Description of County Oak Conservation Policies

Oak Woodland Policies of 41 California Counties

In 1993, the California Board of Forestry and Fish and the Game Commission released the Joint Policy on Hardwoods, which determined there was no need for statewide regulation of hardwood resources. Instead, they strongly encouraged local governments to utilize the resources developed by the IHRMP to help create policies that address ecological, economic, and political issues affecting hardwood rangelands in their particular county. Below is a table of counties with significant hardwood rangeland acreage and the current policy approaches being used. These data were updated in 2025.

Joint Policy on Hardwoods

	Hardwood Rangeland (acres)	Voluntary Guidelines	General Plan Language	Implementing ordinance
Document Alameda	131,000		scenic areas only
Document Amador	178,000		scenic areas only
Document Butte	230,000			subdivisions only
Document Calaveras	316,000	X
Document Colusa	149,000	X
Document Contra Costa	81,000		discretionary projects with heritage trees	tree protection ordinance for all areas with 4 or more oaks >6.5” dbh
Document El Dorado	178,000	X	X	zoning and subdivision ordinance
Document Fresno	493,000	X	scenic areas and landmark trees
Document Glenn Document Glenn County Voluntary Guidelines	133,000	X
Document Kern	721,000
Document Lake Document Lake County Five Year Assessment of Programs Affecting Oak Woodlands	119,000	X		waterway zoning only
Document Los Angeles Los Angeles Oak Tree Progam	70,000			oak tree ordinance
Madera Document Madera County Voluntary Guidelines	283,000	X	landmark trees only
Marin Marin Native Tree Protection and Preservation Ordinance	62,000	X	X	tree protection ordinance (zoning)
Document Mariposa	299,000	X
Document Mendocino	374,000		landmark trees only
Document Merced	96,000
Document Monterey	921,000		including agriculture	zoning ordinance
Document Napa	159,000		X	erosion hazard and municipal watershed zoning only
Document Nevada	139,000		X	within land use code and site standards
Document Orange	40,000
Document Placer	105,000		X	tree ordinance
Document Riverside	72,000		on ½ parcels above 5,000’ only	tree removal ordinance
Document Sacramento	23,000		X	tree preservation ordinance
Document San Benito	437,000		when removal approaches a canopy retention standard or on slopes >/ 30%	woodland management ordinance
Document San Bernardino	18,000		X	plant protection ordinance
Document San Diego	320,000		on 5 acre lots only	grading ordinance
Document San Joaquin	39,000		X	tree ordinance
Document San Luis Obispo Document San Luis Obispo County Oak Management Plan	724,000	X	in some zones	zoning ordinance
Document Santa Barbara Document Santa Barbara County Oak Protection Article Document Santa Barbara County Grading Ordinance	345,000	X for agriculture	including agriculture	deciduous oak ordinance
Document Santa Clara	321,000	X for golf courses	Heritage trees and 12” trees in hillside zones	tree protection ordinance
Document Shasta	287,000	X
Document Solano	45,000
Document Sonoma Sonoma County Comprehensive Tree Ordinance Update	211,000		valley oak district only	zoning ordinance
Document Stanislaus	145,000		all discretionary projects
Document Tehama	633,000	X
Document Tulare	536,000		along scenic highway only
Document Tuolumne	234,000	X	valley oak woodland only	mitigations designated in wildlife handbook
Document Ventura	113,000		X	both ministerial and discretionary
Document Yolo Document Yolo County Urban Forest Master Plan	99,000		should adopt tree ordinance
Document Yuba	95,000		valley oak only

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