60,000 Utah structures sit in the high-risk Wildland-Urban Interface. As of January 1, 2026, HB 48 mandates defensible space compliance — with annual fees on properties that don’t meet standards. Insurance companies are canceling policies. Municipalities from Midway to Kamas are adopting WUI codes. The clock is running.
ClearGround provides complete wildfire prevention services — from RTK risk assessment through fuel reduction, defensible space creation, and verified compliance documentation. We clear the fuel, create the buffer, and prove the work.
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YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY WANTS PROOF. WE DELIVER IT.
PRE-MOBILIZATION
PHASE 01 — WUI RISK ASSESSMENT
We fly your property with an RTK drone that maps every fuel source to centimeter-level accuracy — dead standing timber, ladder fuels, vegetation density within structure proximity, slope exposure, and access points. The result is a georeferenced fire risk map that shows exactly where your vulnerability is, not a clipboard checklist done by eye.
± 0.5CM ACCURACY · VEGETATION DENSITY HEAT MAP · SLOPE & ASPECT ANALYSIS · STRUCTURE PROXIMITY · DEAD/DYING TREE IDENTIFICATION
[Phase 01] RTK orthomosaic
Wasatch mountain property
WUI zone boundaries + defensible space rings
FUEL REDUCTION & CLEARING
PHASE 02 — IRON ON THE MOUNTAIN
Mountain terrain demands mountain-capable equipment. Steep slopes, rocky soils, mixed gamble oak and juniper — this isn’t flatland brush clearing. We bring the right machines for Utah’s specific conditions: compact track loaders with forestry mulching heads, tracked chippers, and hand crews for precision work around structures.
FORESTRY MULCHING · TRACKED CHIPPERS · HAND CREW PRECISION · DEAD TREE FELLING · LADDER FUEL REMOVAL · ZONE-BY-ZONE EXECUTION
[Phase 02] Forestry mulcher
processing gamble oak on sloped
Wasatch property. Mountain terrain.
MID-JOB VERIFICATION
PHASE 03 — PROGRESS DOCUMENTATION
On multi-day clearing projects, we re-fly and update the digital twin as zones are completed. You see exactly what’s been cleared, what fuel remains, and how the defensible space is taking shape. For HOA and community-scale projects, this means property-by-property progress tracking with verified completion data your board can review in real time.
REAL-TIME PROGRESS TRACKING · ZONE COMPLETION VERIFICATION · FUEL REDUCTION MEASUREMENT · HOA-SCALE DASHBOARDS
[Phase 03] DroneDeploy split view
pre-clearing vs. mid-project progress
Summit County property · zone completion
PROJECT CLOSE
PHASE 04 — COMPLIANCE VERIFICATION
When clearing is complete, you receive a final RTK verification confirming defensible space compliance — dead trees removed, ladder fuels eliminated, vegetation thinned to standard, fire breaks established. A compliance report your insurance company can use, your municipality can verify, and your HOA can file.
DEFENSIBLE SPACE COMPLIANCE REPORT · ZONE VERIFICATION · INSURANCE-READY DOCUMENTATION · MUNICIPAL SUBMITTAL PACKAGE
[Phase 04] Completed defensible space
aerial of Wasatch mountain property
Final compliance report · zone measurements
WHAT YOU ACTUALLY RECEIVE
PHASE 05 — THE DELIVERABLE
A georeferenced 3D model of your mitigated property — hosted on DroneDeploy, shareable with your insurance agent, HOA board, or fire district. Measurable. Permanent. Not a before-and-after photo album. A living digital twin that documents your HB 48 compliance and makes your annual re-assessment a 30-minute re-scan.
GEOREFERENCED 3D MODEL · DRONEDEPLOY PLATFORM · INSURANCE-SHAREABLE · HB 48 COMPLIANCE RECORD · ANNUAL RE-SCAN BASELINE
[Phase 05] Live DroneDeploy 3D model
completed Utah fire mitigation
zone overlays · before/after comparison
Gamble oak, sagebrush, scrub oak, and juniper cover the foothills and mountain corridors of the Wasatch Front. These species are highly flammable, especially during Utah’s dry summers, and they grow right up to the foundations of homes in Park City, Heber, Midway, Hideout, Emigration Canyon, and communities throughout Summit and Wasatch Counties.
