Skip to main content

Bellevue home

  • Bellevue Home
  • City Government
    • Boards, Commissions and Committees
    • City Code, Resolutions and Ordinances
    • City Council
    • Communications
    • Departments
    • East Bellevue Community Council
    • Hot Topics and Initiatives
    • Public Records Requests
    • Sister Cities
  • Departments
    • City Attorney's Office
    • City Clerk's Office
    • City Manager's Office
    • Communications
    • Community Development
    • Development Services
    • Emergency Management
    • Finance & Asset Management
    • Fire
    • Human Resources
    • Information Technology
    • Parks & Community Services
    • Police
    • Transportation
    • Utilities
  • Discover Bellevue
    • About Us
    • Bellevue Television
    • City News
    • Things to Do
    • Arts in Bellevue
    • Parks and Trails
    • Economic Development
  • Doing Business
    • Building and Zoning
    • Doing Business in Bellevue
    • Doing Business with Bellevue
  • Public Safety
    • Police
    • Fire
    • Emergencies and Extreme Weather
    • Emergency Preparedness
    • Municipal Court
    • Neighborhood Traffic Safety
    • Probation
    • Public Defenders
  • Resident Resources
    • Resident Services
    • Customer Assistance
    • Conflict Assistance
    • Diversity Advantage
    • Languages
    • Neighborhoods
    • Newcomers Guide
    • Permits, Parking and Utilities
    • Volunteering
    • Local Service Agencies
    • Volunteering
City of Bellevue, WA Community Development
English Español 简体中文 繁體中文 日本語 한국어 Pусский Tiếng Việt
bellevue home

MyBellevue Chatbot

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. City Government
  3. Departments
  4. Community Development
  5. Environmental Stewardship
  6. Trees
  7. Heritage Trees

    Trees

    • Tree Giveaway
    • Neighborhood Tree Ambassadors
    • Tree Tours
    • Tree Health Check
    • Heritage Trees

    Heritage Trees

    Through the Heritage Tree program, the city celebrates exceptional trees in Bellevue notable for their history, botanical value or landmark value. This program encourages the preservation of large, valuable trees and increases awareness about Bellevue’s urban forest as part of our Environmental Stewardship Plan’s tree canopy goals.

    As part of planning efforts to preserve city character and take advantage of the benefits trees provide, the city has set a goal of 40% canopy in every neighborhood in the city by 2050. Our citywide canopy cover was last estimated at 37% in 2017, though different neighborhoods have varying canopy. While a 3% increase may not seem significant, the city and the public need to preserve many more trees and plant at least 2,500 trees a year to meet our goals.

    Heritage Trees can be on city or private property. Candidate trees are assessed by city staff and/or trained volunteers before being designated as Heritage Trees. Trees must have the owner’s approval and meet criteria for health and value.

    Criteria

    • Botanical Specimen: of exceptional form, size or rarity
    • Historic: associated with a notable person, historical event or a contribution to a historic landscape or structure or its age.
    • Community Landmark: of significance to a community
    • Group: notable group of trees such as a grove or along an avenue

     Heritage Tree Nomination

    The Heritage Tree program is voluntary. There are no code restrictions currently, but if you are looking to learn more about city tree codes:

    • Clearing and grading (BCC 23.76.035) discusses requirements for removing trees on private property, including permit requirements and construction work
    • Tree retention and replacement (LUC20.20.900) discusses requirements for preserving and replacing trees on private property in the Bridle Trails R-1 Land Use Area

    Contact

    Christean Jenkins
    AmeriCorps Urban Forestry Specialist
    Telephone
    425-452-7909
    Email
    CJenkins@bellevuewa.gov

    City of Bellevue sealCity of Bellevue, WA

    • 450 110th Avenue NE
    • Bellevue, WA 98004
    • Directions to City Hall
    • Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

    Footer Menu Contacts

    • 425-452-6800
    • servicefirst@bellevuewa.gov
    • MyBellevue Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us / Employee Directory
    • Careers
    • ADA/Title VI Notices

    Languages

    • English
    • Español
    • 简体中文
    • 繁體中文
    • 日本語
    • 한국어
    • Pусский
    • Tiếng Việt

    About Bellevue

    All America City shield logo for Bellevue

    Learn more about us

    Social Media

    Tweets by bellevuewa

    Footer Menu Social Media

    © 2019 City of Bellevue | All Rights Reserved. | ADA/Title VI Notices | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Site Map