Tree Removal Permits in Corvallis, OR

Verified against Corvallis city sources · last checked 2026-08-06

Do you need a permit?

It depends on the tree

Corvallis has no general citywide tree removal permit for private property and no size threshold — no "over X inches" rule at all. Instead it regulates through mapped overlays and outright prohibitions. If your lot is inside a mapped Significant Vegetation area, a riparian corridor or wetland, or on a slope of 35 percent or more, removal is prohibited or requires a management plan, which is stricter than a permit. Outside those areas, a tree entirely on your own property needs nothing. A street tree in the park strip is different: a permit from the City Urban Forester is always required, for pruning as well as removal.

Size threshold

There is no citywide size threshold. Thresholds exist only inside specific overlays and definitions, and they use three different conventions. Land Development Code 4.12.50.b, inside Significant Vegetation Areas, prohibits "Removing, damaging, destroying, or cutting any tree greater than four in. caliper as measured four feet above Natural Grade" — caliper at four feet, which is neither standard DBH nor the nursery convention. LDC Chapter 1.6 defines a Significant Tree outside the Natural Features Inventory as one "of a trunk size that is eight in. or greater in caliper at four feet above existing grade." Municipal Code 2.19.020(13) defines a street tree by "a trunk diameter of at least 1 1/2 inches at a point 6 inches above ground level."

What's protected in Corvallis

Street trees and public trees, at essentially any size. MC 2.19.060(2): "No property owner shall prune or remove any street or public tree in the City without first obtaining a permit to do so from the City Manager." The park strip is defined at MC 2.19.020(6) as "The space between the curb and sidewalk."
Significant Vegetation Areas — Highly Protected (HPSV) and Partially Protected (PPSV-1 through PPSV-4) areas on the Significant Vegetation Map. LDC 4.12.50.b prohibits removing any tree greater than four inches caliper, any shrub over four feet in height, and any ground cover or soil, unless exempted or allowed under a Significant Vegetation Management Plan or a development or construction permit. This binds existing lots, because the prohibition is on the activity.
Riparian corridors and riparian-related areas — an outright prohibition. LDC 4.13.50.a: "Removal of vegetation from Riparian Corridors and Riparian-related Areas is prohibited, except for the following purposes," with ten enumerated exceptions including stream restoration, invasive removal, and hazardous tree removal.
Locally Protected Wetlands, where removal of vegetation is prohibited except for Department of State Lands-approved restoration and a short list of the riparian exceptions.
Slopes of 35 percent or greater, with no size threshold at all. LDC 4.14.50.06.e: "No tree cutting is allowed on slopes equal to or greater than 35 percent," except hazardous trees, development allowed under the hillside provisions, or a permitted utility.
Historically Significant Trees on a Designated Historic Resource property, which are excluded from the Historic Preservation Permit exemption and require review under LDC Chapter 2.9.

