Do you need a permit?
No permit required for most private trees
Reno has the most developed tree program in Nevada - an Urban Forester, an Urban Forestry Commission, a landmark tree register and about 22,000 city trees - and none of it requires a permit for a tree on your own property. The permit section, RMC 8.32.040, reaches trees "upon any street or public place," and "public place" is defined as "all land or property owned, or held, or under the control of the city." Even Reno landmark trees are defined as trees "on public property." The one thing that changes the answer is construction: if you pull a grading or building permit, the Land Development Code steps in.
Size threshold
None for private trees. There is no diameter, caliper or DBH threshold anywhere in RMC Chapter 8.32. The Land Development Code uses a preservation test rather than a size test: LDC 18.04.105(b) says a tree counts as preserved "only if a minimum of 75 percent of the critical root zone is maintained at undisturbed natural grade and no more than 25 percent of the canopy is removed due to building encroachment," and LDC 18.04.105(c) computes tree credit by "dividing the preserved tree diameter by 2.5."
What's protected in Reno
- Trees on any street or public place. RMC 8.32.040(a): "No tree, plant, shrub or vine shall be planted or set out upon any street or public place in the city, and no tree, plant, shrub or vine located upon any street or public place shall be removed, pruned, cut, shaped, sprayed or chemically treated without a written permit first being obtained from the urban forester." The same subsection contains an unusual clause worth knowing before you hire anyone: "Once planted, all such plants and any subsequent biomass resulting from tree removal or pruning, including firewood, becomes property of the City of Reno."
- Landmark trees - but read the definition. RMC 8.32.010: "Landmark trees includes those trees on public property having special status due to their age, size, shape, species, location, historical association, visual quality or other contribution to the city's character." RMC 8.32.040(c): "Approval to remove landmark trees shall be at the discretion of the city council upon recommendation of the Reno Urban Forestry Commission. Removal of any landmark trees for construction activities shall require payment to the city for the value of the landmark tree." Because the definition is limited to public property, a landmark designation cannot reach a tree in your back yard.
- Mature healthy trees on a site under construction, along the right-of-way or in the front yard. LDC 18.04.105(d): "Where existing mature, healthy trees, as determined by the Administrator in consultation with the Urban Forester, are removed along public rights-of-way or in the front yard as a result of any construction, they shall be replaced based on the size of the tree, with deciduous trees of a minimum caliper of 2 1/2 inches and evergreen trees with a minimum height of ten feet. The maximum tree penalty for this section is 30 percent."
- Any diseased or hazardous tree anywhere in the city, which the code reaches as a nuisance rather than through a permit. RMC 8.32.100 covers any tree "located anywhere within the city" that the urban forester finds "afflicted with any dangerous and infectious insect infestation." Separate sections cover Dutch elm disease (8.32.110) and infected or decaying trees (8.32.120).
How to apply in Reno
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These steps apply only to a tree in the street, parkway, park or other city property. For a tree behind your own lot line, Reno requires nothing.
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RMC 8.32.060(a): file an application with the urban forester on the form he prescribes. The permit "shall specifically describe the work to be done and the manner in which the work should be done, and shall be valid not more than 60 days after the date of its issuance."
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Be prepared for a condition. RMC 8.32.040(b) lets the urban forester require "compensation to the city for the value of the removed tree or trees or replacement."
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Hire the right person. RMC 8.32.060(f), effective January 1, 2000: "any person desiring to obtain a permit as required by this chapter must hold a valid and current International Society of Arboriculture Arborist or Tree Worker Certification," except that planting may be done by someone with a Nevada Nursery Certification and pesticide work requires a Nevada pesticide applicator license. Subsection (g) requires all permitted work to be performed or directly supervised by an ISA-certified person.
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All work must conform to current ANSI A300 standards. RMC 8.32.060(e) allows exceptions only "in cases involving storm damaged trees or trees in conflict with overhead utility lines."
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If you are denied, RMC 8.32.060(c) gives you ten days to appeal to the Reno Urban Forestry Commission by filing notice with the city clerk, and subsection (d) gives you a further ten days to appeal from the Commission to the city council.
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For a landmark tree the answer is not the forester at all. RMC 8.32.040(c) puts approval "at the discretion of the city council upon recommendation of the Reno Urban Forestry Commission."