HB 48 changed the equation. Effective January 1, 2026, properties in the high-risk WUI boundary face mandatory annual fees. Insurance companies are canceling or surcharging WUI policies — some Hideout homeowners are paying $27,000 a year. The question isn’t whether to mitigate. It’s how fast you can get compliant, and whether you can prove it.
Utah fire mitigation pricing is driven by acreage, slope, vegetation type, access conditions, and the scope of work required to achieve compliance. A 1-acre property on a moderate slope with light scrub is a fundamentally different project than a 3-acre mountainside lot with dense gamble oak, dead standing timber, and 30%+ grades. Every project starts with an RTK risk assessment that reveals exactly what needs to be done — so the price reflects your actual conditions, not an average.
Large-scale fire mitigation projects produce volume. Dead trees, thinned branches, cleared brush — it all needs to go somewhere. We process material on-site with tracked chippers and tub grinders that turn cleared vegetation into mulch. For HOA and resort-scale projects where material volume exceeds on-site capacity, we haul off with dump trucks.
What drives the price up: Lot size and terrain complexity are the primary variables. A 0.5-acre residential lot on a moderate slope requires a single flight. A 3-acre mountainside property with multiple structures, steep grades, and dense timber requires multiple flight passes and complex zone planning.
[WUI Assessment] RTK drone survey
Wasatch mountain property
vegetation density risk zones around structures
Dead standing timber is the most immediate fire risk on any WUI property. Dead trees ignite faster, burn hotter, produce more embers, and can fall on structures during fire events. We fell, buck, and remove dead and dying trees identified during the RTK assessment — prioritizing trees within ember-casting distance of structures, along access routes, and within defensible space zones.
What drives the price up: Dead tree density and size are the primary drivers. A property with a handful of dead pines in accessible locations clears quickly. A mountainside lot with dozens of dead or dying trees — some over 60 feet tall on steep slopes — requires technical felling with directional control and significantly more time.
[Dead Tree Removal] Professional felling
on mountain property near structure
Chipper/processing equipment visible
The bulk of fire mitigation work is reducing living fuel loads to defensible levels. This means thinning gamble oak and scrub oak stands, removing ladder fuels, pruning lower branches to break vertical fuel continuity, and reducing vegetation density within the Home Ignition Zone. We use forestry mulchers for heavy processing and hand crews for precision work near structures.
What drives the price up: Vegetation density and terrain are the two biggest variables. Light sagebrush thinning on a moderate slope runs at the lower end. Dense gamble oak stands on 30%+ grades with rocky soils require specialized tracked equipment, slower production rates, and additional safety measures.
[Fuel Reduction] Forestry mulcher
processing gamble oak on sloped
Wasatch property · before/after split
Fire breaks interrupt the horizontal continuity of fuel across a landscape. On mountain properties, this means creating cleared corridors along driveways, between structures, along property perimeters, and at critical topographic features where fire behavior changes. We design and build fire breaks that work with the terrain, not against it.
What drives the price up: Linear footage and slope are the primary cost drivers. A 300-foot driveway widening on a moderate grade is a 1–2 day project. A full perimeter fuel break around a 5-acre mountain lot with multiple slope transitions, rock outcrops, and dense timber can take a week.
[Fire Break] Aerial view of completed
fire break corridor on mountain property
Cleared strip through dense vegetation
Large-scale fire mitigation projects produce volume. Dead trees, thinned branches, cleared brush — it all needs to go somewhere. We process material on-site with tracked chippers and tub grinders that turn cleared vegetation into mulch. For HOA and resort-scale projects where material volume exceeds on-site capacity, we haul off with dump trucks.
What drives the price up: Volume and access drive chipping costs. Material diameter matters — a tracked chipper handles branches and small trunks efficiently, but large-diameter dead timber may require a tub grinder. When bundled with a fuel reduction project, chipping is significantly more cost-effective than scheduling it separately.
[Wood Chipping] Tracked chipper
processing cleared material
Mountain property · mulch output visible
Every fire mitigation project includes a pre-clearing RTK risk assessment, zone-by-zone clearing plan, real-time progress documentation, and a final defensible space compliance report with 3D digital twin verification. You’re not buying tree removal hours. You’re buying a verified, documented, HB 48-compliant defensible space with 3D proof for your insurance company.
Utah homeowners may be eligible for NRCS EQIP cost-share funding that reimburses up to 50% of vegetation management costs. This federal program is specifically designed to support fire mitigation and land management on private properties. ClearGround can help you understand eligibility requirements and provide the documentation needed for cost-share applications. Ask us about EQIP during your assessment.