How to apply in Corvallis

1
Check your address for overlays first. Use the Significant Vegetation Areas Map or the city's interactive Property Information Lookup, and call Development Services at 541-766-6929 with a specific property question. The city states: "If you have questions regarding tree removal or protection provisions for a specific property, please contact Development Services at 541-766-6929."
2
For a street or public tree, review the permitted activities on the Forestry Permits page and download the Tree Permit form.
3
Complete the form, initialling the statement "I am familiar with the provisions of Corvallis Municipal Code, Chapter 2.19 Tree and Park Strip Planting and LDC Chapter 4," and check the requested action: Remove, Root Prune, Plant, Prune, or Work in Root Zone.
4
Identify tree type, number of trees and location, and provide "a drawing showing the tree(s) location on the property relative to other features or structures." Give the address of work, begin date and completion date.
5
State whether someone else is performing the work and name them and their insurance company. Per the city, "tree work must be done by an approved volunteer or by a licensed and insured tree company."
6
Sign the indemnification clause and submit to the Urban Forester. The city states: "The forester will get back to you once they have reviewed the application to schedule a meeting on site if necessary."
7
For a hazardous tree, LDC 4.2.20.i requires that except in emergencies, removal "may only occur following the City Urban Forester's approval of a Hazard Tree Evaluation, which recommends tree removal," performed by an ISA Certified Arborist or ASCA Consulting Arborist using the 12-point hazard evaluation method.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee: Not published. The city's official Tree Permit form shows no fee line, no payment instruction and no dollar amount, and no tree permit line item appears on the city's fee pages. This is recorded as "not published" rather than "free" — confirm with the Urban Forester. Separately, and not a permit fee, MC Chapter 3.09 imposes a monthly Urban Forest Management Fee "upon all utility accounts within the City limits" to support maintenance of the city's tree canopy.
Penalties: MC 2.19.180, for street and public trees: "Any person violating any provision of this Chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00 per tree ... In the event that a tree or trees are damaged, destroyed or wrongfully removed, the appraised value of the plant may be additionally applied to this penalty," appraised under the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers Guide for Plant Appraisal. For Significant Vegetation, LDC 4.12.100.a is harsher: "Any tree removed from a HPSV or PPSV area in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter shall have its losses mitigated by replacement of trees and irrigation within the HPSV or PPSV area in an amount equal to 50 percent of the appraised value of the damaged or removed vegetation," with any shortfall paid into the Urban Forestry Project Account, plus a fine of $50 to $100 for each day mitigation has not occurred beyond the ordered deadline.
Ordinance: Corvallis Municipal Code Chapter 2.19 — Tree and Park Strip Planting, adopted by Ord. 2005-06 § 3, April 18, 2005, amended by Ord. 2011-03 (2011) and Ord. 2020-17 (2020). It superseded the now-repealed MC Chapters 10.01 (Street Trees), 10.06 (Downtown Tree Management Program) and 2.02 (Parking Strip Planting). Private-property overlays are in the Land Development Code: Chapter 4.12, Significant Vegetation Protection Provisions (Ord. No. 2012-18, effective December 13, 2012); Chapter 4.13, Riparian Corridor and Wetland Provisions (Ord. No. 2023-01, effective February 8, 2023); Chapter 4.14, Landslide Hazard and Hillside Development Provisions (most recently Ord. No. 2024-26, effective January 1, 2025). The Code of Ordinances is codified through Ordinance No. 2026-17, enacted April 20, 2026 (Supp. No. 69); the Land Development Code through Ordinance No. 2025-41, adopted August 18, 2025 (Supp. No. 6). Note the two codes run on different supplement cycles.

Worth knowing

Street trees are the clearest yes. The city states: "Street trees (located in the public right-of-way, typically in a planting strip) are under the purview of the City Urban Forester ... A permit must be obtained from the City Urban Forester prior to the pruning, removal or planting of any street tree." Pruning is included: "trees in the parking strip belong to all of us so a permit is required to prune these trees."
Removal of a street tree is generally permitted only for four reasons, per the city: the tree is no longer structurally sound as determined by the Urban Forester or City Arborist; it presents an irreconcilable barrier to development of private property; it presents a significant and irreconcilable hazard to vital infrastructure; or it presents a risk to other trees due to disease or a pathogen.
After a storm the permit requirement can be suspended. MC 2.19.060(3) lets the City Manager "declare an emergency suspension of the permit requirements, for the removal and pruning only, of damaged trees," for no more than 21 days per declaration.
The city can ORDER removal on private property, and lien the property if you do not comply. MC 2.19.150 declares a nuisance any tree "growing in or upon any park strip, street rights-of-way, or public place, or on private property which is endangering or which in any way may endanger the security or usefulness of any public street, sewer or sidewalk, or which in any way may be dangerous to life or property." Failure to act within 30 days of notice lets the City do the work and assess the cost, and "That lien shall have priority over all other liens and encumbrances of any character."
The Livability Code compels removal of "All trees which are dead, dying or dangerous and are determined by the City Forester or a private certified arborist to require removal in order to safeguard people or property," and of dead bushes, dead trees and stumps subject to a naturescaping exception.
Dutch elm disease is a special case where the City removes your tree free and you may not. MC 5.05.040 permits the City Manager "to cut or remove any trees or portions of trees at no charge to the property owners," and MC 5.05.060 provides that "No person, other than City personnel or City-authorized agent ... shall discard or remove any Dutch elm disease infected elm tree or part thereof." Violation is a Class A Infraction.
Contractor-side regulation reaches public trees only. MC 2.19.040 bars accepting payment for pruning, root pruning, planting or removing "any street, or public tree(s) within the City of Corvallis" without meeting state licensing requirements, registration with the appropriate Contractors Board, and the required insurance and bond. It does not reach a contractor working a private back yard, though state law still requires an LCB or CCB licence.
Fire fuel breaks are exempt even inside Significant Vegetation. LDC 4.12.30.d allows clearing a minimum of 30 feet out from a structure or to the property line, a maximum of 40 feet in all directions, expanding downslope to 50, 75 or 100 feet on steeper ground, with trees spaced at least 15 feet apart, plus a fire escape route up to 14 feet wide.
Hazardous tree removal inside Significant Vegetation is an "exemption" that still requires city review and mandatory replacement with native species from the City of Corvallis Native Plant List (LDC 4.12.30.c).
MC 2.19.110 is a rare private-property tree rule, and it restricts planting rather than removal: "It shall be unlawful to plant willow, cottonwood, or poplar trees anywhere in the City unless the City Manager approves the site as one where the tree roots will not be likely to interfere with a public sewer."
The Willamette River Greenway overlay, LDC Chapter 3.41, does not independently regulate tree removal; it defers to the underlying natural-resource chapters.

