Key takeaways
- Start with your fire district; it knows your zone, your rules and your local programs.
- In the Tahoe Basin, fire districts evaluate properties and issue defensible-space tree permits: NLTFPD for Incline Village and Crystal Bay, Tahoe Douglas FPD for the Nevada south shore.
- The Nevada Division of Forestry runs the Fire Adapted Nevada program and reports 46 active Firewise USA sites in 2025.
- Ask whether chipping help exists this year before paying for chipping.
Several agencies offer evaluations. We do not know the current terms of programs we do not run, so this guide tells you whom to call and what to ask.
Who does a defensible space evaluation?
The Living With Fire guide points homeowners to their local fire agency for a defensible space inspection. At Lake Tahoe, TRPA directs you to your local fire protection agency for permitting and a full defensible space evaluation. The agencies are the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District for Incline Village and Crystal Bay and the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District for the Nevada south shore.
In Carson City, Reno, Sparks and the valleys, ask the fire department or district that covers your address. The Nevada Division of Forestry lists a Fire Adapted Nevada program and reports 46 active Firewise USA sites and 113 community risk assessments completed in 2025.
Questions to ask
- Do you do an on-site evaluation for my address, and is there a cost?
- What do you want done in each zone, and by what date?
- Do you issue the tree permit, or does another agency?
- Is there a chipping or green-waste program this year, and what are the rules for the piles?
- Does the district have a plant list or a mulch rule?
What an evaluation does not do
An evaluation tells you what the agency expects. It is not a promise that a house will survive a fire, and it is not an insurance document. See insurance and defensible space for what to ask your carrier.
Do you need a permit to remove a tree at Lake Tahoe?
At Lake Tahoe, live trees over 14 inches in diameter at breast height need a TRPA permit, and 6 inches on lakeshore lots between the house and the lake. A dead tree that could fall on a house does not need a TRPA permit. For defensible space, the fire protection districts issue the tree permits after their evaluation. Our Tahoe permit guide explains how to measure DBH.
Chipping programs
Some communities run chipping days or drop-offs, and some do not. We have no verified list of current programs, so we will not name one. Ask the fire district. If no program covers your lot, a crew with a chipper and chip truck can do the work, or a masticator can handle brush on larger parcels.
Bring photos and a site plan
When you call, have your address, a rough sketch of the lot and photos of the vegetation close to the house. An evaluator can then tell you what matters most, and you can pass the same notes to a contractor so every bid covers the same work. Ask for the evaluation findings in writing, because they double as a work list and a record.
Doing the work
After the evaluation you can do the work yourself, hire us, or split it. We do defensible space and fire mitigation, brush mowing, masticating, tree trimming and haul-off, and a certified arborist assesses the trees. Call 775.232.8243 for a free estimate.
Sources
- University of Nevada, Reno Extension: Living With Fire (SP-23-07) (read October 17, 2026)
- Tahoe Regional Planning Agency: Trees and Defensible Space (read October 17, 2026)
- Nevada Division of Forestry (home page, Fire Adapted Nevada and Firewise USA) (read October 17, 2026)