Tuolumne County, CA Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)

Defensible space in Tuolumne County is governed by a layered framework. California Public Resources Code 4291 establishes the statewide baseline, requiring any person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains a building or structure in a State Responsibility Area (SRA) or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone to maintain defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure (or to the property line, whichever is closer). The standard splits the 100 feet into three zones: Zone 0 (0-5 feet), the ember-resistant zone added by AB 3074 in 2020, where no combustible materials, mulch, or living vegetation should be present immediately adjacent to the structure; Zone 1 (5-30 feet), the lean, clean, and green zone, requiring removal of dead plants, grass, and weeds, clearance of dead leaves and pine needles from yards, roofs, and gutters, and tree branches kept 10 feet from chimneys; and Zone 2 (30-100 feet), the reduced fuel zone, where grass must be mowed to a maximum height of 4 inches and horizontal and vertical spacing must be maintained between grass, shrubs, and trees. Locally, Tuolumne County Ordinance Code Chapter 8.14 (Hazardous Vegetation Management) implements and reinforces these standards in the unincorporated areas. The chapter declares the uncontrolled growth or accumulation of hazardous vegetation a public nuisance and requires owners to maintain Reduced Fuel Zones by periodically removing needles, leaves, fallen limbs, and dead plants; mowing or grazing tall grass; pruning low tree limbs; thinning and spacing bushes; and using permitted burning, tilling, or legal herbicide application. Inspections are typically conducted using CAL FIRE's LE-100 inspection form by CAL FIRE Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit personnel and county staff, particularly during peak fire season. Tuolumne County also requires defensible space verification as part of its short-term rental Fire and Life Safety Inspection program. Defensible space does not require clearing the property to bare soil; the goal is fuel modification so that wildfire is unlikely to ignite the structure.