Natural and Working Lands

The County shall update existing Tree Protection Regulations in the Non-Coastal Zoning Ordinance to further enhance conservation of our urban forests and the preservation of the County’s oak woodland resources. Updates shall include incorporation of Board-adopted recommendations from the Ventura County Oak Woodlands Management Plan (2007), which includes tree replacement offsets for ministerial development projects that remove protected trees. The County shall also re-evaluate and modify, if necessary, mitigation ratios for tree removal and oak woodland impacts for discretionary development projects, evaluate existing protections for invasive, non-native trees and consider the degree to which they provide habitat for a species during critical life stages (e.g., colonial roost sites, breeding sites, etc.). In addition, the evaluation shall also include anticipated effects of climate change on the urban forest environment