Increase in illegal tree cutting sparks government action in the Township of Langley

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The Township of Langley’s government is cracking down on illegal tree cutting causing damage to the urban tree canopy and diminishing green spaces. 

A tree protection bylaw has been in effect in the Township of Langley since 2019 to help protect trees, regulate cutting, and outline replanting requirements. As per the bylaw, property owners have to apply for a permit to cut or remove a tree on their property. Without a valid permit, fines and additional tree replacement could be imposed. 

In some cases, property owners’ requests to dispute their fines have been rejected by council, and the township is urging people to familiarize themselves with the law and apply for tree removal permits, which usually takes up to four business days to get processed. 

As per the enforcement efforts, tree owners must fill out an online tree removal/cutting application form along with a detailed site plan, an authorization form signed by the owner when applicable, an arborist report if removing five or more trees, and photographic evidence of the tree if it is “dead, dying, diseased, or damaged beyond expectations of recovery.” 

“I believe on part of members of council to motivate the retention of trees and not have trees removed without a permit,” Langley Township Mayor Eric Woodward says. 

The application fee for all permits concerning tree removal is $150 which will be valid for 12 months from the date of issue specified on the permit. Tree removals required to facilitate a building permit should be submitted through a separate tree cutting/removal declaration form along with the building permit application. 

Removing protected trees are limited to situations including trees that are dying or damaged and trees with “unresolvable conflicts with buildings or utilities.” Trimming or pruning any tree does not require a permit, unless they are more than eight metres in height.

Education and enforcement efforts are ramping up, with there being fines of up to $10,500 for each tree cut. Some tree cutters owe the township an excess of $100,000 for breaking tree removal bylaws. 

“A lot of people value having mature trees in their neighbourhoods. And so, if you’re going to be removing them, it’s important to have a permit to do that,” Woodward says. 

To help set goals, targets, and actions to protect forest areas in the township, a community forest management strategy has been in effect since May 2022. Created with input and support from the township’s tree protection advisory committee, the strategy aims to increase tree canopy in urban areas from 23 per cent to 30 per cent. 

“Without a strategy in place, it is forecast that the tree canopy will continue declining, due to natural tree mortality and urbanization,” reads the Township of Langley’s website. 

Noni Cicuto, founding member of Greater Langley Tree Stewardship, wrote in an email statement to The Runner that ​while she is glad that there is a bylaw in place for illegal tree cutting in Langley Township, its effectiveness is questionable due to administrative issues, such as current staff being unable to keep up with workload and the ability to interpret and apply the law to individual cases. 

“Laws themselves are useless without the proper enforcement,” she wrote. 

While the current fines imposed are just, there is a disparity between individual private landowners and corporate private landowners about the same, Cicuto wrote.

“Lands under development application, rezoning or subdivision are exempt from the Tree Protection Bylaw. Corporate developers follow their own standards … which has resulted in complete clearing of the land and very little to no retention of mature healthy trees,” Cicuto wrote.

“When you consider that these corporate developers own or have owned hundreds to thousands of acres, you can clearly see their impact on our diminishing tree canopy is much more extensive than any individual landowner.”

For more information about tree cutting and removal, read the application guide at shorturl.at/JUYWP.