🚀 go-pugleaf

>> : Could someone tell me if there are any specific laws that prohibit or
>restrict
>> : cutting of trees on the property that one owns (like one's own backyard).
>> : Is there some California law that protects not forests but individual trees
>> : in the urban/suburban areas?
>
>Besides the good advice previously given you about local ordinances, there
>is the statewide law called the California Environmental Quality Act
>(CEQA) which may have some jurisdiction over the cutting of private trees,
>depending upon the quantity, historic or cultural value, or significance
>of the trees.
>
>If you want more information, just ask me.  With a last name like mine,
>it's only natural that I've been involved in protecting trees more than
>once.... and find CEQA sometimes of assistance.

CEQA is just a procedural law, and doesn't prohibit any such actions.
But the Endangered Species Acts do, and local ordinances may.