Fort Smith, AR Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

Fort Smith's tree-protection framework does not include a dedicated heritage- or specimen-tree registry of the type found in many Tree City USA communities. The Fort Smith Municipal Code, available at https://library.municode.com/ar/fort_smith, contains no chapter requiring permits or special protection for large-diameter or historically significant trees on private property. Notable mature-tree resources within Fort Smith include the Fort Smith National Historic Site (managed by the U.S. National Park Service under separate federal authority), Carol Ann Cross Park, Creekmore Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park, and the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center (an Arkansas Game & Fish Commission facility just east of the city). Trees within these municipal park properties fall under Fort Smith Parks & Recreation jurisdiction, and trees within the Fort Smith National Historic Site fall under National Park Service jurisdiction (54 U.S.C. §100101 et seq.). Specimen trees on private property may be voluntarily protected through conservation easements with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (https://www.arkansasheritage.com/anhc) or regional land trusts, which create enforceable restrictions surviving sale. For development sites, the Fort Smith Unified Development Ordinance (Chapter 27) and Planning Commission may impose tree-inventory and tree-to-be-saved conditions as part of site-plan approval. The Arkansas Department of Agriculture's Urban & Community Forestry program supports Tree City USA designation across Arkansas, with 51 designated Arkansas communities reporting on community-forestry expenditure and Arbor Day observance.