If a tree falls in New Jersey without paperwork, did it really happen?
For generations, families in New Jersey have enjoyed the simple tradition of finding and cutting down a tree for Christmas. But thanks to a new rule from the state Department of Environmental Protection, managing trees on your own property might soon require a trip to town hall, and a lot of unnecessary paperwork.
The DEP is forcing nearly every town in New Jersey to adopt a rule controlling when and how trees can be removed and replaced on both public and private property. While this might sound easy at first, the details are anything but.
Here’s what it means: If you remove a tree that’s a certain size, you’ll have to replace it with a specific type of tree approved by the state. The replacement tree has to meet strict size requirements, and you’ll be responsible for monitoring it for two years to make sure it survives. The DEP even bans planting replacement trees in temporary pots.
To enforce these rules, towns will need to create tree replacement lists, come up with approval processes, and possibly charge fees. Homeowners will be left to navigate this maze of regulations, fill out forms, pay fees, and wait for approval—just to deal with a tree on their own property. Town zoning offices, already busy with other work, might need to hire more staff to keep up, which would cost taxpayers even more money.
It’s ironic, really: the DEP says this is about protecting trees and the environment, but all the government paperwork involved could probably wipe out a forest on its own.
The DEP’s heavy-handed rule isn’t just unnecessary; it’s also undemocratic. It was created without any input from the Legislature, the elected body that’s supposed to make laws. Instead of letting local towns decide what works best for them, the state is forcing every community—whether rural, suburban or urban—to follow the same rule.
This one-size-fits-all approach ignores the unique needs of different areas. For example, in rural parts of New Jersey, homeowners often remove ash trees to stop the spread of a destructive beetle. This is a responsible way to protect other trees, but under the state’s rule, it would require jumping through hoops of red tape.
That’s why I introduced a bill, Assembly Bill 4260, to repeal this tree removal mandate. Local leaders should decide what’s best for their towns—not the DEP. If a town wants to regulate tree removal, that’s fine, but it should be their choice, not something imposed by the state.
The League of Municipalities, which represents towns across New Jersey, agrees and recently endorsed my bill. They’ve said the DEP’s rule doesn’t work for every community and creates unnecessary headaches, especially for small towns that already have enough to deal with, and most often already have lots of trees.
New Jersey is too diverse for one-size-fits-all rules. What works in a busy city isn’t practical in a small rural town. This approach creates more problems than it solves and makes something as simple as tree management frustrating and expensive.
It’s time to push back against this overreach and let common sense take root. Towns and residents should be free to manage their trees without a pile of government forms getting in the way.
Happy Thanksgiving—and if a tree falls, let’s hope you don’t need a permit to deal with it.
