Trinity County, CA Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Trinity County's municipal code contains no shade-tree or street-tree trimming permit program of the kind found in cities; pruning and trimming trees on private rural land is generally a private matter. Where the code addresses cutting vegetation, it does so for wildfire safety. The county Fire Safe Ordinance (Code Ch. 8.30, originally Ord. 1162, 1991) directs vegetation modification and fuel reduction—reducing 'the volume and density of flammable vegetation' and creating greenbelts and defensible space around structures (§§ 8.30.410-8.30.440). Section 8.30.430 requires that flammable vegetation and fuels generated by clearing be disposed of (chipped, buried, burned, or hauled to an approved landfill). Statewide, PRC § 4291 and CAL FIRE defensible-space rules call for limbing trees so the lowest branches are well above the ground and removing branches overhanging chimneys, plus separating tree crowns on slopes. Note that in the county's Scenic Conservation Overlay Zone (Code Ch. 17.25), removing larger trees can require a use permit even though ordinary trimming does not. Outside that overlay, trimming your own trees needs no county permit, but burning trimmings is regulated by the air district and CAL FIRE burn-permit rules.