White Salmon Heritage Tree Ordinance Update

The City of White Salmon’s urban forest provides environmental, health, and aesthetic benefits to the entire community.

The urban forest is a dynamic ecological system that includes canopy trees as well as associated understory vegetation on both public and private land. They contribute to the city’s character and offer a variety of ecosystem services such as reducing urban heat island effects, stormwater absorption, erosion reduction, wildlife habitat and biodiversity, improving mental health and wellness, recreation, and mitigating the impacts of climate change.

The City has two ordinances that currently protect trees: White Salmon Municipal Code (WSMC) 18.40 – Heritage Tree Ordinance 2023-11-1153 for private property protection and WSMC 18.35 Tree Protection Ordinance 2017-09-1013 for protection of trees on public property and right-of-way. The goal of this update is to:

  1. Make regulations easier to understand for when tree protections apply, and what is required
  2. Review tree protection standards for increased flexibility options for multi-family and commercial development.

Urban Forest Management in Action!

Beginning with a survey distributed at this year’s Tree Fest, the City will launch efforts to update municipal codes that are key components to implementing the 2019 Community Forest Management Plan. This survey will remain open through Wednesday, April 3 rd  – so please make sure you weigh in on the direction of this update. Survey results will be posted in early April.

Tree codes are one tool in the City’s natural resource management toolbox that balance urban growth while preserving a vibrant, healthy, and sustainable community.

Check back in end of April to view progress on the current code updates. Tentatively, the code will be publicly available on April 29 th  for comment as part of the City’s 30-day comment period.

Survey Results

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Our Project Schedule is as follows:

Reference materials

Interactive Web Map

ArcGIS Web Application