Tree service in Clackamas County, Oregon

Storm records for Clackamas County

Clackamas County has gone quieter. NOAA logged 48 storm reports for 2023 through 2025, down 44% from the 86 recorded in 2020 through 2022, and 2025 produced only 9. The earlier stretch was driven by two seasons that are unlikely to repeat back to back: 33 reports in 2020, the year of the September 7 east winds and fires, and 29 in 2021.

Over the long run the total is still large. With 198 reports from 2016 through 2026 the county ranks eighth of Oregon’s 36, and the mix spans its elevation range: heavy snow leads with 64, wildfire is second at 35, then strong wind at 32, winter storms at 28 and high wind at 14. Two tornado reports and one blizzard sit at the bottom of the table. December is the peak month with 47 reports, then February with 40 and January with 34; 66% of all reports fall between November and February.

Read that as two different workloads. In the foothills and Cascades zones, snow load and fire are the drivers; in the metro zones along the Willamette, it is wind and ice on big Douglas firs and maples. NOAA attached about $3.1 billion in property damage to the high-wind reports of the September 7, 2020 episode across the forecast zones that include the county, by far the costliest entry in its record.

NWS forecast zones covering the county: Clackamas County Cascade Foothills; East Central Willamette Valley; Inner Portland Metro; North Oregon Cascades; Outer Southeast Portland Metro; Tualatin Valley.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 2016 to June 2026 · NWS zone-county correlation files (2019 to 2026 versions). Checked 2026-10-02. NOAA Storm Events 2016-2026; zone-based events assigned to every county the NWS zone covers using the zone-county correlation file in force on the event date (2019-04-02 file used for 2016-2018).

Hazard ratings

Strong wind: Relatively HighIce storm: Relatively HighWinter weather: Relatively HighWildfire: Relatively Low

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates Clackamas County Relatively High for strong wind, Relatively High for ice storms and Relatively High for winter weather, and Relatively Low for wildfire, with an overall rating of Relatively High. Three high ratings on the hazards that take trees down means the index expects real losses here, and the county’s 426,280 people put a lot of roofs under a lot of crowns.

The Relatively Low wildfire rating is a county-wide figure: USDA’s Forest Service puts wildfire risk to homes higher than 37% of Oregon counties, and the 2020 episode shows what the foothills can do. If you live east of the valley floor, treat defensible space as tree work with a deadline.

Wildfire risk to homes: higher than 37% of Oregon counties (USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities).

What to do about wildfire exposure: defensible space in Washington and Oregon.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release · USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities (April 2026 download). Checked 2026-10-02.

Burning the debris

Oregon DEQ sets the burning rules under OAR 340-264, and Clackamas County is not a plain statewide-default county: DEQ’s year-round ban on backyard burning inside the Portland metro area (OAR 340-264-0120, -0130 and -0140) covers the urbanized part of the county. Outside that boundary the statewide conditions apply. If you are inside the metro boundary, plan on chipping or hauling, not burning; the Oregon burning guide below has the details.

Full rules, seasons and alternatives: yard debris burning rules in Oregon.

Source: Oregon DEQ. Checked 2026-10-02.

Pests and quarantines

Emerald ash borer (EAB) · quarantineMediterranean oak borer (MOB)

Two wood borers are confirmed in Clackamas County, and one carries a quarantine. Emerald ash borer is confirmed here and the county is inside Oregon’s EAB quarantine: raw ash wood stays inside the quarantine boundary and may leave only as chips an inch or smaller or as kiln-dried, debarked lumber (or heat-treated to 160 F at the core for 60 minutes with ODA permission). Loads of ash must be covered during the April 1 to September 30 flight period. If a crew removes an ash, ask where the wood is going before it leaves the driveway; the Oregon EAB page has the full rule.

Mediterranean oak borer is also confirmed in the county, without a quarantine. The guidance is to keep cut oak firewood within 10 miles of where it was cut, and to burn or chip infested trees on site, stump included, at an inch or less. Report either insect, with photos and a location, to the Oregon Invasive Species hotline.

