Hawaii County, HI Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

HCC §14-57 defines an exceptional tree as one with historic or cultural value, or notable for age, rarity, location, size, aesthetic quality, or endemic status, excluding commercial forestry stock; trees can be designated by species (biotaxy) or individually. A six-member Arborist Advisory Committee, appointed by the mayor and including the planning director and a landscape architect, studies petitions from any interested person, holds a public hearing, and forwards a proposed list to the County Council under §14-59 and §14-60. The Council can affirm, modify, or reject that list, and the final list is adopted by ordinance; the committee then files official maps with the planning department, department of public works building division, and county clerk.

Before issuing a building or grading permit or approving a final subdivision, the planning department and public works building division may consult the committee under §14-61 to protect exceptional trees on a proposed development site, and the lack of a formal designation doesn't strip the departments of authority to require trees be retained. Section 14-62 puts the planning department in charge of enforcement, letting it issue citations, and states this article is not superseded by any County permit. Section 14-65 names the actual designated trees island-wide by species, tax map key, and owner, such as a Bo (Peepul) tree at the Old Riverside School site in Hilo and a Chinese Weeping Banyan on Kīlauea Avenue.