{
 "answer": "In the City of Medicine Hat, Alberta, trees & tree removal rules are set by City of Medicine Hat Tree Preservation Bylaw No. 4218, verified 2026-09-27. Fines: Specified penalty $350; first offence not less than $300 nor more than $500; subsequent offence not less than $700 nor more than $10,000. A permit is required. Replacement required: Party requesting removal shall pay costs of removal/relocation and inventory and replacement cost of the Tree being removed, as determined by City Arborist.",
 "municipality_id": "gx-000344",
 "municipality": "Medicine Hat",
 "status_type": "City",
 "jurisdiction": "Alberta",
 "country": "CA",
 "topic": "trees",
 "label": "Trees & tree removal",
 "status": "found",
 "last_verified": "2026-09-27",
 "official_website": "http://www.medicinehat.ca",
 "documents": [
  {
   "primary": true,
   "is_official": true,
   "title": "City of Medicine Hat Tree Preservation Bylaw No. 4218",
   "category": "trees",
   "document_type": "bylaw",
   "status": "adopted",
   "adopted_date": "2014-11-03",
   "document_url": "https://www.medicinehat.ca/media/f43numy2/4218.pdf",
   "summary": "Protects any \"Public Tree\" (trunk on City land, incl. boulevards/road rights-of-way) from damage, pruning or removal without City Arborist authorization; sets Dutch Elm Disease/Emerald Ash Borer controls and bans elm pruning April 1-Sept 30; $300-$10,000 fines.",
   "discovered_by": "ab-newcats",
   "discovered_at": "2026-09-27",
   "capture_sha256": "af2c2d87edc984404fc99faf4974f9e45815af8f4e3af99adffe6992bcfff5e6",
   "captured_at": "2026-09-28T02:25:40+00:00",
   "capture_http_status": 200,
   "document_number": "4218",
   "snapshot_url": "https://pub-e61c5ee2a8704225bfa8de0c280e8a2c.r2.dev/bylaws/af2c2d87edc984404fc99faf4974f9e45815af8f4e3af99adffe6992bcfff5e6.pdf",
   "link_dead": false,
   "facts": {
    "permit_required": true,
    "applies_to_private_property": true,
    "protected_threshold": "Public Trees (any Tree with any part of trunk on Public Land); Tree defined as min caliper 2.5 cm and min height 1.5 m; Elm Tree (Ulmus genus) for disease control.",
    "replacement_required": "Party requesting removal shall pay costs of removal/relocation and inventory and replacement cost of the Tree being removed, as determined by City Arborist.",
    "boulevard_trees": "Boulevards are Public Land; no person other than City Arborist may damage, disturb, prune or remove Public Trees without Parks Manager approval.",
    "fine_range": "Specified penalty $350; first offence not less than $300 nor more than $500; subsequent offence not less than $700 nor more than $10,000."
   },
   "fact_citations": {
    "permit_required": "s. 3(b)",
    "applies_to_private_property": "s. 15",
    "protected_threshold": "s. 2(n), 2(r), 2(g)",
    "replacement_required": "s. 10(b)",
    "boulevard_trees": "s. 2(m), 3(b)",
    "fine_range": "s. 26, s. 28"
   },
   "transcript_url": "/ca/ab/medicine-hat/trees/bylaw-4218/",
   "transcript_quality": "ocr"
  }
 ],
 "source": "https://govanswers.org/ca/ab/medicine-hat/trees/"
}