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

Section 14-380 of the Land Development Code draws the line for what counts as a protected tree: only species delineated in Appendix E fall under the protection article, subject to the exemptions in Section 14-377 (agricultural land, dead or hazardous trees, utility maintenance clearing, and single-family lots of five acres or less outside the named coastal islands). Every other species not listed in Appendix E may be removed without a permit, but removal must not disturb or destroy the protected trees standing nearby. Section 14-411 backs the list with a permit requirement: no person may deliberately cut down, destroy, remove, relocate, defoliate through chemicals, or otherwise damage a protected tree in unincorporated Lee County without first securing a tree removal permit under Section 14-412.

That permit process requires a written application stating the reason for removal, and for requests to remove more than five trees, a site plan showing lot dimensions, existing and proposed structures, a tree location map, proposed grade changes, and any replacement planting plan. The administrator may approve removal only where a tree poses a safety hazard, blocks reasonable access, is diseased, is storm-weakened, or blocks lawful development, and can instead require on-site relocation. Section 14-383 layers on construction-phase protections, mandating barricades around protected trees (a six-foot radius for mangroves and cabbage palms, full dripline for native pines, two-thirds dripline for others) before land clearing begins.