[M2 — Video Content]
Job site footage: Fire mitigation crew clearing
a mountain property in Summit/Wasatch County.
Utah’s fire mitigation market is dominated by tree service companies that added “fire mitigation” to their menu. They bring chainsaws and chippers. They do good work. But none of them fly drones. None of them produce 3D models. None of them deliver RTK-verified compliance documentation that your insurance company, municipality, or HOA can actually use.
ClearGround brings the same RTK verification technology and digital twin documentation to Utah fire mitigation that we use for land clearing in Austin. The difference isn’t in the clearing — it’s in the proof that the clearing was done right.
Data before decisions. Georeferenced fire risk map identifies every fuel source, dead tree, and vulnerability. The clearing plan follows the data.
Assessment through clearing through verification. One company handles the entire scope. No coordination gaps between your assessor, arborist, and documentation provider.
HB 48 ready. 3D digital twin with before/after verification, zone compliance measurements, and insurance-ready deliverables. Proof, not photos.
Re-scan, don’t restart. Annual RTK re-assessment against the baseline twin identifies regrowth in 30 minutes — keeping your compliance current without a full re-clearing.
HOA and neighborhood programs. We assess and clear at community scale with property-level tracking — coordinated fire protection, not isolated patches.
Luxury mountain properties surrounded by dense timber. High-value homes with insurance pressure. Summit Park, Jeremy Ranch, and Promontory HOAs actively pursuing community fire mitigation programs.
Homeowners reporting insurance premiums exceeding $27,000/year. WUI classification driving urgent demand for defensible space compliance. Municipal WUI code adoption in progress.
Midway formalized WUI zones February 2026. Heber City adopted WUI code. Rapid growth pushing new construction directly into fire-prone terrain. Active enforcement beginning.
Kamas adopted WUI ordinance January 2026. Rural mountain communities with limited fire department coverage. Defensible space is the first line of defense when response times exceed 20 minutes.
Canyon communities with single-road access, steep terrain, and dense vegetation. Evacuation constraints make defensible space critical. Salt Lake County actively monitoring WUI compliance.
Estate properties on the Wasatch foothills with gamble oak, scrub oak, and sagebrush extending from the mountain to the property line. Growing insurance pressure on foothill-adjacent homes.
Rural properties in Summit County with juniper and sagebrush fuel loads. Limited municipal fire services. HB 48 boundary encompasses significant portions of unincorporated Summit County.
Growing communities at the base of the Wasatch and Oquirrh ranges. Properties bordering undeveloped foothills face increasing vegetation management needs as development pushes into the WUI fringe.
Residential properties along the Sandy and Draper bench areas with direct adjacency to foothill vegetation. Estate-scale lots with gamble oak and sagebrush requiring ongoing management.
Your insurance just went up — or got canceled. HB 48 fees are coming. Your municipality adopted a WUI code. You need defensible space, you need it documented, and you need it done by someone who can prove compliance to your insurance company and fire district.
Your community sits in the WUI boundary. Fire doesn’t respect property lines. ClearGround delivers community-scale fire mitigation programs with per-property assessment, coordinated fuel breaks, and bulk pricing that makes compliance affordable across your entire HOA.
Your 1–10 acre mountain property is surrounded by gamble oak, juniper, and sagebrush. ClearGround creates defensible space that preserves the natural beauty of your property while eliminating the fuel loads that threaten it. Verified by 3D digital twin, maintained by annual re-assessment.
Your insurer wants proof that your property has been mitigated — or they’re walking. ClearGround delivers RTK-verified defensible space documentation that an underwriter can actually evaluate: zone compliance measurements, vegetation density reduction, dead tree removal confirmation.
High-flow compact track loader with forestry mulching attachment for processing gamble oak, juniper, scrub oak, and brush in place. Tracked chassis handles slopes and rocky terrain.
Tracked chipper for processing dead trees, thinned branches, and cleared material. Self-propelled chassis accesses terrain where wheeled equipment can’t reach.
Survey-grade drone with Real-Time Kinematic positioning. Maps fire risk, vegetation density, and defensible space compliance to centimeter-level accuracy.
Trained hand crew for precision work within the 0–5 foot immediate zone, near structures, and in terrain too steep or tight for mechanical equipment. Chainsaws, pole saws, and hand-carry removal.
Every project starts with an RTK drone scan of your site. We fly it, build your 3D model, and deliver a fixed-price proposal — all before you commit to anything.