Los Padres A Zone Opening Weekend & Volunteer Events Ahead

Hello Friends,

This weekend (Saturday August 12) kicks off the opening weekend of A Zone South General Deer Season, which is the most popular hunting season here in the Los Padres. A Zone encompasses just about all of the Los Padres from Monterey down through Ventura County – click here to see the A Zone South map.

With the onset of A Zone, there will be a lot of hunter activity across the forest over the coming weeks; in particular during the early weekends of the season and especially this opening weekend. If you have plans to hike, backpack, ride or visit the forest this weekend, be aware that it will be very busy within A-Zone and you should expect to see hunters camping at most of the trailheads, turnouts and campgrounds that provide access into the forest. If you’re not a hunter and are looking for solitude then you might want to rethink your plans and head elsewhere. This could be a great excuse to explore some of the wonderful trails and camps outside of A Zone including many of the high elevation destinations within the Chumash Wilderness, Alamo Mountain and all the trails off Lockwood Valley Road.

If you are heading into A-Zone, be sure to wear brighter colors than you might normally wear and be courteous of the other forest-users. If you’re starting up a trail and come across some hunters, it’s always a good idea to ask where they are going and let them know where you are going so as to prevent any surprises further up the trail. Most hunters are very knowledgeable about the Los Padres and have been enjoying the forest for generations.

Due to the continued storm related trail and road closures, we are expecting an even more impacted opening weekend as many of the beloved trails, roads and hunting areas are more difficult to access this year. Remember that the LP is currently in fire restrictions and campfires are only permitted within designated campfire use sites.

Good luck everyone, be good and stay safe!

VOLUNTEER WITH US!

MATILIJA: Summer – Fall

The LPFA will continue to lead twice weekly volunteer projects each Thursday and Saturday just outside of Ojai along the North Fork Matilija Trail. Matilija was hit quite hard in the January 2023 storms and needs as much TLC as we can give. We’d love the help. Please email to learn more or click here to sign up and get on the Matilija list…..

MANZANA: August 18-20

The LPFA will be leading a multi-day trail project August 18-20 along the lower Manzana Trail focusing on clearing downed trees between Horseshoe Bend and the Manzana Schoolhouse. We will be camping at the Manzana Schoolhouse and will have opportunities for you or your gear to grab a ride. For more click here or email us at VOLUNTEER@LPForest.org. This will be a lot of fun, hope you can make it!

La Brea Decision, Volunteer Projects and is Fall Here?

Not safe to come out just yet, A-Zone South ends September 22, photo Humphrey

Howdy Friends,

It may not feel like it, especially right now with our recent stack of hot days but there is a subtle change occurring in the forest right now indicating that FALL IS COMING.  The days are certainly shorter, the nights a little cooler and we’re even seeing some colors changing in select plants and locations.  It’s a little early still but even the first hint of Fall is an exciting time here in the Los Padres.  For many, Fall means the start of the Los Padres backcountry season.  Time to say goodbye to the Sierras and hello to planning your next LP adventure.  For the LPFA, Fall also means ramping up our volunteer trail maintenance projects.  As usual, we’ve got a full forest-wide list of upcoming trail projects listed at the bottom of this email highlighted by an October Working Vacation at Bluff Cabin maintaining the Grapevine Trail.  We’re also partnering with REI and the Thomas Fire Trail Fund to work the Lion Canyon Trail as part of National Public Lands Day.  We’ll be kicking off another season of Ojai First Saturday projects in October and for those of you who might be free sooner we’ll be doing trail work on the upper reaches of the Sisquoc Trail this coming weekend.  The end of 2019 will also see some trail projects in the SLO backcountry and we are laying the groundwork for another Working Vacation on the Piedra Blanca Trail in the Sespe.  Lots of great projects lined up across the Los Padres!  We’d love to have you come out this Fall and volunteer on any (or all) of the upcoming trail projects.  For more details check the list at the bottom or email us directly: Volunteer@LPForest.org

LA BREA RESTORATION PROJECT DECISION

The Maps will be Changing, La Brea Decision

Ten years ago the La Brea Fire burned almost 90,000 acres in and around the northwest portion of the San Rafael Wilderness.  We all know the equation: (fire scarred land) + (lots of rain) = BAD and the big winter storms of 2011 destroyed most of the La Brea Canyon Road, which was a popular dirt road used to connect Colson and Miranda Pine.  As a result of the fire and flood damage, the Forest Service closed La Brea Canyon to vehicle use while undertaking a lengthy process of analyzing and determining how to best manage the La Brea area for future use.  It became known as the La Brea Restoration Project.  Over the past few years the FS formulated a series of four different action alternatives for how they might manage the La Brea area.  These actions were repeatedly shared with the public through FS hosted open house meetings as well as multiple rounds of public comment. As expected, there were many different public opinions on how the FS should manage the future of La Brea and after taking all the different sides into consideration the FS indicated that they were going with proposed action alternative 1. Alternative 1 included converting the creek portions of La Brea Canyon Road to non-motorized trail, decommissioning 5 campgrounds, converting 1 campground, creating 2 new trailheads and converting Kerry Canyon Trail to non-motorized.  On August 16 the FS released their final decision on the La Brea Restoration Project.  It matched with what was listed above with one large change, the new decision is calling for the complete decommission of the Kerry Canyon Trail.  Among other things, the Kerry Canyon Trail is a key 8-mile section of the Condor Trail and if Kerry was to be decommissioned that would prevent any future trail maintenance along Kerry Canyon.  Please click the above links for more information.  There is one final 45-day objection period which started August 16. Details and instructions for the objections can be found here on page 10.

