Rocklin, CA Tree Protection: Heritage & Protected Trees (2026)

The Rocklin Oak Tree Preservation Ordinance, Rocklin Municipal Code Chapter 17.77, singles out heritage trees for the strongest replacement ratio in the chapter. Section 17.77.020.C defines a heritage tree as any oak tree with a trunk diameter at breast height, TDBH, of twenty-four inches or more that is of good or fair quality in terms of health, vigor of growth, and conformity to generally accepted horticultural standards of shape for its species; TDBH is measured four and one-half feet above the root crown, using the largest trunk on a multi-trunk tree.

When a healthy heritage tree is removed from a developed single-family, duplex, or triplex lot, Section 17.77.045.B.2.a requires the applicant to replace it with five trees on-site, compared with two trees for a nonheritage oak, though the maximum number of replacement trees required on any one lot is capped at five regardless of how many trees came down. Section 17.77.100.B.5 also directs that the citywide oak tree preservation guidelines the city council adopts by resolution must give special attention to preserving heritage oak trees, meaning the discretionary guidelines layered on top of the base ordinance are required to weigh heritage status when the community development director evaluates a removal or mitigation request.

A dead, dying, or diseased heritage tree that poses a risk to persons or property can still be removed without triggering the replacement ratio under the emergency and dead-tree provisions elsewhere in the chapter.