Tree removal permits in Oregon

The short answer

No ORS chapter requires a homeowner to get a permit before felling a Douglas fir in the backyard. What exists is a patchwork of city codes in four groups:

• Diameter cities. Any private tree above a trunk size needs a permit: Portland (12 in), Gresham (8 in), Lake Oswego, Milwaukie and Happy Valley (6 in), West Linn (12 in, or 6 in for Oregon white oak, madrone and dogwood), Albany (about 20 in).
• Protected-tree cities. Only specified trees are regulated: Salem’s significant trees at 30 in DBH (20 in for Oregon white oak), Beaverton’s Protected Trees, Ashland’s significant trees on vacant lots.
• Count cities. The trigger is how many trees you take: Eugene (more than 5 in 12 months on parcels of 20,000 sq ft or more), Springfield (5 or more trees of 5 in DBH on lots over 10,000 sq ft), Tualatin (5 or more per year).
• Street-tree-only cities. Private trees are unregulated unless they sit in the right-of-way, an overlay or an approved landscape plan: Bend, Tigard, Sherwood, McMinnville, Newberg, Medford, Roseburg, Klamath Falls, Canby and Hermiston.

Two rules apply almost everywhere. A tree in the strip between sidewalk and curb is a street tree, and nearly every city requires a permit to remove one at any size. And “removal” often includes heavy cutting: Salem counts taking 30 percent or more of the crown, trunk or roots (SRC 808), Tigard 50 percent (TMC 8.02.050).

DBH is diameter at breast height, 4.5 feet above ground: wrap a tape around the trunk and divide by 3.14. West Linn measures multi-trunk trees cumulatively at 54 inches (WLMC 8.510).

Permit rules in 40 Oregon cities

Rules for removing a tree on private residential property, checked 2026-10-02 against city code or the city’s own permit page. “Not found” means no official page stating the rule could be read that day; several city sites were unreachable.

If your city is missing, ask its planning desk two questions: is there a private-tree permit, and what diameter triggers it. Then ask about overlays, which regulate smaller trees than the base rule in Portland, Gresham and St. Helens (6 in in each).

Portland: 12 inches, Type A or Type B, no application fee

Title 11 regulates private trees of 12 inches and larger (PCC 11.40.020.C); in environmental conservation, environmental protection and Pleasant Valley overlays the threshold is 6 inches (Table 40-1). Street trees are regulated at any size (11.40.020.A).

The no-development permit comes in two types (Table 40-3). Type A needs no public notice and covers dead, dying or dangerous trees, nuisance-list species, trunks within 10 feet of a building, and up to four healthy trees under 20 inches per site per year. Type B carries public notice and appeal and covers healthy trees 20 inches and larger, or more than four healthy trees of 12 inches and up in a year; a residential lot can still take one healthy tree over 20 inches per year without notice.

Replacement is the rule: tree for tree under 20 inches, up to inch for inch at 20 inches and above (11.40.060.A), or a payment to the Tree Planting and Preservation Fund at $472 per DBH inch or $712 per on-site tree (FY 2025-26 schedule).

Since July 1, 2025 the Tree Removal and Replanting application carries no charge; the optional Replanting Waiver is $50 and Urban Forestry’s hourly rate is $160 (FY 2025-26 Trees Fee Schedule). A newer schedule dated July 2026 is posted, so confirm before you apply. File through DevHub, by mail, or in person at 1900 SW 4th Ave; Trees@PortlandOregon.gov, 503-823-8733.

Removals tied to a building permit fall under Chapter 11.50 instead: keep at least a third of non-exempt trees 12 inches and larger, and pay $1,888 per tree of 12 to 20 inches or $472 per inch above 20 for what is not preserved (FY 2025-26).

Salem: 30 inches, or 20 inches for Oregon white oak

Salem regulates significant trees under SRC Chapter 808: any tree 30 inches DBH or larger (tree of heaven, empress tree, black cottonwood and black locust excluded), any Oregon white oak 20 inches or larger, and rare or threatened species, plus riparian-corridor trees and required landscaping on business, school and apartment sites. Ordinary pruning is exempt, but taking 30 percent or more of the crown, trunk or roots counts as removal. Apply through the Permit Application Center portal under Land Use Applications; a fee applies but the amount was not on the city page. Planning Division: 503-588-6213.

