What does Lincoln's tree by-law cover on a private lot?

The Town's page says By-law 2025-40 protects trees on private property in Lincoln's Urban Areas, and trees in the Rural Area on land tied to a planning application or identified as a Natural Environment Area, and that its Private Tree By-law Protection Area map shows whether an address is covered. In the Urban Area, injuring or removing a tree 15 centimetres or more in diameter at 1.37 metres above the ground needs an application and either a permit or an exemption letter; in a Natural Environment Area or on land with a pending planning application, trees of any size are covered. Dead, hazardous or invasive trees can be exempt from fees and replanting, but the application is still needed.

For other trees the fee is $50 a tree for individuals, replacement trees are set by trunk size, cash in lieu is $250 for each replacement tree that can't be planted, and removing three or more such trees needs a security deposit. The by-law, passed on 22 September 2025, also covers heritage trees designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, and leaves woodlands of 0.5 hectares or more, as defined by Niagara Region's Woodland Conservation By-law, outside its scope. A rule summary says what the by-law covers; it doesn't say who owns a given tree or how wide its trunk is.

• Tree Protection: the Town's page on the by-law, the protection area map, exemptions, fees and replanting
• Private Property Tree By-law 2025-40: the by-law (PDF)
• By-law 2026-31: the amendment adding the private tree removal fees to the 2026 fees and charges (PDF)

Tree and ravine limits is in the free check as a summary of the Town's rule, from our hand-kept table, with a link to the Town's page. It is a rule for the town, not a survey of the trees on a lot.

Free check: pick “Tree and ravine limits” See the sample report