Clay County, FL Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

The Branan Field Corridor and Greater Lake Asbury District are two mapped, wooded growth areas in unincorporated Clay County near Jennings State Forest and Lake Asbury. Inside these boundaries, Sec. 5-27 makes it unlawful for any person, organization, or corporation to cut down, remove, damage, or destroy a protected tree, or to cause one to die through root damage from heavy machinery, chemicals, paving, or grade changes, unless a tree preservation plan has first been approved. A 'protected tree' under Sec. 5-22 is any tree, except pine, at least six inches in caliper within twenty feet of a right-of-way, eight inches within ten feet of a property line, or twelve inches anywhere on the lot.

Maintenance work such as trimming, pruning, or root disturbance on protected trees in a public easement, property, or right-of-way also needs prior county approval under Sec. 1. Removed protected trees must be replaced: live oaks one-for-one by caliper inch, other species at thirty-three percent of the caliper removed, with the county able to raise that to one hundred percent for significant canopy loss under Sec. 5-30. Where planting space runs short, the owner pays into the Tree Preservation and Protection Trust Fund at the retail nursery value of the missing caliper inches, recalculated every October 1.