Stafford County, VA Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

Section 24-22 defines a "heritage tree" as any tree individually designated by the board of supervisors to have notable historic or cultural interest, alongside two related categories in the same section: a "memorial tree," designated as a special commemorating memorial, and a "specimen tree," designated for its outstanding size and quality for its species. Section 24-23 sets the designation procedure: the recommendation for special designation must come from an arborist or urban forester, and the designation itself is made by ordinance adopted by the board of supervisors.

Before the board holds its hearing on that designation ordinance, the individual property owner of the tree must be notified by certified mail of the proposed designation. Once a tree carries heritage, memorial or specimen status, it becomes subject to the removal, relocation and alteration restrictions of section 24-24, which require 14 days' written notice to the county administrator and a qualifying safety or disease condition before any work affecting the tree or its canopy can proceed. Article III's protections do not reach ordinary, undesignated trees, and section 24-25 separately exempts routine home landscaping and several other categories of work from the article entirely.