Elko County, NV Landscaping Rules: Tree Removal & Heritage Trees (2026)

Elko County Code § 5-4-7 is the miscellaneous provisions section of the subdivision regulations, and two of its subsections control tree clearing. Subsection (D), Top Soil and Native Elements, says trees, rock outcrops and other native features must be preserved whenever possible and must be protected during periods of construction. It then states that clearing of top soil, trees and shrubs and other native cover prior to tentative map approval is prohibited by the Board of County Commissioners. The ban runs up to the tentative map approval, so a developer cannot strip a site first and ask later.

Subsection (B), Restrictions on Land Clearing, works at the approval stage. At the time of tentative plat approval, the Planning Commission can impose as a condition of approval restrictions on improvements consisting of the clearing of brush and trees or of the moving of earth by mechanical equipment. Those restrictions can include a provision that no such improvements are made for a given period of time. The condition rests on a determination by the Planning Commission that clearing would present a real danger of pollution, contamination or silting of lakes, rivers, streams or domestic water supplies, of erosion damage, or of alteration of natural drainage patterns in a manner likely to cause damage to property or persons.

Two related rules cover trees in specific places. Under § 5-4-7(F)(2), existing vegetation is preserved within any public way when such growths are suitably located and healthy, and when street trees are required they are planted in accordance with the requirements of the Planning Commission. Under § 5-4-5(C), the conservation easement along all live streams allows no tree or bush removal, gravel excavating, filling or sidecasting of materials within the area.

Because these provisions are in Title 5, they govern land developments under review, and the code text read here does not set up a separate protected tree permit for an individual lot. Elko, Carlin, Wells and West Wendover are incorporated cities with their own codes.