FOREST 411

Lions are the king of the jungle.  Are they also the king of the Forest?Rugged Lion Canyon, roaring before the September 28th National Public Lands Day project

Wildfire Updates: Quick update on the larger LP wildfires
MILL FIRE (Monterey): 100% contained, 310 acres and closures remain in effect. – SNAIL FIRE (Mt Pinos): 100% contained, 279 acres

• Speaking of Snail Canyon, the famous bar and grill near Reyes Creek Campground has once again changed management and is now called Camp Scheideck Lodge Bar & Grill.  They are now open for business!

• And speaking of potential wildfires, here’s a link to a story about a Big Sur man who is on a mission to stop illegal campfires along the Big Sur Coast.  It’s certainly a good mission, lets hope for the best.

• And still speaking of fire potential, the National Science Foundation recently funded an extensive study of the Santa Barbara wind event known as sundowners.  Sundowners combined with wildfire is a nasty mix.  It will be interesting to follow this study over the coming years.

• The LPFA will once again host a Used Camping Gear Sale on November 3 at Tucker’s Grove Park in Goleta.  This is a great opportunity for our members to get super good discounted deals on gently used backpacks (Gossamer Gear is hooking us up again!), tents and other car-camping and backpacking supplies.  We are taking donations as well in case you have an old backpack, tent of camping accessory that hasn’t recently seen the light of day.  All proceeds go towards our Trail Care Fund and back into the trails you love!  For more information about the event or where to donate, email: INFO@LPForest.org

BLACK BEAR EATING CONDOR!??!  That was the headline last week when a Ventana Wildlife Society camera captured a video of a black bear in Big Sur feeding on a calf carcass that was set aside for condors to eat.  It was big news since the Big Sur area doesn’t have much of a bear population but the headline claiming that a black bear was eating a condor certainly grabbed a lot of attention.

• The Federal Government filed a lawsuit against Southern California Edison for allegedly allowing the Rey Fire to ignite in August 2016.  Read details here.

• According to Ventura County law enforcement officials, 2018 illegal backcountry pot grow operations were down over two-thirds in comparison to 2017.  This could be a result of marijuana legalization.

Electric Bikes (E-Bikes) have grown in popularity over the past decade.  The current Forest Service regulations on E-Bikes is that they can be ridden on 1) Roads Open to All Vehicles 2) Trails Open to All Vehicles 3) Trails Open to Vehicles 50″ of Less in Width and 4) Trails Open to Motorcycles Only.  So basically E-Bikes can be ridden on public OHV/Moto trails and public FS roads, places where other motorized vehicles can ride only.  There are rumblings that the FS stance on E-Bikes might be changing.  Last week, the Department of the Interior took a big step towards allowing pedal assist E-Bikes on traditional mountain bike trails within National Parks.  This is bound to be a hot topic over the coming years as the FS figures out how to squeeze E-Bikes into an existing user-group or decides to create a new user-group altogether.  Stay tuned…..

• We’re in the dog days of summer heat but there were still a few LP trails worked on over the past month or so: Pine Ridge, Sisquoc, Romero, Jesusita, Terrace, Tunnel, Arroyo Burro, Cold Spring, Franklin, Deal, Buena Vista, Reyes Peak, Mission Pine

Big thanks to Goleta based Scout Troop 26 and Logan Beckstrand who worked with the LPFA to complete his Eagle Project installing 21 interpretive markers and a trailhead sign for the Aliso Canyon Interpretive Trail.
The previous trail markers and signs were destroyed in the White (2013) and Rey (2016) Fires.  Go check it out!

LPFA Transverse – A Zone Hunting 2014

                    Good Afternoon Los Padres,The main topic of today’s update is the start of the A Zone South hunting season, but before we get into that we have a special congratulations to share.  A few years ago, while on a trail project, I had the pleasure of meeting Matt and Sonia.  Matt and Sonia live in Ojai and over the past 5+ years have dedicated as much time to maintaining the trails of the Ojai and Mt Pinos Ranger Districts as anyone.  Matt is a Volunteer Wilderness Ranger / C certified sawyer and he literally jumps at just the mention of cutting out fallen trees.  It’s been said that Matt has the potential to cut out more trees in this forest than anyone ever.  He’s sort of a machine when it comes to the crosscut saw, those who have worked with him know what I mean.  What’s even better is that Sonia is along for almost all these trips as well.  They might be the coolest trail couple out there.  A great team, always safe, always fun and doing fantastic volunteer work for the forest.  Well, fortunately, they multiplied this past week and welcomed a healthy baby boy to the Los Padres.  While some of us were hoping they’d choose the name Sawyer, they picked the equally impressive name of Clayton.  Huge congratulations out to Matt and Sonia and we can’t wait to see Clayton out on the trail watching the saw sing.  Which we all know will happen very soon, if it hasn’t happened already.  Enjoy the time………

A   Z O N E    H U N T I N G

A Zone South hunting season starts August 9 and runs through September 21.  This is the start of the general season, archery was most of July and August.  Take a look at the links, attachments and maps below for more information.  A Zone South basically covers the entire Los Padres west of Hwy 33 and south of Rose Valley.  The first weekend of hunting season is usually the most chaotic and busy.  If you are heading to the forest this weekend, be prepared for busy campgrounds and potentially lots of people out and about.  You’ll want to wear bright colors if possible and leave the antlers at home.  Be respectful, safe and best of luck.

AZoneHunting

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/deer/cazonemap.html
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/deer/zoneinfo.html