• Emerald ash borer (EAB): OR (ODF/ODA): keep raw ash wood inside the quarantine; move only as <=1-in chips or kiln-dried debarked lumber, or heat 160F core for 60 min with ODA permission; cover loads during flight period Apr 1
• Mediterranean oak borer (MOB): Don't move cut oak firewood >10 miles from source; cut then burn or chip (<=1 in) infested trees including the stump on site; report with photos/location to Oregon Invasives Hotline

Source: Emerald ash borer (EAB) · Mediterranean oak borer (MOB). Checked 2026-10-02.

Power lines and utilities

No utility is mapped for Clackamas County on this site yet, so the outage line and tree-trimming request process for your address are not shown here. Check your bill for the utility name and start at the utilities index, where the Oregon utilities with published vegetation rules are listed. Whoever serves you, the line-clearance rule in the note below still applies: a tree in contact with an energized line is the utility’s call first and a crew’s second.

Source: utility vegetation-management pages linked above; OAR 437-002-0306 (OR-OSHA). Checked 2026-10-02.

Cities and towns in Clackamas County

Clackamas County’s 426,280 people (Census Vintage 2025, up 1.15% since 2020) are spread across a ring of mid-sized cities, and most of those cities regulate private trees. Lake Oswego (39,722), Happy Valley (28,916), Wilsonville (27,833), West Linn (26,567) and Milwaukie (22,114) each require a permit for tree removal; Oregon City (38,175) requires one in some situations; Canby (18,004) has no private-tree permit. The thresholds differ by city, so open the city page before you book: Lake Oswego, Oregon City, Happy Valley, Wilsonville, West Linn, Milwaukie and Canby.

Sandy (13,323), Gladstone (11,865) and Molalla (10,104) have not been researched yet; ask the city before cutting there.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Vintage 2025 and 2020 Census. Checked 2026-10-02. Permit rules from each city’s code; see the city pages.

Labor index

BLS puts the mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro at $35.04 an hour (May 2025), and that metro figure covers Clackamas County. It is a wage, not a price; the modeled crew-hour rate below layers payroll burden, equipment and overhead on top of it. Census County Business Patterns counted 215 landscaping-services establishments in the county in 2023, so you have room to get more than one assessment on a planned job.

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA: $35.04 per hour mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners (BLS, May 2025). This is a labor index, not a price; the modeled crew-hour cost used on this site is $225 (method).

215 landscaping-services establishments were counted in Clackamas County in 2023 (Census County Business Patterns, NAICS 561730).

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 37-3013 · U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 561730. Checked 2026-10-02.

Climate and growing conditions

The 2023 USDA map puts most of Clackamas County in hardiness zone 8b, but the county runs from 9a along the river lowlands to 7a in the Cascades, so check your own ZIP code before buying stock. In the valley zones, Douglas fir, bigleaf maple and Oregon white oak are the common large trees, and ice resistance matters more than cold hardiness given the county’s Relatively High ice rating. Up in the foothills, choose for snow load and fire: wider spacing, limbed-up conifers and nothing resinous against the house. One rule for the whole county: if you lose an ash, do not replant ash.

USDA hardiness zones 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a (2023 map, by ZIP code).

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (OSU PRISM ZIP data). Checked 2026-10-02.

Nearby counties

• Marion County148 storm reports since 2016
• Multnomah County208 storm reports since 2016
• Hood River County142 storm reports since 2016
• Linn County141 storm reports since 2016
• Wasco County145 storm reports since 2016

What to do next

Find your city in the table above first, because in five of them the permit comes before the saw. Then have the tree assessed: a risk assessment separates a crown that needs reduction from a trunk that needs removal, and on a big fir near a house a crane pick may be the safer method. Then call.

Check the company’s CCB standing through the Oregon tree service license lookup, and if the tree is an ash, ask how the crew will handle the wood under the quarantine.

Services: tree removal · trimming · stump grinding · emergency. Check any company: Oregon license lookup.

Major storms that reached Clackamas County

These regional storms produced NOAA Storm Events reports in Clackamas County since 2016. Each storm page lists the dates, report counts and the other counties hit.

• January 2024 ice storm
• December 2022 ice storm and windstorm
• February 2021 ice storm
• January 2021 windstorm
• Labor Day 2020 east wind event