Edmonds, WA Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

ECDC 17.130.020 defines a "protected tree" as a tree identified for retention and protection on an approved tree retention and protection plan, one required as replacement under a permit or plan, or one permanently protected by easement, tract, or covenant restriction. ECDC 17.130.050 then locks that status in with a near-blanket prohibition. Removal of a protected tree is barred outright except through the hazard or nuisance tree exemption in ECDC 17.130.040(F) or an approved modification of the landscape plan. On a vacant lot, trees cannot be cleared ahead of a project's development review, again except for documented hazard or nuisance trees.

Where a structure is being demolished, tree removal is prohibited as part of that demolition except to the extent reasonably necessary to carry out the demolition itself, and any tree that does come down still triggers the replacement requirements of ECDC 17.130.080. Inside critical areas, their buffers, or any native growth protection easement, tree removal is prohibited entirely except as allowed under the city's separate critical areas chapter, Chapter 23.10 ECDC. If a protected tree is ultimately removed under one of these narrow exceptions, ECDC 17.130.080(G) requires the replacement ratio to be set through an individualized determination of the tree's environmental value, using best available science on factors like carbon sequestration, stormwater mitigation and biodiversity support, rather than the standard size-based ratio applied to ordinary significant trees.