What we could not confirm

We would rather tell you what we don't know than guess. Call the office below to confirm these before you cut.

— Whether the Tree Permit carries any fee. The form shows none and no tree permit line appears on any city fee page, but no comprehensive Parks and Recreation fee schedule was located to rule one out.
— The current dollar amount of the monthly Urban Forest Management Fee under MC Chapter 3.09, which is set by Council resolution.
— The Urban Forester's individual name. The city's Urban Forestry Staff page returns HTTP 403 to the public.
— Permit turnaround time. Only "The forester will get back to you once they have reviewed the application" is published.
— Whether Heritage Trees are regulatory. Two city pages disagree. Development Services lists "Heritage Trees" among "several regulations that may prevent the removal of an existing tree(s)," while the Parks and Recreation Heritage Trees page states "This program is voluntary and carries no regulatory component." No Heritage Tree provision was found in either code, which weighs toward the Parks statement, but both are reported.
— Whether LDC Chapter 4.12 has been amended since Ord. No. 2012-18. That is the only ordinance cited within the chapter, and section-level histories there are sparse.
— Administrative policies incorporated by reference. MC 2.19.190 incorporates supporting policies "as if set out completely," including a Hazard Tree Abatement policy and standards for planting, pruning and excavation. These were not retrieved and may contain additional binding requirements.
— Benton County rules for properties outside city limits but inside the Urban Growth Boundary. LDC 4.12.100.b references vegetation "planted in compliance with Benton County permit approvals or standards" in the Urban Fringe, implying a separate county regime.
— A cross-reference error in the Land Development Code: LDC 4.14.50.06.e.1 directs hazardous tree removal requests to "Section 4.2.20.l," but the Hazardous Tree Removal provision is at 4.2.20.i and there is no subsection "l" governing hazard trees.
— The name of the advisory body differs between code and website. MC 2.19.050 names the "Citizens Advisory Commission on Civic Beautification and Urban Forestry (CBUF)"; the city's web pages call it the "Civic Beautification and Urban Forestry Department Advisory Committee."

Sources

Who to contact in Corvallis

Urban Forestry, Corvallis Parks and Recreation Department (street, park-strip and public trees; hazard tree evaluations). For private-property overlays and "does my lot have a restriction," Development Services.

(541) 754-1723 (Urban Forestry). Development Services: (541) 766-6929. Parks and Recreation administration: 541-766-6918. UrbanForestry@corvallisoregon.gov Official page

Urban Forestry, 1310 SW Avery Park Drive, Corvallis, OR 97333. Development Services, 501 SW Madison Ave., Corvallis, OR 97333.

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Size threshold

What's protected in Corvallis

Street trees and public trees, at essentially any size. MC 2.19.060(2): "No property owner shall prune or remove any street or public tree in the City without first obtaining a permit to do so from the City Manager." The park strip is defined at MC 2.19.020(6) as "The space between the curb and sidewalk."

Significant Vegetation Areas — Highly Protected (HPSV) and Partially Protected (PPSV-1 through PPSV-4) areas on the Significant Vegetation Map. LDC 4.12.50.b prohibits removing any tree greater than four inches caliper, any shrub over four feet in height, and any ground cover or soil, unless exempted or allowed under a Significant Vegetation Management Plan or a development or construction permit. This binds existing lots, because the prohibition is on the activity.

Riparian corridors and riparian-related areas — an outright prohibition. LDC 4.13.50.a: "Removal of vegetation from Riparian Corridors and Riparian-related Areas is prohibited, except for the following purposes," with ten enumerated exceptions including stream restoration, invasive removal, and hazardous tree removal.

Locally Protected Wetlands, where removal of vegetation is prohibited except for Department of State Lands-approved restoration and a short list of the riparian exceptions.

Slopes of 35 percent or greater, with no size threshold at all. LDC 4.14.50.06.e: "No tree cutting is allowed on slopes equal to or greater than 35 percent," except hazardous trees, development allowed under the hillside provisions, or a permitted utility.

