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

Routine maintenance pruning, limbing, and shaping of trees on private property in unincorporated Calaveras County does not require a county permit. There is no general street-tree or shade-tree trimming ordinance in the County Code for everyday yard work. Tree trimming is in fact promoted for wildfire protection: under California Public Resources Code Section 4291 and CAL FIRE defensible-space guidance, homeowners should remove dead branches, limb up trees so the lowest branches are well above the ground, keep tree canopies separated, and clear vegetation away from chimneys, roofs, and structures within the 100-foot defensible space zone. The main situation where trimming becomes regulated is when work rises to removal of, or significant damage to, a protected native oak as part of a discretionary development project, which can trigger CEQA review and oak mitigation under the County General Plan (Policies COS 3.5, 3.6, 3.9). Heavy cutting into the canopy or root zone of a heritage oak during a permitted project may be treated as an impact requiring mitigation. For ordinary homeowner pruning unconnected to a development application, no county approval is needed.