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.
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 HERE)
May 13 - 17 Moorpark Home Acres, MOORPARK
May 28 - 31 Ondulando Neighborhood, VENTURA
Drop-Off
MAY 11 FILLMORE
9AM - 2PM 728 Goodenough Rd, Fillmore, CA
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.
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 has been provided by a grant through CAL FIRE from the Cooperative Fire Program of the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, Pacific Southwest Region, through the California Fire Safe Council and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program, the California Fire Foundation, SoCal Edison—and by a grant through the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA).
Partial funding for this program is provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Wildfire Prevention Program.