Eugene: a count rule, not a diameter rule

Eugene’s tree-felling permit (EC 6.305) applies to parcels of 20,000 square feet or more when you remove more than five trees in any 12 months. A parcel under 20,000 square feet with an existing house is exempt, in the handout’s words “no tree permit required”; a vacant lot under that size needs a permit for any felling. A significant tree for counting is 8 inches DBH (Admin Rule R-6.305). Fees are $152.07 for 1–10 trees, $305.25 with public notice, $610.50 for 11–50 and $991.23 for 51–100; more than 10 trees requires a logging plan. Land Use staff: 541-682-8336. Street trees go through Urban Forestry, 541-682-4800.

Gresham: 8 inches, with a free three-tree exemption

A regulated tree in Gresham is 8 inches DBH or larger, or 6 inches inside floodplain, hillside and natural-resource overlays (GDC 9.1000). A single-family or middle-housing lot of 35,000 square feet or less can remove up to three regulated trees per 12 months (six on larger lots) after obtaining a free tree removal exemption. Beyond that a Type II permit applies, which the city says takes about three months. Replacement is one for one under 24 inches, and one caliper inch per four inches removed at 24 inches and up. Planner on Duty: 503-618-2780.

Bend: most house lots are exempt

Bend Code 16.40.020.A.1 exempts removal on a site of one acre or less that includes an existing dwelling, and A.6 exempts normal pruning and limbing. Trees declared a fire hazard by the Fire Code Official still need Planning Manager approval (A.4). Sites over an acre and all development follow the Tree Performance Standards and BDC 3.2.200. City and right-of-way trees need a permit under BC 3.60.040.

Lake Oswego: 6 inches, Type I or Type II

Lake Oswego regulates every tree 6 inches DBH and larger (LOC 55.02.025). A Type I permit issues on application for up to two trees of 15 inches or less per year on a single-family lot, plus fruit trees, outside historic districts and resource zones. Everything else is Type II, with City Manager review and about a month of notice, and one 1.5-inch caliper deciduous or 6-foot evergreen owed per tree removed (55.02.084). The code bars removal “for the sole purpose of providing or enhancing views” (55.02.080.4), and the application needs the abutting owner’s signature if the tree is on the property line. Planning: 503-635-0290.

Milwaukie: 6 inches in residential zones

Milwaukie’s private tree code (MMC 16.32, Article III) requires a permit for any tree 6 inches DBH or larger in a residential zone. Type A, issued by the Urban Forester without notice, covers dead or dying trees, hazards, infrastructure conflicts, invasive species, and one healthy tree under 12 inches per tax lot per 12 months. Type B is discretionary and covers everything else, including any tree over 12 inches. Replacement scales with size: one tree for 6 to under 12 inches, two for 12 to under 24, three for 24 to under 36, four at 36 and up, plus a Tree Fund fee. Urban Forester: 503-786-7655.

Happy Valley: anything over 6 inches

Happy Valley requires a permit for any private tree with a trunk diameter over 6 inches (LDC 16.42.050). Type A ($56) covers up to three trees outside the Steep Slope and Natural Resource overlays, one Type A per site per year. Type B ($85 plus $56 per tree, capped at $5,294) covers sensitive areas, trees tied to development conditions and every right-of-way tree. Replacement follows a table by DBH, or a Tree Bank payment of $277 per tree, adjusted each July 1. Work must finish within 90 days; the crew needs a city business license. Planning: 503-783-3800.

West Linn: 12 inches, 6 for oak, madrone and dogwood

West Linn’s Community Tree Code (WLMC 8.500–8.798) covers any tree of 12 inches DBH or more on public or private land, and any Oregon white oak, Pacific madrone or Pacific dogwood of 6 inches or more. Orchards, tree farms and nurseries are exempt (8.560). The city allows up to 20 business days for a decision plus a 10-day appeal period. The posted code sets the fee at zero, but confirm. Apply at treepermits@westlinnoregon.gov.

Ashland: single-family lots exempt, vacant lots not

Ashland’s Tree Removal Permit (ALUO 18.5.7.020) applies to trees over 6 inches DBH on commercial, employment and multifamily land, and to significant trees, conifers of 18 inches and deciduous trees of 12 inches, on vacant residential land. A lot occupied only by a detached single-family home, an accessory unit or a duplex is exempt unless it sits in an overlay; dead trees and wildfire fuel work are exempt too. Review is Type I with notice.

