The Maryland Roadside Tree Law - Permits Required

.03 Permits Required

  1. You may cut down or prune a roadside tree without a permit if the tree:
    1. is uprooted or its branches are broken and are in contact with telephone, telegraph, electric power, or other wires carrying electricity, or if the tree (or its branches) is an immediate danger to person or property; or
    2. stands within the right of way of a public road that has not been surfaced with stone, shell, gravel, concrete, brick, asphalt, or other improved surface material. You may do so only if the tree is cut down and removed by, or at the request of, the abutting landowner for the landowner's own use.
  2. Except as provided above, a person shall obtain a permit to perform tree care to a roadside tree.
  3. The person providing tree care under A (1) of this regulation must inform the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service by calling or writing within one week of the action taken. Inform the Forest Service of the place or general area where the action was taken, and, if necessary, propose a plan to upgrade the work to tree care standards. The Forest Service will approve, modify, or reject your proposed plan two weeks following an examination of the work.