Tree work rules in Nebraska

Nebraska has no state license for tree work, so licensing is local. Lincoln's municipal code requires an arborist's certificate for tree work, and Omaha keeps a list of licensed arborists.¹

Ask your city or county government whether removing a tree needs a permit where you live.

If a tree is touching the power line to your house, keep clear and call your utility first. Clearing the line is the utility's job, and a tree company can't start until it's done.

In Nebraska tools, equipment and materials keep 10 feet from overhead lines unless the line is guarded by barriers, de-energized or moved. Only the line owner, or someone it authorizes in writing, may do that.²

Nebraska's one-call law doesn't name trees, stumps or roots, and it exempts gardening and tilling. Call 811 before a stump is ground or dug out, and the one-call center can say whether your job needs a locate.³

In Nebraska applying even general-use pesticides to ornamental and turf sites for hire needs a commercial license from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. Tree injections fall under category 04, Ornamental and Turf Pest Control.^4-5