NO-COST Chipping Program
OVERVIEW
Our Chipper Program provides chipping services for neighborhoods and individual homeowners in Ventura County free of charge. These vegetation management programs reduce the flammable fuel load and increase weed abatement activities in communities that border the wildland-urban interface threat zones.
VRFSC offers two types of Chipper Events.
Curbside Chipper Days consist of individual residents from a pre-designated neighborhood registering their address for service. Each resident will do their own yardwork and set all their ready-to-chip vegetation into a neatly formed stack at the end of their driveway. On the days of the event, a crew will drive by with a chipper and chip their vegetation and either haul the chips away or keep them on site, to be determined before the event.
Drop-off Chipper Events consist of VRFSC establishing a drop-off location and set time where residents can bring their cut vegetation for chipping on-site.
Focused on chipping yard waste and vegetation, the Chipper Program has tangible impacts on mitigating wildfire risk by significantly reducing potential fuel sources. Through this initiative, we not only enhance the safety of our communities but also contribute to a more sustainable and resilient environment by repurposing organic waste for beneficial use.
Currently serving the following communities:
Curbside (REGISTER BELOW)
None scheduled at the moment. Stand by for more Chipping events soon!
Drop-Off Event
None scheduled at the moment. Stand by for more Chipping events soon!
ATTENTION
Residents from outside these communities will NOT be served. If you would like to request a Chipping Event for your community, please contact us here.
How to prepare for each Chipper Event
Preparing your vegetation for Curbside Chipper Days
START CUTTING YOUR VEGETATION in advance of your scheduled neighborhood clean-up date. Learn more about how to stack your vegetation by watching the following video.
* Video was created and provided by Fire Safe Marin. Fire Safe Marin is the official outreach arm of the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority.
Tips for making a Chipper Pile
- Simply place branches, with the cut ends pointing toward the road, at the end of your driveway or roadside adjacent to your property.
- Leaves, succulents, pine needles, palm fronds, stumps, branches with thorns, vines, bamboo, root balls, grasses, and other small trimmings CANNOT be chipped.
- Chipping in each area may take several days to complete. The number of days spent in each area depends on the amount of vegetation set out and the number of residents participating in the program.
A roll-off container may be provided for the vegetation that cannot be chipped. The containers will be placed in certain communities around the scheduled chipping start date and will remain in place for 7 days. Not all communities will have a roll-off container.
The containers are only for the vegetation that cannot be chipped and are not to be used for trash disposal. No non-compostable materials (painted or preserved lumber, trash, metal wire, etc.) construction waste, building materials, or household waste are allowed in the containers.
If the vegetation is not easily seen from the street, don't know if a roll-off will be made available, or you have questions about where you should stack your piles, please contact us at info@venturafiresafe.org.
Preparing your vegetation for Drop-off Chipper Events
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN A DROP-OFF CHIPPING EVENT
- Track your hours of invested vegetation work. The time you spend cutting and stacking material for chipping is used for an “in-kind match” for this grant. Meeting the grant’s match requirements will help secure future funding to continue this program. So please be as accurate as possible when recording and reporting your time.
- The chipper can handle material up to 7 inches in diameter (no root balls). Recently removed vegetation will always chip better than old, dried-out branches and shrubs. The equipment does not effectively chip individual branches that are small (rakings) or old, decayed wood.
- It’s important to keep all piles free of rocks, dirt, wire, lumber, spiny plants, and poison oak. The chipper cannot chip palm fronds, succulents, pine needles, or leaves.
Partial funding for this program is provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s (CAL FIRE) Wildfire Prevention Program. Partial funding for this project was made possible by the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program, through the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Partial funding for this program was made possible by Edison International through the Ventura County Community Foundation's Environmental Workforce Collaborative.