Corvallis, OR Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

Land Development Code Chapter 4.12 protects vegetation the City has mapped as Highly Protected Significant Vegetation (HPSV) or Partially Protected Significant Vegetation (PPSV, in four sub-tiers) within Wildlife Habitat Areas and Isolated Tree Groves identified in the Natural Features Inventory. Section 4.12.50.b makes five activities unlawful within those mapped areas unless specifically exempted under § 4.12.30 or approved through a Significant Vegetation Management Plan, land use permit, or construction permit: cutting a tree over four inches in caliper (measured four feet above grade), cutting a shrub over four feet tall, removing ground cover or soil, site-preparation work such as grading or clearing, and building a fence over four feet tall or of a material that blocks small-animal passage.

Chapter 1.6 defines a protected Significant Tree as one required to be preserved under this Chapter or, outside the inventoried area, one with an eight-inch or greater caliper trunk, and a Significant Shrub the same way at over four feet in height; Invasive and/or Noxious Vegetation, as classified by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, is excluded from both definitions and its removal is one of the exemptions under § 4.12.30. Development on a site with mapped Significant Vegetation cannot get a Building Permit or other land development permit approved without an approved Significant Vegetation Management Plan under § 4.12.90, which sets HPSV/PPSV Mature Tree Canopy Coverage retention targets ranging from 25 to 70 percent depending on the protection tier.