All California National Forests Closed

[huntingtheriverking]

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/news- ... EPRD949139

Similar to last year, Cali's National Forests are now closed due to fire concerns and dry weather.
We discussed this last year, after the labor day fires; seems they have taken the prophylactic response this year.
Going to have to cancel a trip or two.


Worried this may be the future we have to look forward to.

[McFlyfi]

Worried this may be the future we have to look forward to.

It may well be the future.
This will be the fourth consecutive year I have had to cancel my trip to Kennedy Meadows (Stanislaus).

[rayfound]

Yeah - I think national forests may be done for septembers. It's a shame, but the summers are so hot and dry that by Late August there's no margin for error.

I hope we can adapt things to keep seasonal campgrounds, etc... open longer (or year round).

[tenandtwo]

Got a refund, yesterday, for a wilderness permit mid September… 2nd year in a row. I understand why, but I am not happy about it. I am going in June next year!

[huntingtheriverking]

I saw this posted elsewhere - the sentiment that the complete closure of these public places represents essentially an affirmation of failure on the part of the natural resource management under the Forest Service/Feds. That is is basically saying we can't manage this with our current resources, so no one can access it, sorry.

Very similar to the complete closures of portions of Forest Falls/Big Falls, Sapphire, Upper Eaton, Deep Creek -- that is, the situation is too tough to manage with the limited resources we have so boom, it's completely closed, no way around it.

I understand the why of the closure (I don't want a repeat of last years fire season!)--- it's the overarching theme of an inability to maintain these places that is frustrating, leading to complete closures. Reminds me of encountering vandals on Lytle Creek, reporting it to the FS employees, only to receive a more than lackadaisical response and lack of interest.

[John Harper]

I saw this posted elsewhere - the sentiment that the complete closure of these public places represents essentially an affirmation of failure on the part of the natural resource management under the Forest Service/Feds. That is is basically saying we can't manage this with our current resources, so no one can access it, sorry.

Very similar to the complete closures of portions of Forest Falls/Big Falls, Sapphire, Upper Eaton, Deep Creek -- that is, the situation is too tough to manage with the limited resources we have so boom, it's completely closed, no way around it.

I understand the why of the closure (I don't want a repeat of last years fire season!)--- it's the overarching theme of an inability to maintain these places that is frustrating, leading to complete closures. Reminds me of encountering vandals on Lytle Creek, reporting it to the FS employees, only to receive a more than lackadaisical response and lack of interest.

Congress has the purse strings. The Forest Service is understaffed and underfunded. Not a surprise there's morale issues. But, it's up to all of us to be part of the the solution, not the problem. Contact your representative and Senators.

But, we can't even seem to focus enough to pull together during a public health that's killed millions worldwide.

Don't hold your breath when it comes to saving forests and trees.

John

[Ants]

Here’s a tidbit to consider.

In the Bridgeport Ranger district, day access is allowed, but not camping in dispersed areas. Camping is allowed in private (concessionaire) campgrounds. So, if you have (or can get a reservation) you are good to go.

I wouldn’t suggest heading out with no confirmed reservation in hand.

Cheers,
Ants

[McFlyfi]

Here’s a tidbit to consider.

In the Bridgeport Ranger district, day access is allowed, but not camping in dispersed areas. Camping is allowed in private (concessionaire) campgrounds. So, if you have (or can get a reservation) you are good to go.

I wouldn’t suggest heading out with no confirmed reservation in hand.

Cheers,
Ants

See post titled "Loophole Lakes" dated October 2020.
Still available as a "Loophole"...

[rayfound]

I saw this posted elsewhere - the sentiment that the complete closure of these public places represents essentially an affirmation of failure on the part of the natural resource management under the Forest Service/Feds. That is is basically saying we can't manage this with our current resources, so no one can access it, sorry.

Very similar to the complete closures of portions of Forest Falls/Big Falls, Sapphire, Upper Eaton, Deep Creek -- that is, the situation is too tough to manage with the limited resources we have so boom, it's completely closed, no way around it.

I understand the why of the closure (I don't want a repeat of last years fire season!)--- it's the overarching theme of an inability to maintain these places that is frustrating, leading to complete closures. Reminds me of encountering vandals on Lytle Creek, reporting it to the FS employees, only to receive a more than lackadaisical response and lack of interest.

Congress has the purse strings. The Forest Service is understaffed and underfunded. Not a surprise there's morale issues. But, it's up to all of us to be part of the the solution, not the problem. Contact your representative and Senators.

But, we can't even seem to focus enough to pull together during a public health that's killed millions worldwide.

Don't hold your breath when it comes to saving forests and trees.

John

Yeah. I think this is a hard problem though, specifically with regards to wildfire response: The crews, equipment, aircraft, etc... is all expensive and (because it is expensive) overall limited availability. As resources are dispatched from around the state to respond major fires (like Caldor, etc...) there just isn't enough capacity left to deal with arising fires in other locales... hence the shutdown.

That said, with these resources really only being in high demand Aug-Oct... it is hard to scale up these programs such that there is even MORE excess capacity than exists now in the off season.

I wish I had some idea of what might help, but with all signs being that climate change is driving California's wet season to be shorter and wetter, and the dry season to be longer and hotter - this "end of summer fire season" won't be getting better any time soon.

all of which is a long way of saying... I don't know what can be done. more resources will help I guess... but I don't see how any amount of "management" can help besides aggressively preventing ignition from preventable things like campfire, power lines, engines, etc... and trying to do some fuel reduction via more controlled burns (which is made harder by seasonality).