Maryland Natural Resources Section 5-406

      (a)      Any person who desires to cut down or trim any roadside tree shall apply to the Department for a permit, except that: (1) if a tree is unrooted or its branches broken so as to contact telephone, telegraph, electric power, or other wires carrying electric current, or if the tree or its branches endanger persons or property, the tree or its branches may be removed without first obtaining a permit from the Department; and (2) a tree standing within the right-of-way of a public road which has not been surfaced with either stone, shell, gravel, concrete, brick, asphalt, or other improved surface may be cut down and removed by the abutting landowner for his own use without first obtaining a permit.

      (b)      A person may not cut down, trim, mutilate, or in any manner injure any roadside tree, except as authorized by this section, without a permit from the Department.