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

Tulare County's tree-management framework for unincorporated areas is split between fire-safety clearance and protection of trees in the public right-of-way. Under Tulare County Ordinance Code Part IV, Chapter 11 (Fire Hazardous Weeds and Rubbish), weeds, grass, rank growths, and combustible rubbish that create a fire hazard are declared a public nuisance abatable by the County Fire Chief; the Hazard Abatement Program standards published by Tulare County Fire require 30-foot fuelbreaks around all structures and combustible storage. Most rural Tulare County is in a CAL FIRE-designated State Responsibility Area, where California Public Resources Code § 4291 requires property owners to maintain 100 feet of defensible space, including limbing trees so that lower branches are not within 6 feet of the ground and removing dead branches overhanging structures. For trees in the County road right-of-way, the County Road Commissioner regulates encroachments under Tulare County Ordinance Code Part III, Chapter 7 (Obstruction and Improper Use of Streets and Highways) and the encroachment-permit provisions in Part VII, Chapter 19 (Regulations Concerning Streets and Highways) — any planting, trimming, or removal of a tree in the County right-of-way requires an encroachment permit issued by the Road Commissioner. Part III, Chapter 7 also makes it unlawful for any person to tie, hitch, or fasten animals so as to injure any fruit, shade, or ornamental tree growing on or adjacent to any public road, street, alley, or place in any unincorporated town or village in the County.