Gulfport, MS Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

Code of Ordinances Sec. 8-3 names eleven protected species by botanical name: live oak, southern magnolia, American sycamore, swamp chestnut oak, overcup oak, shumard oak, nuttall oak, American holly, bald cypress, red maple and willow oak. A tree in that list becomes "protected" once it carries a single or multiple trunk with a total caliper of eight inches, or a circumference of twenty-five inches or more. Sec. 8-4 applies the article to any real property lying in an industrial, business or commercial, or residential district on the Gulfport Comprehensive Zoning District Map, so the rule reaches almost every parcel in the city.

A tree protection advisor, who must be a certified arborist, horticulturist or hold a landscape architecture degree, administers the program and rules on permit applications; decisions are final unless appealed to the city planning commission within fifteen days under Sec. 00 filing fee for the appeal. A three-member tree advisory board created by Sec. 1 advises the mayor and council on preservation policy but does not decide permits. Replacement trees planted to satisfy a removal permit inherit the same protected status once they reach the same caliper threshold, and a replacement tree that dies within two years must be replaced again at the owner's expense under Sec.

8-8. Removing, damaging or destroying a protected tree without a permit is a separate offense for each tree under Sec. 8-18, and enforcement runs through the tree protection advisor and the department of urban development, which may inspect any site and issue a notice to comply by certified mail before citing a violation.