Vegetation Management

We recognize the community is concerned with the wildfires across California. Establishing a defensible space by managing vegetation reduces your home's fire risk. In 2024, the Benicia Fire Department is utilizing two primary methods for vegetation management in the City's Open Spaces: livestock and discing. Click on the maps below to see if you will have livestock or a discing tractor behind your home.

CalTrans Customer Service Requests (report weeds and overgrown vegetation along freeways and on and off ramps)

Benicia Open Space Cleanup - Waiver of Liability (Complete form to do additional cleanup in open space areas adjacent to your property)

General Information

Vegetation Management is used to control plant material to prevent the spread of wildfire by changing the characteristics of the vegetation surrounding homes and other structures. The focus of vegetation management is not to remove all vegetation within this area, but rather to create both horizontal and vertical separation between the various vegetation in the area and adjacent structures. The separation serves to slow the spread of a wildfire, thereby improving fire containment efforts. The efforts to carry out this task are not a one-time event. The City of Benicia utilizes multiple approaches in its Vegetation Management Program, including goats, flail mowing, hand work, disking, and spraying.

Fire Hazard Severity Zones

In Spring 2025, CAL FIRE released updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps with areas in the state identified as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. As part of this requirement, CAL FIRE has made recommendations for Local Responsibility Areas (“LRA”), which include incorporated cities such as Benicia, urban regions, agricultural lands, and portions of the desert where the local government is responsible for wildfire protection. To view the maps, visit https://engagebenicia.com/en/projects/fire-hazard-severity-zone-map.