Chipping Programs

The RCD’s Community Chipping Programs incentivize the creation of defensible space around homes in high wildfire-risk areas. When funding is available, Santa Cruz County residents in eligible areas can participate in one of two programs:

1. No‑Cost At‑Home Chipping Program (Individual)

This options supports individual households who conduct clearing around their homes

• Takes place in the Spring
• You create piles per guidelines and register for chipping services April 1-30.
• Materials must come from vegetation cleared within:
  • 100 feet of occupied structures, or
  • 15 feet on either side of a private road.
• The RCD hires a chipping contractor to come directly to your property.
• Chips are blown back onto your property except in senstive habitat areas
• Each household must register individually.
• Chipping takes place in early May.

2. Neighborhood Chipping Reimbursement Program

This option supports neighborhoods that organize and conduct their own chipping.

• No minimum number of households is required, but participation is more economical with multiple households.
  • Reimbursement covers eligible chipping costs:
  • Up to $250 per property, and
  • $80 per 500 linear feet of private road.
• Chipping must be limited to vegetation cleared within 100 feet of occupied structures or within 10 feet of private roads (per reimbursement rules).
• One person from the neighborhood, HOA, or road association completes the application and later submits the reimbursement request. Funds are reimbursed to this individual, who is responsible for distributing funds as needed.
• Sign‑ups are first‑come, first‑served when the program is open.

Why Chipping and Defensible Space Matter

Santa Cruz County’s steep topography and dense vegetation make the region especially vulnerable to periodic wildfires, particularly within the wildland‑urban interface. More than a century of effective fire suppression has also led to unnaturally high fuel loads.

Creating and maintaining defensible space before fire‑prone summer months is one of the most effective ways to protect your home and outbuildings. Defensible space is the buffer zone between your structures and surrounding vegetation that helps prevent ignition from direct flames or radiant heat.

Good defensible‑space practices:

• Increase the likelihood that your home can survive a wildfire on its own.
• Provide firefighters with safer access and a safer place from which to defend your home.
• Increase the likelihood firefighters will prioritize protecting your property if fuel loads have been reduced.

Defensible space does not mean stripping your property to bare dirt. With proper planning, you can have both a fire‑safe and attractive landscape:

• Keep trees farthest from the home.
• Plant shrubs closer in, but maintain them by removing dead or dry material.
• Use grasses or low growing plants nearest the house.
• The five feet closest to your house should have not woody vegetation or flamable material.
• Limb up larger trees to reduce ladder fuels.

For ideas more ideas on defensible space, visit the Fire Preparedness and Prevention Resource Library, including the “Top 10 Uses for Chips.”

Who Is Eligible?

Eligibility varies by funding source, but most seasonal programs are open only to residents within the Wildland Urban Interface. Please check the active program links below for current criteria.

Important:

The RCD program is not currently available to members covered by the Bonny Doon and South Skyline Fire Safe Councils covered area, as they operate their own programs. Their programs are partially supported by collaborative grants administered by the RCD. Visit their webpages for more information.

Bonny Doon Fire Safe Council

South Skyline Fire Safe Council