Tree removal in Wilsonville, Oregon

Permit rules for removing a tree in Wilsonville

The city code sets the threshold at 6 in DSH, measured at 4.5 ft, for any tree on private property (Wilsonville Code 4.600.10 and the 2024 Tree Manual). Four permit types follow from there. Type A covers 1 to 3 trees per 12 months, is handled administratively by the Planning Division in 10 working days, and costs $24. Type B applies to 4 or more trees, heritage trees, and trees in the SROZ overlay or the Willamette Greenway. Type C is for development and Type D for woodlots; those fees are set by council resolution.

Every removed tree gets one replacement: a 2 in caliper deciduous tree or a 6 ft conifer, with a 2-year guarantee. Exempt from the permit are agricultural trees, filberts, utility work, and emergencies, provided you file a Type A within 30 days of an emergency cut.

Street trees are public but privately maintained, and the city approves their removal only in exceptional circumstances such as an imminent hazard, with replanting required. Community Development, Planning Division (503-682-4960, planning@ci.wilsonville.or.us) handles all of it.

What tree removal costs in Wilsonville

The modeled range below is built from crew-hours by height band times the crew-hour cost, with markups for work within reach of a structure or with no truck access; a crane day and stump grinding are priced separately. Wilsonville’s $24 Type A fee barely registers against that, but the required replacement tree does, so budget for a 2 in caliper deciduous or 6 ft conifer and its 2-year guarantee.

BLS puts the mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro area at $35.04 an hour, with a median of $36.33 across 1,160 workers. That wage is the labor index behind the model, not a price you will be charged.

Modeled estimate, not quotes (method): crew-hours × $225 per crew-hour; ×1.25 within 10 ft of a structure, ×1.3 with no truck access; a crane day adds $1,500–$3,500; stump grinding is separate.

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 37-3013. Checked 2026-10-02.

Storm records for Clackamas County

Snow, not wind, is the headline here. Of the 198 storm reports NOAA logged for Clackamas County since 2016, heavy snow accounts for 64, the largest single type, with winter storm adding 28 more. Wilsonville sits on the Willamette Valley floor, where a wet snow load is what breaks big limbs out of maples and bends young conifers.

The county ranks 8 of 36 in Oregon. Peak months are December, February and January, with 66 percent of reports between November and February. Reports fell from 86 in the prior three years to 48 in the most recent three, so the busiest removal weeks now follow a single heavy storm rather than a long stretch of them.

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).

Pests and quarantines

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

Emerald ash borer is confirmed in Clackamas County, which is inside Oregon’s quarantine, so any ash you remove in Wilsonville has to be handled as regulated wood. It can leave the quarantine only as chips of 1 in or less, as kiln-dried debarked lumber, or after heating to a 160F core for 60 minutes with ODA permission, and loads must be covered between April 1 and September 30. Report new finds through the Oregon Invasive Species Online Hotline. Details: emerald ash borer in Oregon.

Mediterranean oak borer is confirmed here as well, with no quarantine yet. Keep cut oak firewood within 10 miles of where it grew, and have an infested Oregon white oak chipped or burned on site, stump included.

• 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.

How removals are done here

Wilsonville’s rules push removals toward the planned kind. The one-permit-per-three-trees cap and the mandatory replacement mean most jobs are single trees taken down in sections and hauled, with the replacement planted the same season. Trees in the SROZ overlay or along the Willamette Greenway move to Type B and usually involve a site visit before any cut.

With heavy snow the top storm type (64 county reports since 2016), the winter work is split leaders and snapped limbs rather than whole uprooted trees. No utility is mapped for Wilsonville on this site yet; if a line runs through the crown, read tree removal near power lines and check the utilities guide before anyone climbs. Oregon DEQ governs burning the debris; see yard debris burning rules in Oregon.

• Crane removal
• Dead tree removal
• Large tree removal
• Near power lines

What to do next

Count your trees and measure them at 4.5 ft. One to three trees at 6 in or more is a $24 Type A filing with a 10-working-day clock; four or more, a heritage tree, or an overlay lot is Type B. File the application with the Planning Division before you schedule the crew, since the replacement tree is part of the approval.

For a tree that is failing rather than inconvenient, get an arborist risk assessment first, and confirm any company’s license through the Oregon license lookup. County data and neighboring cities: Clackamas County.

Back to tree service in Wilsonville · Tree removal across WA and OR · Tree removal in Oregon · cost guide.