Fort Worth's Tree Preservation regulations under the Unified Development Code (commonly cited as Title 17) protect heritage and historic trees including post oak, blackjack oak, bur oak, pecan, and bald cypress along the Trinity River corridor and in the Stockyards, with mitigation, replacement, and removal-permit rules.
Fort Worth's Urban Forestry Ordinance, integrated into the Unified Development Code, treats certain native species as protected when they reach defined diameter thresholds at breast height. Heritage trees include post oak, blackjack oak, bur oak, live oak, pecan, cedar elm, and bald cypress, especially within riparian corridors along the Trinity River, Marine Creek, and Sycamore Creek and within the Stockyards Historic District overlay. Removing a protected tree requires a city Urban Forestry permit, a tree survey, and either replacement on a caliper-inch basis or payment into the Fort Worth Tree Fund. Construction near protected trees must use approved root-protection zones. Code Compliance and Urban Forestry inspect sites and issue stop-work orders for unauthorized removals.
Removing or topping a protected heritage species without a permit, encroaching inside a critical root zone during construction, ignoring required mitigation plantings, or refusing inspections triggers fines per inch removed and stop-work orders.
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth regulates tree removal through the Urban Forestry Standards in the Zoning Ordinance (Article 6, Division 2). A tree removal permit is required for...
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth's Urban Forestry Standards provide enhanced protection for heritage trees. Heritage trees are defined as healthy trees with a trunk diameter of 24...
See how Fort Worth's protected tree species rules stack up against other locations.
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