Do you need a permit to remove a tree?

Search your city's or county's code for "tree", or call its planning or permits office, and ask:

• Whether removing this tree needs a permit, and what counts: species, trunk size, where it stands on the lot.
• Whether your property is in a historic district or has any other rule that applies to trees.
• What the fee is, and whether it's waived for a dead or hazardous tree.
• Whether you'll need to replant or pay into a fund instead.
• What happens if a tree comes down without a permit.

Some local rules we've checked show what triggers a permit:

• Size. Atlanta requires a permit for hardwoods 6 inches and up.¹ Charleston, South Carolina protects grand trees 24 inches or more.²
• Size, with a hazard exemption. In unincorporated San Mateo County, California, you need a permit to remove a significant tree, which the county defines as one with a trunk 38 inches or more around, measured 4 1/2 feet above the ground. Its rules drop the permit when a county official or a state fire officer finds the removal is needed to remove a hazard to life and personal property.³
• Large trees in the District of Columbia. Removing a Special Tree on private land needs a District permit.⁴
• Protected native plants in Arizona. The state's Native Plant Law requires landowners to notify the Department of Agriculture 20 to 60 days before destroying protected native plants on private land.⁵

Removal permit fees run from nothing in Portland, Oregon to about $253 in Austin, Texas.^6-7 Gaithersburg, Maryland charges $5 a tree plus a 10% automation fee.⁸

Large trees can cost more. Portland's schedule lists $472 per trunk inch as a preservation fee in lieu for private trees 20 inches and larger, and as a restoration fee for a removed tree.⁶

Dead and hazardous trees are often treated differently. Austin waives its fee for dead, diseased and imminently hazardous trees,⁷ and Seattle charges nothing for a dead tree.⁹ Florida and Texas set state rules for these trees, in the table below.

These four states limit local rules in ways that can reach a homeowner's trees:

In 13 more states, the limit covers forestry, farm land or shorelines, and the state law doesn't address rules for yard trees.

Forestry, farm-land and shoreland limits in 13 states

State	What state law limits
Idaho	Local rules on forest practices on forest land that conflict with the Forest Practices Act15
Kentucky	Zoning of land in agricultural use, which includes timber on tracts of 5 acres or more16
Massachusetts	Zoning that prohibits or unreasonably regulates forestry on parcels of 5 acres or more17
New Hampshire	Municipal zoning that unreasonably limits forestry18
North Carolina	Local rules on forestry on present-use-value forestland or under a forester's management plan19
Ohio	Township zoning that prohibits agricultural use of land, which includes timber. City and village rules aren't affected20
Oregon	Local rules on forest practices on forestland outside urban growth boundaries21
Pennsylvania	Zoning that unreasonably restricts forestry. Timber harvesting is a use by right in every zoning district22
South Carolina	Local ordinances or permits for forestry on qualifying forest land23
Vermont	Bylaws that regulate accepted silvicultural practices24
Washington	Local rules on forest practices where the state keeps jurisdiction25
West Virginia	A town's requirements on a farm or forestry operation that was outside its limits when the law took effect26
Wisconsin	County shoreland zoning stricter than the state standards, and new or wider vegetation buffers on developed land27

New York's law goes the other way. It authorizes counties, cities, towns and villages to regulate tree removal, including replacement planting, landscape plans and performance bonds.²⁸

Each state's rules page, such as Texas's, sums up its permit rules.

Ask the tree company who applies for the permit and whether the fee is in its price, and don't let work start until the permit is issued. When you know what's allowed, get quotes from tree companies near you. The removal cost guide covers the rest of the price.