiatic bittersweet, multiflora rose and Japanese barberry each turned up on more than a quarter of forest inventory plots in the region. We can grind them down in one pass, but they resprout, so plan a second visit. Japanese knotweed is another matter: an NRCS job sheet published by URI records rhizomes running up to 65 feet and fragments as small as half an inch rooting into new plants, and advises against mowing. Shredding a knotweed stand can spread it over the rest of the job.

Pro tip: Before anyone prices the work, flag any knotweed patch, stream or pond within 200 feet of the clearing. Those flags decide whether the job starts once you sign or once DEM or CRMC has answered.

Clearing Costs Across Rhode Island

Providence and the upper bay: Providence, Cranston, Warwick, East Providence, West Warwick. This is the core of DEM’s Urban Region, about 8 percent of the state, where buffers are narrower: 25 feet around deciduous and shrub swamps and 50 feet along streams. Lots are small, the bayside ones fall under CRMC, and with neighbours close, material is mulched in place or hauled.

Aquidneck Island and the East Bay: Middletown, Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton. Newport series till underfoot. Sisson Pond in Portsmouth, Nonquit Pond in Tiverton and Watson Reservoir in Little Compton are all named supply reservoirs that carry a 200-foot buffer zone.

The western uplands: Foster, Glocester, Scituate, Burrillville, West Greenwich, Coventry. Expect stony till of the Canton kind, longer drives and bigger parcels. The Scituate Reservoir, Barden Reservoir and Moswansicut Pond are named supply reservoirs, so rivers feeding them get 200-foot buffer zones. Stone and access usually push a hill parcel upward.

South County: Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown, Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton. The Bridgehampton series, named from a type site in Charlestown, is deep silt over sand and gravel, long used for potatoes and sod. It carries little stone near the surface, which prices kindly, but its lower subsoil commonly stays saturated through winter, spring and after heavy rain, so a dry-season date matters. The South Shore salt ponds sit under CRMC.

Permits and Burning Rules in Rhode Island

Stormwater. Disturbing 1 acre or more, or a smaller piece of a larger plan that adds up to an acre, needs coverage under DEM’s RIPDES Construction General Permit. Below 5 acres, erosion and sediment controls drawn on the site plans are the minimum.

Burning. DEM’s Open Fires rule makes it unlawful to burn in connection with any commercial, industrial, salvage or institutional operation. The only route for clearing debris is an exemption: the Director must be satisfied that no practical alternative exists (DEM names chipping, cutting for forest products, landfilling and piling for wildlife cover), must approve in writing, and the town must approve too. A homeowner burning brush from their own land, with no commercial activity, falls under local ordinance and needs a fire district permit. Some towns forbid burning, and DEM warns that whoever starts a brush fire can be liable for all suppression costs even with a valid permit.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to clear an acre of land in Rhode Island?

Budget $1,500 to $4,500, which is what our Hudson Valley crews charge. Field edges and understory sit at $1,500 to $2,500; stony western woods, dense East Bay till and parcels hemmed in by buffers push toward the top.

Can I burn brush from clearing land in Rhode Island?

A contractor cannot burn clearing debris without a written exemption from the DEM Director and the town’s approval. A homeowner burning brush on their own land needs a local fire district permit, where the town allows burning at all.

Do I need a permit to clear trees near a wetland in Rhode Island?

Usually, if the work falls within 100 feet of a wetland or 200 feet of a river, stream or drinking water reservoir. Narrow exemptions cover hazard trees, existing lawns, trimming shrubs back from existing fields and selective firewood cutting for your own use.

Can I clear my coastal buffer for a water view?

Not entirely. CRMC allows a view corridor of no more than 25 percent of the shoreline length and 25 percent of the buffer area, through selective pruning and thinning. Clear-cutting the buffer, or clearing it to cut down ticks or pollen, is not permitted.

How do I get a price for my Rhode Island land?

Request a free quote through the quote form. Our crew will get in touch to talk through the parcel, the way in and the finish you want.

Get a Clearing Quote for Your Rhode Island Land

Request a free quote for your Rhode Island land and our crew will contact you to go over the work: the finish you want, the drive or gate, whether water or shoreline lies within 200 feet, and whether you have seen knotweed. New to the method? Read what forestry mulching is.

Next door, see the Connecticut and Massachusetts cost guides.

Sources

• Rhode Island DEM, jurisdictional area and buffer zones
• Rhode Island Code of Regulations, Open Fires, 250-RICR-120-05-4