Ventura County, CA Tree Protection: Protected Tree Species (2026)

2 of the Ventura County Ordinance Code defines two protected classes. The first is the Protected Tree: any tree of a species listed on Table 1 of the regulations, with one or more differentiated trunks, that meets the dimensional standards set out in that table and stands on land with the zoning Table 1 specifies. The county's list includes oak, sycamore, alder, ash, bay, cottonwood, elderberry, fir, juniper, maple, pine, and walnut. The zoning condition matters: a listed species is protected only where the applicable zoning shown on Table 1 applies, so the same walnut could be covered on one parcel and unregulated on another.

The second class is the Heritage Tree, and it is species-blind. Any tree qualifies once its single trunk measures 90 inches or more in girth, meaning the distance around the trunk rather than across it, or when it has multiple trunks and two of them collectively measure 72 inches in girth or more. Historical trees listed in Table 1 round out the protected group. , reach only the unincorporated area of the county. Inside Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, or the county's other nine cities, each city's own tree code governs instead.