Can I cut down a tree on my own property in Oregon?

Usually yes. The answer turns on five situations.

• Small tree on a house lot. Below your city’s threshold you need nothing. In Bend, Tigard, Sherwood, McMinnville and Newberg a yard tree of any size on a single-family lot needs no permit unless it is a street, heritage or overlay tree.
• Large tree on a house lot. Above the threshold you need the permit, and in Portland, Gresham, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie and Happy Valley you owe replacement trees or a fund payment.
• Dead, dying or dangerous tree. Still a permit in the diameter cities, but a faster one: Portland Type A, Milwaukie Type A, Lake Oswego’s Dead and Hazard permits (the hazard form must come from an arborist with the Tree Risk Assessment Qualification). A tree risk assessment is the document these permits turn on; see also dead tree removal.
• Tree in an overlay. Environmental, riparian, floodplain and hillside overlays regulate smaller trees in Portland, Gresham, Oregon City, Newberg, St. Helens, Tigard and Happy Valley.
• Tree on the property line. Lake Oswego requires the abutting owner’s signature; everywhere, a shared tree is a shared decision. See Oregon neighbor tree law.

Storm-downed trees are exempt in Gresham and Springfield. If a tree is on a wire, read tree removal near power lines before anyone touches it.

Street trees are a different permit

The strip between sidewalk and curb is public right-of-way, and the tree in it is the city’s even though you water it. Portland requires a permit to remove a street tree of any size and to prune anything beyond sucker shoots under half an inch (11.40.020.A). Medford’s public-tree permit is free and valid 90 days; Troutdale’s and Oregon City’s are free; Sherwood charges $35 for the first tree. Newberg bars removing or topping any right-of-way tree over 2 inches without a permit (NMC 12.05.260). Replacement is nearly universal, and Oregon City requires a certified arborist for right-of-way work.

Heritage trees

Portland has designated more than 300 Heritage Trees since 1994 under PCC 11.20.060. One can be removed only if dead, dying or dangerous, with Urban Forestry Commission consent, and any pruning needs a permit. Tigard (TMC 8.16), Albany (AMC 7.98.120, removal only with Commission consent), Grants Pass, Tualatin and Forest Grove run similar programs. Once a tree is listed, the listing runs with the land.

Penalties for cutting without a permit

Portland can issue a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per day, counted per tree and per day (PCC 11.70.090.B.1), require replacement up to inch for inch (11.70.080.B.4), and lien the property for unpaid amounts (11.70.090.B.9). Tigard’s fine starts at $250 per tree and rises to the city’s replacement cost; its example is $4,400 for a 12-inch tree at 2015 planting costs. Sherwood treats illegal removal of a public tree as a civil infraction of up to $500 per day per tree (SZCDC 16.02.040). Lake Oswego charges an enforcement fee plus a per-caliper-inch fee on the trunk removed, doubled for repeat or protected-tree violations (LOC 55.02.130).

None of this replaces a neighbor’s remedies. If the tree was not entirely yours, ORS 105.810 lets the owner seek treble damages; see the neighbor tree law guide.

How to apply

1. Measure and photograph. Tape at 4.5 feet, divided by 3.14, with the tape in the photo.
2. Check the zoning map for overlays, and check whether the trunk is in the planting strip.
3. Get the right report. Hazard permits in Lake Oswego, Milwaukie and Portland move faster with a written assessment from an ISA-certified arborist.
4. File. Portland uses DevHub, Salem the Permit Application Center portal, Happy Valley and Gresham online portals; smaller cities take a PDF by email.
5. Wait for the decision. Portland Type B and Lake Oswego Type II carry public notice; West Linn takes up to 20 business days plus a 10-day appeal window; Happy Valley gives you 90 days to finish.
6. Hire with the permit in hand. Any crew doing removal, pruning or stump grinding must hold an Oregon CCB or LCB license (ORS 701.005(5)(e); ORS 671.525(5)(b)(D)); see the license lookup guide, tree removal cost and tree removal.
7. Dispose legally. Backyard burning is banned year-round in the Portland metro; see yard debris burning rules in Oregon.

Check one tree against your city’s rule: tree permit checker.