If the statute does not involve a suspect or quasi-suspect classification, then rational basis review applies, in which a court must ask whether the statute is rationally-related to a legitimate governmental interest.
Autumn Foliage Color. The Process of Leaf Color Change. Leaves change color during the autumn because the amounts of pigments change as the leaves prepare to fall from the trees. All leaves gradually lose chlorophyll during the growing season, and this loss accelerates before leaf fall.
A lot of it depends upon weather, the types of days that we have, the types of nights we have, said Hilton. Hilton has been a naturalist for 14 years and he tells us a lot of variables affect when the leaves change, rain being one of them. We're a little over 6 inches above normal. I don't think that's enough to have any effect on leaf color, said Hilton. We learned that we are not far off of the average timing for the leaves. Hilton says that we can expect the leaves to change around the same time as last year. If I had to make an educated guess, probably about the third week in October, said Hilton. Hilton said that even if the leaves do change early, it would not affect tourism at Bays Mountain one bit. When the leaves start changing there will definitely be people coming here. So if they peak a little earlier than usual, our crowds will also come a little earlier than usual, said Hilton.