Historically Significant Trees on a Designated Historic Resource property, which are excluded from the Historic Preservation Permit exemption and require review under LDC Chapter 2.9.

How to apply in Corvallis

1
Check your address for overlays first. Use the Significant Vegetation Areas Map or the city's interactive Property Information Lookup, and call Development Services at 541-766-6929 with a specific property question. The city states: "If you have questions regarding tree removal or protection provisions for a specific property, please contact Development Services at 541-766-6929."
2
For a street or public tree, review the permitted activities on the Forestry Permits page and download the Tree Permit form.
3
Complete the form, initialling the statement "I am familiar with the provisions of Corvallis Municipal Code, Chapter 2.19 Tree and Park Strip Planting and LDC Chapter 4," and check the requested action: Remove, Root Prune, Plant, Prune, or Work in Root Zone.
4
Identify tree type, number of trees and location, and provide "a drawing showing the tree(s) location on the property relative to other features or structures." Give the address of work, begin date and completion date.
5
State whether someone else is performing the work and name them and their insurance company. Per the city, "tree work must be done by an approved volunteer or by a licensed and insured tree company."
6
Sign the indemnification clause and submit to the Urban Forester. The city states: "The forester will get back to you once they have reviewed the application to schedule a meeting on site if necessary."
7
For a hazardous tree, LDC 4.2.20.i requires that except in emergencies, removal "may only occur following the City Urban Forester's approval of a Hazard Tree Evaluation, which recommends tree removal," performed by an ISA Certified Arborist or ASCA Consulting Arborist using the 12-point hazard evaluation method.

Fees, penalties, and the ordinance

Fee

Not published. The city's official Tree Permit form shows no fee line, no payment instruction and no dollar amount, and no tree permit line item appears on the city's fee pages. This is recorded as "not published" rather than "free" — confirm with the Urban Forester. Separately, and not a permit fee, MC Chapter 3.09 imposes a monthly Urban Forest Management Fee "upon all utility accounts within the City limits" to support maintenance of the city's tree canopy.

Penalties

MC 2.19.180, for street and public trees: "Any person violating any provision of this Chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00 per tree ... In the event that a tree or trees are damaged, destroyed or wrongfully removed, the appraised value of the plant may be additionally applied to this penalty," appraised under the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers Guide for Plant Appraisal. For Significant Vegetation, LDC 4.12.100.a is harsher: "Any tree removed from a HPSV or PPSV area in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter shall have its losses mitigated by replacement of trees and irrigation within the HPSV or PPSV area in an amount equal to 50 percent of the appraised value of the damaged or removed vegetation," with any shortfall paid into the Urban Forestry Project Account, plus a fine of $50 to $100 for each day mitigation has not occurred beyond the ordered deadline.

Ordinance

Corvallis Municipal Code Chapter 2.19 — Tree and Park Strip Planting, adopted by Ord. 2005-06 § 3, April 18, 2005, amended by Ord. 2011-03 (2011) and Ord. 2020-17 (2020). It superseded the now-repealed MC Chapters 10.01 (Street Trees), 10.06 (Downtown Tree Management Program) and 2.02 (Parking Strip Planting). Private-property overlays are in the Land Development Code: Chapter 4.12, Significant Vegetation Protection Provisions (Ord. No. 2012-18, effective December 13, 2012); Chapter 4.13, Riparian Corridor and Wetland Provisions (Ord. No. 2023-01, effective February 8, 2023); Chapter 4.14, Landslide Hazard and Hillside Development Provisions (most recently Ord. No. 2024-26, effective January 1, 2025). The Code of Ordinances is codified through Ordinance No. 2026-17, enacted April 20, 2026 (Supp. No. 69); the Land Development Code through Ordinance No. 2025-41, adopted August 18, 2025 (Supp. No. 6). Note the two codes run on different supplement cycles.

