R.I. Gen. Laws § 2-17-9: Nuisance.

The white pine blister rust, a disease of five (5) needle pines and the species of the genus ribes, is declared to be a public nuisance, and its suppression is authorized and required. No owner or occupant of an estate infested with that nuisance is by reason of that infestation liable to an action, civil or criminal, except to the extent and in the manner and form set forth in this part 2.