Bonner County, ID Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

The rule sits in Bonner County Revised Code § 12-714, Shoreline Vegetative Buffer, and applies in unincorporated Bonner County, Idaho. The buffer management area covers all lands within forty feet (40') of shorelines. Along perennial streams, standing trees, including conifers, hardwoods and snags, must be left within forty feet (40') of the ordinary high water mark on each side of the stream. Table 7-1 sets the minimum per one thousand feet (1,000') of stream on each side. Trees of 3" to 7.9" diameter at breast height: 200 on every stream width.

Trees of 8" to 11.9": 42 on every stream width. Trees of 12" to 19.9": 21 on streams over 20' wide and on streams 10' to 20' wide, none counted for streams under 10'. Trees of 20" and up: 4, counted only on streams over 20' wide. Diameter is measured 4.5' above mean ground level. Snags count toward a diameter class only if the snag height exceeds one and one-half times the distance between the snag and the ordinary high water mark, and not more than fifty percent (50%) of any class can be snags.

Pruning is capped at one-third of a tree's height to protect tree health, or up to one-half of the height where defensible space is a high priority. Section 12-714(E) exempts removal of trees infected by a pathogen or attacked by insects that threaten the surrounding trees, and removal of trees hazardous to public health or safety because of the risk of falling when structural instability cannot be remedied and the injury is natural, such as weather or animal damage. For shoreland subdivisions, the buffer area is delineated on the final plat, and the applicant can be required to plant vegetation from appendix B of Title 12 before final plat approval. The Planning Director enforces Title 12 under § 12-130.