Tree service in Lane County, Oregon

Storm records for Lane County

Lane County’s storms keep a tight calendar. Of 249 reports NOAA logged since 2016, 70% fall between November and February: January leads with 51, December has 46, February 42 and November 35. From May through September the county averages a handful of reports a month, so a summer removal here is almost always a planned job.

The total ranks second of Oregon’s 36 counties. High wind is nearly half the record at 122 reports, followed by heavy snow at 53, wildfire at 22, winter storms at 19, strong wind at 12 and ten ice storms. NOAA’s record lists three deaths and two injuries.

Recent years are calmer: 63 reports in 2023 through 2025 against 94 in 2020 through 2022, a drop of about a third. Still, 2024 posted 33, so one quiet year is not a trend. NOAA attached $520 million in property damage to the September 7, 2020 east-wind episode across the zones that include the county, the costliest entry on file.

NWS forecast zones covering the county: Cascades of Lane County; Central Coast of Oregon; Central Oregon Coast Range; Central Oregon Coast Range Lowlands; Lane County Cascade Foothills; Lane County Lowlands.

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 ModerateIce storm: Relatively HighWinter weather: Relatively HighWildfire: Relatively Low

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates Lane County Relatively High for ice storms and winter weather, Relatively Moderate for strong wind, and Relatively Low for wildfire, with an overall rating of Relatively High. The ice score of 83.2 matters most for tree work: ice loads snap limbs on broadleaf trees and split multi-stem crowns long before wind alone would.

USDA’s Forest Service puts wildfire risk to homes at the 26th percentile among Oregon counties. That is low for the state, but the 2020 east-wind fires show the Cascade foothills are a different place from the valley floor.

Wildfire risk to homes: higher than 26% 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

Lane County is not a statewide-default county: the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA) sets the burning rules under its Title 47. Yard-debris burning is banned inside Eugene and Florence city limits; within Eugene’s urban growth boundary you need at least 2 acres, and within Springfield’s at least half an acre. Burning runs in seasonal windows and closes completely during fire season. If you are on a city lot, plan to chip or haul.

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

Source: Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA). Checked 2026-10-02.

Power lines and utilities

Inside Eugene, the Eugene Water & Electric Board owns most distribution lines; see EWEB tree trimming for what it trims and how to ask for a trim.

Six utilities serve Lane County, and their trimming rules differ. EWEB (outage 1-844-484-2300) keeps clearance around its lines and equipment; Lane Electric Cooperative ((541) 484-1151) and Emerald PUD ((541) 746-1583 or (800) 422-4086) maintain their systems but leave the line from the distribution system to the house to the customer, and Lane Electric will drop that service line on request. Springfield Utility Board ((541) 746-8451) trims under certain conditions and asks you to call before any work near a line.

Consumers Power Inc. prunes its lines but does not typically prune the service drop; it lists no dedicated outage phone, so use its outage center at outage.cpi.coop. Blachly-Lane Electric Co-op ((541) 688-8711 or (800) 446-8418) runs a cost-share program for power-line-friendly trees. See removal near power lines before hiring anyone for a tree near a drop.

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

Cities and towns in Lane County

Lane County has 381,584 residents (Census Vintage 2025, down 0.36% since 2020), and nearly two-thirds live in two cities. Eugene (178,618) and Springfield (61,431) each require a permit for some private tree removals, so check the Eugene or Springfield page before you book.

Cottage Grove (10,851), Florence (9,468), Junction City (6,787), Creswell (5,641), Veneta (5,214), Oakridge (3,206), Dunes City (1,428) and Coburg (1,306) 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 Eugene-Springfield metro at $33.56 an hour. That is what a worker earns, not what a job costs; the modeled crew rate below adds payroll burden, equipment and overhead. Census counted 163 landscaping-services establishments in Lane County in 2023, plenty of choice for a planned job but stretched thin after a coastal windstorm.

Eugene-Springfield, OR: $33.56 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).

163 landscaping-services establishments were counted in Lane 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 Lane County in zone 8b, but the county runs from 9a on the coast to 7b in the Cascades, so check your own ZIP before buying stock. On the valley floor, Douglas fir, bigleaf maple and Oregon white oak are the common large trees; given the Relatively High ice rating, favor species with strong branch unions over fast, weak-wooded ones. On the coast, pick for salt wind.

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

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

Nearby counties

• Linn County141 storm reports since 2016
• Douglas County228 storm reports since 2016
• Benton County70 storm reports since 2016
• Marion County148 storm reports since 2016
• Lincoln County144 storm reports since 2016

What to do next

If you live in Eugene or Springfield, read the permit section on the city page first. Then get an assessment: a risk assessment tells you whether an ice-damaged crown needs trimming or the tree needs removal. Then call.

Check the company’s CCB license with the Oregon tree service license lookup, and ask which utility owns the line nearest the tree.

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

Major storms that reached Lane County

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

• November 2024 bomb cyclone
• January 2024 ice storm
• December 2022 ice storm and windstorm
• October 2021 windstorm
• February 2021 ice storm