Do you need a permit?
It depends on the tree
Springfield rewrote its tree chapter in March 2024 and it now reaches private yards. The rule turns on whether your tree is a "significant tree" — 3 feet DBH or more, or 75 years old or older. If it is, the code says it plainly: it is unlawful to cut, trim, prune or remove it "even if such person is the owner of the fee in the land on which such tree is situated," except under a written permit from the City Forester. Below that threshold, Chapter 368 does not apply.
Size threshold
"SIGNIFICANT TREE — Any tree which is 75 years old or older, or which has a DBH of three feet or more on public or private property." Note that this is an either-or test, so an older slender tree can qualify on age alone. DBH is measured at 4.5 feet from the existing grade; where a tree splits into multiple trunks below 4.5 feet, DBH is taken at the narrowest point beneath the split.
What's protected in Springfield
- Significant trees — 75 years or older, or 3 feet DBH or greater, on public OR private property. Permit required to cut, trim, prune or remove in whole or in part.
- Public shade trees under M.G.L. c.87 — permit plus, where the Forester decides one is needed, a public hearing at the applicant's expense.
- Other city-owned trees, which cannot be removed without prior written approval from the City Forester.
- Any tree within 10 feet of a city tree during construction, which requires a Forestry permit.
- Trees in or within 100 feet of a wetland, bank, lake, pond, stream or vernal pool. Springfield's own wetlands chapter defines "alter" to include "Destruction of plant life, including cutting of trees," and sets a 50-foot undisturbed buffer where no work is allowed.
How to apply in Springfield
- 1
Work out the tree's age and DBH yourself. Section 368-6(C) puts that duty on you: "Each person shall be responsible for ascertaining the age and diameter (DBH) of any tree prior to such person cutting, trimming or removing same."
- 2
If it qualifies as a significant tree, apply in writing to the City Forester. Call the Forestry Division at (413) 787-7787 or email the City Forester.
- 3
Expect a narrow standard. The Forester "shall grant such permit only upon a showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the continued present state of such tree endangers persons or property or is diseased or damaged."
- 4
If denied, you may apply directly to the Park Commission on hardship grounds, where hardship means "the loss of an advantage" and can include a monetary advantage or the ability to put the property to a particular use.
Fees, penalties, and the ordinance
- Fee
- Published fees are for public shade trees: "The public shade tree removal permit fee shall be $25. The public shade tree removal hearing fee shall be $400." The pruning permit is also $25, and planting and stump removal permits on City-owned land are free. Payment in lieu of replanting is $50 per DBH inch removed.
- Penalties
- "Any person who violates any other section of this chapter shall be fined up to $500 per violation or up to triple damages of the valuation of the tree, as set forth in MGL c. 242, s. 7." Tree value is calculated using the Reproduction Method Truck Formula Technique, so a mature 36-inch tree tripled is a large number. Fines may be appealed in writing to the Park Commission within 30 days.
- Ordinance
- Springfield City Code Chapter 368 — Tree Protection, sections 368-1 through 368-9. Amended in its entirety 3-18-2024, which also changed the chapter title from "Trees" to "Tree Protection." Section 368-6 is the private-property provision. Springfield City Code Chapter 417 covers Wetlands.
Worth knowing
- The March 2024 rewrite is the whole story here. Anything written about Springfield tree rules before spring 2024 is stale.
- Chapter 368 covers pruning, not just felling. Heavy pruning of a 36-inch oak in your own yard is permit territory in Springfield.
- A healthy significant tree is very hard to remove legally. Wanting more sun or fewer leaves gets you nowhere with the City Forester — the only route is the hardship application to the Park Commission.
- Springfield's tree warden is a board, not a person: "The Park Commission is hereby designated as the City's tree warden for purposes of MGL c. 87, s. 4." It may delegate to the City Forester, and in practice does.
- The city also puts liability on you for your own tree overhanging the street. If the City Forester finds a defect making it unsafe for travel in the public way and you do not fix it in time, the city hires a vendor and bills you.
- Springfield residents and businesses can get free trees planted on their property through the Greening the Gateway Cities partnership with MA DCR.
- You can check whether a street-adjacent tree is a city tree before touching it using the city's public tree inventory at springfieldma.treekeepersoftware.com.
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 there is any fee for a significant-tree permit on private property. Chapter 368 prices public shade tree permits but is silent on section 368-6 permits, and Chapter 175 (Fees) does not fill the gap.
- — The application form and submission channel for a significant-tree permit. No PDF or online form is published; the process appears to be direct contact with the Forestry Division.
- — Review turnaround time for a section 368-6 permit.
- — Whether any emergency or storm-damage exemption exists for a hazardous significant tree on private property. Chapter 368 contains no express exemption. Call Forestry before cutting.
- — Whether Springfield's zoning ordinance adds tree or landscaping requirements on development. Zoning is not part of the eCode360 codification, so it could not be checked from a primary source.