Tuolumne County, CA Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

Two layers of law require vegetation clearance in unincorporated Tuolumne County. First, California Public Resources Code 4291 requires a person who owns or controls a building in, upon, or adjoining mountainous, forest-covered, brush-covered, or grass-covered land to maintain defensible space of 100 feet around the structure (or to the property line). State guidance divides this into zones: an ember-resistant Zone 0 within the first 5 feet of the structure, a more intensely managed zone from roughly 5 to 30 feet, and a reduced-fuel zone out to 100 feet. Second, the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors adopted a Hazardous Vegetation Management Ordinance, codified as Tuolumne County Ordinance Code Chapter 8.14, that requires private property owners, managers, tenants, and occupants in the unincorporated county (outside Sonora's city limits) to control the growth or accumulation of weeds, grasses, shrubs, brush, slash, tree limbs, other hazardous vegetation, and combustible materials. County officials described the ordinance as exceeding PRC 4291 because it can reach situations state defensible-space law does not directly address - for example, vacant lots without structures. The county has indicated its fire department would emphasize education before moving to enforcement and fees. Given the county's extensive very high fire hazard severity zones and the 2013 Rim Fire (about 257,000 acres), clearance is a core wildfire-mitigation requirement. Verify the current Chapter 8.14 text and any inspection or abatement timeline with Tuolumne County Fire Prevention (209-533-5502).