Landmark Tree Program

San Francisco’s Urban Forestry Council discusses and recommends trees for landmark status at their public meetings.

• Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius),Third Street and Yosemite Street Median
• Blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), 1801 Bush Street, six (6) specimens
• Blue elderberry (Sambucus mexicana), Folsom Street at Bernal Heights Boulevard
• California buckeye (Aesculus californica), 780 28th Avenue
• California buckeye (Aesculus californica), behind 757 Pennsylvania Street
• California buckeye (Aesculus californica), 2694 McAllister Street
• Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis), Quesada Street median west of Third Street
• Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis), 730 Dolores Street median
• Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis), 2251 Filbert Street
• Cliff date palms (Phoenix rupicola), 730 Dolores Street median
• Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), 20-28 Rosemont Place**
• Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), 4124 23rd Street
• Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), 313 Scott Street
• Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), 46 Stillings Avenue
• Cork Oak (Quercus suber), Public right-of-way on 20th Street at Noe Street
• Flaxleaf paperbark (Melaleuca linariifolia), 1701 Franklin Street
• Flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus), 500 Cortland Street (Bernal Heights Library)
• Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), 3066 Market Street
• Guadalupe palm (Brahea edulis),1608 Dolores Street median
• Howell's Manzanita (Arctostaphylos hispidula), 115 Parker Avenue
• Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla), 3555 Cesar Chavez Street
• Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), 2626 Vallejo Street
• New Zealand Christmas tree (Metrosideros excelsa), 1221 Stanyan Street
• Norfolk Island-Cook Island pine hybrid (Araucaria spp.), 46A Cook Street
• Sweet bay (Laurus nobilis), 555 Battery Street

Please note that many trees are in private backyards and are not available for public viewing.

Trees may be nominated for landmark status by:

• The Board of Supervisors
• The Planning Commission
• The Historic Preservation Commission
• City department heads
• The owner or owners of the property where the tree is located

• The Urban Forestry Council oversees the nomination process and develops evaluation criteria.
• Each nomination is reviewed during at least two public meetings held by the Urban Forestry Council.
• The Urban Forestry Council makes a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for each application.
• The Board of Supervisors makes the final decision on whether a tree is officially designated as a Landmark Tree

• The San Francisco Department of the Environment supports the Urban Forestry Council by:
  • Processing nomination forms
  • Working with nominators
  • Scheduling site visits and public hearings
  • Gathering documentation
  • Preparing findings for the Board of Supervisors
• Once designated, Landmark Trees are under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Public Works Bureau of Urban Forestry.

• Landmark Tree Program - Department of Public Works
• Urban Forestry Ordinance, Public Works Code

Any tree with environmental, cultural, historical, or other importance within the City and County of San Francisco can be nominated for landmark tree status.

Any tree with environmental, cultural, historical, or other importance within the City and County of San Francisco can be nominated for landmark tree status.

Landmark trees may be nominated by:

• The property owner
• The Board of Supervisors (through resolution)
• The Historic Preservation Commission (through resolution)
• The Planning Commission (through resolution)
• San Francisco City agency or department heads

A member of the public may approach a property owner, the Board of Supervisors, the Planning Commission, the Historic Preservation Commission, or the head of a City department or agency about nominating a tree.

Trees provide environmental, social and economic benefits for everyone. While nominations are submitted for different reasons, generally nominations are made because the tree is recognized as providing substantial benefit to the community. A goal of the landmark tree ordinance is to encourage a deeper appreciation of San Francisco’s trees, especially those of unusual size, historic or cultural significance, that provide critical habitat, and other ecological benefits, or have other unique characteristics.

Given the density of San Francisco's built environment, trees sometimes contribute to disagreements between neighbors and property owners. Sometimes this involves a truly magnificent tree specimen, but not always. The Landmark Tree Ordinance is meant to be used proactively to highlight important individual trees throughout San Francisco. The program is not intended to be used reactively by property owners or others to prevent a tree being removed or to gain advantage in a neighborhood dispute. In fact, San Francisco has a Tree Dispute Resolution ordinance, the purpose of which is to provide a process for neighboring property owners to settle their differences if they could not otherwise find a just resolution.

Yes, but only if the other property owner co-nominates the tree. Under California Civil Code Sections 833 and 834, tree ownership is defined by where a tree trunk stands. For the purposes of Public Works Code Section 810(b) regarding nominations of trees for landmark status, a property "contains" a tree if its trunk is within the property line, regardless of where its roots or branches may extend. If a tree trunk is wholly on the land of one owner, then the tree belongs exclusively to that owner, and the owner's property "contains" the tree; if it straddles the properties of two owners, then it belongs to them in common, and both properties "contain" the tree for purposes of tree nomination. If your tree trunk (not roots or branches) breaks the soil surface on both sides of the line, then co-nomination is required.

The Urban Forestry Council will evaluate nominated trees. The Council will then give their recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for final determination. The Urban Forestry Council reviews landmark tree nominations at their public meetings.

There is a policy to protect a landmark tree in this situation. The Planning Department requires that people disclose any landmark trees on their property before a development or construction project begins. In addition, there are practical and straightforward techniques that must be used to protect a landmark tree. The Department of Building Inspection (DBI) and San Francisco Public Works (SFPW) will help implement this policy.

There is no maximum or minimum number of trees that this ordinance will protect. It depends on how many trees with appropriate characteristics are nominated and approved. 

There are serious criminal, civil, and administrative penalties if someone harms a landmark tree or removes a landmark tree without a permit. The criminal penalties include monetary fines and jail time. The civil and administrative penalties are monetary fines. For more detailed information, please read Article 16 of the Public Works Code.