Upgrades are needed for Maple Ridge's tree bylaw to improve standards on how trees are removed and to consider if some trees need to be preserved.

Review of the Maple Ridge bylaw will be part of a larger environmental review, expected to come to council in February.

But Maple Ridge council heard a report from District staff last week about the current bylaw that's in place, which first came into being in 1989 and was applied along the Fraser River escarpment. In 1993, the bylaw was updated to protect trees within nine metres of watercourses and to protect Shady Lane. In 2000, the bylaw was expanded to regulate tree cutting within 15 metres of a watercourse, slopes steeper than 30 per cent, and in urban and rural developments.

In his presentation, district environmental planner Rod Stott noted that there is a lack of preservation for older or "unique" trees in heritage areas, trees in vulnerable aquifers, and along property lines that are forested.

mrantanen@mrtimes.com