Worth knowing

Street trees are the clearest yes. The city states: "Street trees (located in the public right-of-way, typically in a planting strip) are under the purview of the City Urban Forester ... A permit must be obtained from the City Urban Forester prior to the pruning, removal or planting of any street tree." Pruning is included: "trees in the parking strip belong to all of us so a permit is required to prune these trees."
Removal of a street tree is generally permitted only for four reasons, per the city: the tree is no longer structurally sound as determined by the Urban Forester or City Arborist; it presents an irreconcilable barrier to development of private property; it presents a significant and irreconcilable hazard to vital infrastructure; or it presents a risk to other trees due to disease or a pathogen.
After a storm the permit requirement can be suspended. MC 2.19.060(3) lets the City Manager "declare an emergency suspension of the permit requirements, for the removal and pruning only, of damaged trees," for no more than 21 days per declaration.
The city can ORDER removal on private property, and lien the property if you do not comply. MC 2.19.150 declares a nuisance any tree "growing in or upon any park strip, street rights-of-way, or public place, or on private property which is endangering or which in any way may endanger the security or usefulness of any public street, sewer or sidewalk, or which in any way may be dangerous to life or property." Failure to act within 30 days of notice lets the City do the work and assess the cost, and "That lien shall have priority over all other liens and encumbrances of any character."
The Livability Code compels removal of "All trees which are dead, dying or dangerous and are determined by the City Forester or a private certified arborist to require removal in order to safeguard people or property," and of dead bushes, dead trees and stumps subject to a naturescaping exception.
Dutch elm disease is a special case where the City removes your tree free and you may not. MC 5.05.040 permits the City Manager "to cut or remove any trees or portions of trees at no charge to the property owners," and MC 5.05.060 provides that "No person, other than City personnel or City-authorized agent ... shall discard or remove any Dutch elm disease infected elm tree or part thereof." Violation is a Class A Infraction.
Contractor-side regulation reaches public trees only. MC 2.19.040 bars accepting payment for pruning, root pruning, planting or removing "any street, or public tree(s) within the City of Corvallis" without meeting state licensing requirements, registration with the appropriate Contractors Board, and the required insurance and bond. It does not reach a contractor working a private back yard, though state law still requires an LCB or CCB licence.
Fire fuel breaks are exempt even inside Significant Vegetation. LDC 4.12.30.d allows clearing a minimum of 30 feet out from a structure or to the property line, a maximum of 40 feet in all directions, expanding downslope to 50, 75 or 100 feet on steeper ground, with trees spaced at least 15 feet apart, plus a fire escape route up to 14 feet wide.
Hazardous tree removal inside Significant Vegetation is an "exemption" that still requires city review and mandatory replacement with native species from the City of Corvallis Native Plant List (LDC 4.12.30.c).
MC 2.19.110 is a rare private-property tree rule, and it restricts planting rather than removal: "It shall be unlawful to plant willow, cottonwood, or poplar trees anywhere in the City unless the City Manager approves the site as one where the tree roots will not be likely to interfere with a public sewer."
The Willamette River Greenway overlay, LDC Chapter 3.41, does not independently regulate tree removal; it defers to the underlying natural-resource chapters.

What we could not confirm

We would rather tell you what we don't know than guess. Call the office below to confirm these before you cut.

— Whether the Tree Permit carries any fee. The form shows none and no tree permit line appears on any city fee page, but no comprehensive Parks and Recreation fee schedule was located to rule one out.
— The current dollar amount of the monthly Urban Forest Management Fee under MC Chapter 3.09, which is set by Council resolution.
— The Urban Forester's individual name. The city's Urban Forestry Staff page returns HTTP 403 to the public.
— Permit turnaround time. Only "The forester will get back to you once they have reviewed the application" is published.
— Whether Heritage Trees are regulatory. Two city pages disagree. Development Services lists "Heritage Trees" among "several regulations that may prevent the removal of an existing tree(s)," while the Parks and Recreation Heritage Trees page states "This program is voluntary and carries no regulatory component." No Heritage Tree provision was found in either code, which weighs toward the Parks statement, but both are reported.
— Whether LDC Chapter 4.12 has been amended since Ord. No. 2012-18. That is the only ordinance cited within the chapter, and section-level histories there are sparse.
— Administrative policies incorporated by reference. MC 2.19.190 incorporates supporting policies "as if set out completely," including a Hazard Tree Abatement policy and standards for planting, pruning and excavation. These were not retrieved and may contain additional binding requirements.
— Benton County rules for properties outside city limits but inside the Urban Growth Boundary. LDC 4.12.100.b references vegetation "planted in compliance with Benton County permit approvals or standards" in the Urban Fringe, implying a separate county regime.
— A cross-reference error in the Land Development Code: LDC 4.14.50.06.e.1 directs hazardous tree removal requests to "Section 4.2.20.l," but the Hazardous Tree Removal provision is at 4.2.20.i and there is no subsection "l" governing hazard trees.
— The name of the advisory body differs between code and website. MC 2.19.050 names the "Citizens Advisory Commission on Civic Beautification and Urban Forestry (CBUF)"; the city's web pages call it the "Civic Beautification and Urban Forestry Department Advisory Committee."