Tree service in Camas, Washington

Tree removal permits in Camas

Camas does not use a diameter threshold. The city FAQ sets a two-part test instead: no permit is needed when the property is not in a critical area and cannot be divided. A lot large enough to subdivide, or one touched by a stream, wetland, steep slope or other critical area under CMC Title 16, needs a Tree Removal permit together with a General Encroachment permit from the Planning Division (360-817-1568, permits@cityofcamas.us). The removal permit itself carries no fee; the encroachment permit is $35. Your application lists each tree’s DBH at 4.5 ft, a sketch and the reason for removal.

Whether your lot can be divided is the question most homeowners cannot answer from memory, so ask Planning before cutting rather than after. Street trees always need the permit pair, whether you are removing or replacing one, and the replacement comes from the city’s approved list at 2 in caliper; the FAQ’s replacement sizes for other trees are 4 ft for evergreens and 2 in caliper for deciduous. The code chapter itself was not verified at the last check, because the city’s other pages and the Municode copy were unreachable, so treat the FAQ as the current word and the Washington permit guide as the comparison.

Every city compared: tree removal permits in Washington.

Source: Community Development – Planning Division (360-817-1568, permits@cityofcamas.us), Camas tree rules (Urban Tree Program 2018; CMC 18.31); CMC Title 16 critical areas. Checked 2026-10-02.

Storm records for Clark County (covers Camas)

Clark County’s storm reports are rising rather than falling: NOAA logged 39 in the most recent three years against 30 in the three before. The full count since 2016 is 118, which ranks the county 21 of 39 in Washington, and heavy snow leads it with 45 reports, followed by winter storm at 22, high wind and ice storm at 11 each and strong wind at 10. Four tornado reports and two blizzards round out the file.

The rise is worth planning around because of where it lands on the calendar: 76% of reports fall November through February, with January, February and December the peak months. FEMA’s December 2025 National Risk Index rates ice storms in Clark County Relatively High (score 90.5), strong wind Relatively Moderate (82.3) and winter weather Relatively Moderate (73.8). Camas sits at the east end of the county, toward the Western Columbia Gorge zone that appears in the largest episode, so east wind and ice reach it early; pruning weak unions before December is cheaper than removing a split trunk in January.

NWS forecast zones covering the county: East Clark County Lowlands; Inner Vancouver Metro; North Clark County Lowlands; South Washington Cascade Foothills; South Washington Cascades.

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).

Power lines and utilities in Camas

Clark Public Utilities serves the county and clears trees within 10 ft of its overhead lines; under transmission lines it holds trees to a maximum height of 10 to 12 ft. Its outage line is 360-992-3000, answered around the clock. One service worth knowing before you hire a trimmer: the utility will disconnect the secondary service line to your house at no charge so your contractor can work near the drop safely, which is the right way to prune a tree that has grown into the line to the meter.

The utility directory has the request process. Within 10 ft of an energized line only a qualified line-clearance crew may work, so a tree already on a wire is a utility call rather than a tree-company call; the power-line page covers the sequence.

Clark Public Utilities serves all of Clark County

Source: utility vegetation-management pages linked above; WAC 296-24-960 (WA L&I). Checked 2026-10-02.

Pests and quarantines

Emerald ash borer (EAB)

Emerald ash borer is listed as confirmed in Clark County, with no quarantine in place on the Washington side. Without a quarantine there is no legal limit on moving ash wood from a Camas removal, but the sensible practice is the one Oregon enforces across the river: leave ash wood where it was cut or chip it small, and do not haul it to a cabin or campsite. Watch any Oregon ash or planted ash in your yard for a thinning crown, woodpecker flecking and D-shaped exit holes, and read the EAB in Washington page before deciding whether a declining ash is worth treating or should come out.

• 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

Source: Emerald ash borer (EAB). Checked 2026-10-02.

Growing conditions in Camas

Camas sits in USDA zone 8b on the 2023 map, at the mouth of the Columbia Gorge, which is why the county’s storm file carries blizzard and ice-storm entries alongside the usual heavy snow. For replanting, zone 8b supports the full run of native large trees, Douglas fir, western redcedar, bigleaf maple and Oregon white oak, as well as the 4 ft evergreens and 2 in caliper deciduous trees the city FAQ names as replacements. Plant in the wet dormant months and stake anything young against the east wind.

USDA hardiness zone 8b (2023 map, by ZIP code).

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

Labor index for Camas

BLS groups Camas with the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro, where the mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners is $35.04 an hour (May 2025), the median $36.33, and 1,160 workers are counted. The number is a labor index, not a price: what a Camas company bills per crew-hour adds equipment, insurance, travel and disposal to that wage. Bids that land far outside the modeled ranges in the cost guide deserve a question, and the rising storm count means winter bids may carry an emergency premium.

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 $210 (method).

194 landscaping-services establishments were counted in Clark 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.

ZIP codes and nearby cities

Camas’s land falls mainly in ZIP codes 98607, 98682 and 98671, and the Census estimates 27,749 residents in 2025, up from 26,065 in 2020. Vancouver is 8 miles away and Battle Ground 13, and both have their own pages with their own permit rules, so the Camas two-part test applies only inside the city line. County-wide hazard ratings and the Southwest Clean Air Agency’s burn rules are on the Clark County page.

ZIP codes with the most land inside Camas: 986079868298671

• Vancouver8 miles
• Battle Ground13 miles

County page: Clark County.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 ZCTA to place and county relationship files. Checked 2026-10-02.

Tree services in Camas

Start with tree removal if the lot might fail the critical-area or divisibility test, since that is where the Tree Removal and General Encroachment permits come in. Trimming near the service drop is where Clark Public Utilities’ free disconnect earns its keep, and stump grinding follows any removal, with ash grindings left on site. Emergency service is the page for the ice-and-snow failures that put February 2021 in the county’s file with $2,000,000 in damage.

• Tree removal (statewide guide)
• Tree trimming in Camas
• Stump grinding (statewide guide)
• Emergency tree service (statewide guide)
• Arborists and tree health
• Check a license in Washington

What to do next

Ask Planning (360-817-1568) the two questions before anyone cuts: is any part of the lot a critical area, and could the lot be divided? Two noes mean no permit; one yes means the free Tree Removal permit plus the $35 encroachment permit, with DBH, a sketch and a reason. Street trees need the same pair every time.

Then look at the trees themselves. A risk assessment before winter is cheap insurance in a county whose storm reports rose from 30 to 39 across the last two three-year periods, and the Washington license lookup confirms the company you call is registered. Compare two or three written bids against the modeled range.