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- No fee is stated in RMC Chapter 8.32 for the public-tree permit. RMC 8.32.040(b) instead provides that "The urban forester, as a condition for a removal permit, may require compensation to the city for the value of the removed tree or trees or replacement," and RMC 8.32.010 sets how that number is produced: "Value of trees shall be determined by the urban forester using the most current edition of the International Society of Arboriculture Guide for Establishing Values of Trees and Other Plants." That is a formula, not a fixed amount, and this file does not attempt to compute it.
- Penalties
- RMC 8.32.180 (Penalty for violations) and 8.32.190 (Criminal prosecution or suit for expenses not prevented) exist but their text was not read. RMC 8.32.140 provides that where a tree is a nuisance the city may order "destruction or cure of such tree, and assess the cost thereof as a lien against the property," and RMC 8.32.160 gives an owner ten days after notice "to cause such tree, plant, shrub or vine to be removed, destroyed, or to initiate curative measures."
- Ordinance
- Reno Municipal Code Chapter 8.32 (Trees and Shrubs), Title 8 (Public Peace, Safety and Morals), derived from the 1966 Code section 11.56 and substantially rewritten by Ord. No. 4196, section 1, adopted March 10, 1992, then amended by Ord. No. 4917, section 1, adopted October 13, 1998 - the 1998 amendment is the one that added the landmark tree and ISA certification provisions. Reno publishes its zoning separately as the Annexation and Land Development Code, Title 18; the tree protection section is LDC 18.04.105 in Chapter 18.04, Article 1 (Natural Resource Protection). Administrative Code current through Ordinance No. 6735, adopted February 25, 2026 (Supp. No. 64). Land Development Code current through Ordinance No. 6732, adopted January 14, 2025 (Supp. No. 5, Update 1).
Worth knowing
- Topping is banned outright on any tree the chapter protects. RMC 8.32.010 defines topping as "the cutting back of the central leader, stem, or limbs to stubs within the tree's crown so as to remove the normal canopy and disfigure the tree" and adds: "Because of numerous problems caused by topping, it is not an accepted practice and shall not be performed on any tree protected under this chapter unless a specific exemption is approved by the urban forester."
- Reno bans planting whole genera. RMC 8.32.080 makes it unlawful to "Plant any and all species of genus Populus (poplar/cottonwood/aspen) tree, or genus Salix (willow) tree on or along any street, parkway or other public property." That is a planting restriction on public land, not a removal rule.
- Reno tells homeowners the responsibility is theirs. The city's urban forestry page states that property owners must remove any dead trees or limbs on their property that create a hazard to public safety or traffic visibility.
- The construction hook is where a Reno homeowner most often meets the tree rules. LDC 18.04.105(a): the standards "apply to all new construction and land-disturbing activity subject to City requirements for a grading or building permit, where the Administrator determines that the construction or land-disturbing activity is expected to adversely affect mature healthy trees on the site." If you are not pulling a permit, this section does not reach you.
- If you are building, the protection measures are prescriptive. LDC 18.04.105(e) requires a tree preservation plan by an arborist, orange flagging tape wrapped around the trunk at four feet or higher, protective fencing, and two-by-four lumber around the full circumference where equipment will be close. Subsection (f) bars material storage, equipment washing, attachments and vehicle traffic inside the critical root zone, and bars grade changes over two inches without the Urban Forester's approval.
- You can trade preserved trees for required ones. LDC 18.04.105(c) gives a credit of preserved tree diameter divided by 2.5, capped at 30 percent of the required number of trees on the lot.
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.
- — The application form, processing time and any administrative fee for the RMC 8.32.040 public-tree permit. The city publishes no form or fee schedule for it online.
- — The dollar amounts the urban forester arrives at using the ISA valuation guide. RMC 8.32.010 defines the method; the city publishes no resulting schedule.
- — The list of designated landmark trees. RMC 8.32.035(b) requires that "The urban forester shall maintain a list of all trees so designated and their location," but the list is not published online.
- — The verbatim text of RMC 8.32.180 and 8.32.190, the penalty sections. Their titles were confirmed but their text was not read.
- — The email address for Reno Parks Maintenance. The city page references one but publishes it in an obfuscated form.
- — Whether Reno licenses tree services generally. RMC 8.32.060 requires ISA certification of anyone applying for a permit under the tree chapter, which covers public trees; whether a business license under Title 4 separately regulates tree work on private property was not confirmed.
- — Whether Truckee Meadows Water Authority or any Reno water-efficient landscape ordinance imposes anything when a tree is removed or replaced.
- — Whether the Truckee River corridor or any Reno overlay adds a tree restriction on an existing developed lot. LDC 18.04 Article 1 is titled Natural Resource Protection and only its tree protection section was read in full.