LOS PADRES FIRE RESTRICTIONS
Hello Los Padres Friends,
Effective today (August 1, 2023) the Los Padres National Forest is going into what might be considered Stage 1 fire restrictions. Please read the Forest Order but here’s a basic rundown of what is included:
- Campfires, cooking fires and charcoal fires are prohibited across the Los Padres outside of Designated Campfire Use Sites. This means no backcountry campfires.
- Smoking is not allowed across the Los Padres unless you are within a Designated Campfire Use Site or within an enclosed vehicle or building.
- Cooking stoves utilizing pressurized fuel remain legal across the Los Padres with a valid California Campfire Permit. Think Jetboil or any cooking stoves you might buy at REI or a sporting goods store.
Thanks to our wet winter, fire restrictions dropped a little later this year than what we’ve seen the past couple of years. For comparison, Fire Restrictions were announced on June 1 the past two years and we think you might have to go all the way back to 2011 to see Fire Restrictions announced any later than August 1. For those of us who continue to visit the backcountry despite the summer heat, rest assured, basic REI style cooking stoves are still allowed. This is great news for those needing their morning coffee fix.
Contrary to what some believe, campfires are not needed for evening enjoyment while camping. Here are a few links to different sites that contain ideas, games and suggestions for how to camp without fire. And last but not least, lets do our collective best to not screw up and cause additional levels of fire restrictions. Follow the rules, be fire smart in and out of the Designated Campfire Use Sites and be a good steward of the forest. We got this!
Big Sur Visitor Use Workshops
The Forest Service, along with various Big Sur stakeholders and agencies, will be hosting a series of three workshops in August designed to discuss, educate and ultimately solve many of the visitor use (overuse) issues impacting coastal Big Sur. You can read more about the workshops here on the FS website and of course Big Sur Kate covers these meetings marvelously on her blog as well. Remember, if you’re not part of the solution then you’re certainly not going to be a part of the solution. Or something like that. Make your voice be heard.
MANZANA TRAIL WORK CONTINUES
Thanks to the combined effort of LPFA volunteers, the LPNF and the LPFA Trail Crew, we’ve been able to restore much of the storm damaged Manzana Trail within the San Rafael Wilderness. The Trail Crew has been braving the heat and spending “cooler” weeks continuing our work along the Manzana. The Trail Crew is out there again this week focusing on brushing and clearing slides up near Manzana Narrows and hopefully onward towards Happy Hunting Ground and White Ledge. It sure is nice having good water this late into the season! Our ultimate goal this year is to restore the Manzana so that it is once again stock-passable from NIRA out to South Fork. If all goes according to plan, we’ll be hosting a large-scale Working Vacation at South Fork either this fall or spring. More on that in the coming months. In the meantime, if you’d like to help support these efforts, please consider making a donation For the Trails. Thanks everyone for your support….
Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities
- Thursday August 3: Old Pueblo Trail, w/ Montecito Trails Foundation
- Saturday August 5: Matilija Trail, Ojai
- Friday August 11: Graffiti Removal, Santa Barbara
- August 18-20: Lower Manzana Tree Clearing
- August-September: Matilija Trail, Ojai
- September 16: NPLD Santa Barbara, Trail TBD
- September 22-24: NPLD Pine Mountain Trail Clearing
Los Padres Forest Association
PO Box 1282 | Goleta, California 93116 | info@lpforest.org