Forest Closures – Page 2 – Los Padres Forest Association

Los Padres Forest Closure Extended Again

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Kendra Moss

*Hi Mountain casting a late August pyramid shadow across the smoky Garcia Wilderness.*
*Maybe not as spectacular as some of its larger siblings but still pretty cool looking……*

FOREST CLOSURE EXTENDED

Hello Friends – let’s cut to the chase but remember, don’t shoot the messenger…..

Earlier this week the Forest Service extended the closure of nine California Forests, including the Los Padres, through October 1. Here’s a quote from the Regional Forester:

“Continued closures are based on extreme fire conditions, critical limitations of firefighting resources, and to provide for firefighter and public safety,” said Regional Forester Randy Moore. “We understand how important access to the National Forests is to our visitors. Our aim is to prevent any new fires on the landscape.”

We’re now in week 3 of this large-scale fire closure and to our knowledge there have been no new fires within any of the closed forests (fact check please). We know that these closures aren’t very much fun but they do appear to be working. We do have some hotter weather headed our way next week that should peak on Wednesday and Thursday with inland temps reaching into the mid / high 90’s. Fingers crossed that the long-term forecasts start to cool and that the forests can safely reopen towards the end of this week (knock knock). If anyone knows how to perform a rain dance, now’s the time, please. Wish we had better news and we’ll keep you all posted as events unfold and decisions are made……

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*Big Sur Station, saying a big THANK YOU to all the Firefighters, Crews, Support & Families impacted across California*

FOREST 411

• The Dolan Fire in the Monterey Ranger District has slowed down a lot over the past week and has been holding at just under 130,000 acres burned. It is currently 46% contained with an expected full containment date of October 13. While the forest remains closed around Dolan, for a few different reasons, Highway 1 did reopen earlier last week after being closed for about a month during the fire fight. Lastly, some more tragic Dolan new; it was reported that nine California condors perished during the fire. We all hate hearing that but thankfully nine more condors are expected to be released above San Simeon before the end of the year.

• In case you hadn’t heard from earlier this summer, the Esselen Tribe from Monterey County was able to purchase over 1,000 acres of land along the Little Sur River. This is a special story some 250 years in the making. Check out more details here.

• Thanks in large part to a grant from REI in addition to some extremely generous public donations, the LPFA Trail Crew was able to spend a week earlier this summer clearing a mile of the Gene Marshall – Piedra Blanca Trail just above Beartrap Camp. Once the forest closure is lifted we’d like to head back and complete the remainder of the trail up to the top of the switchbacks and down to Haddock Camp. In case you’re interested in helping, we’re about $1,000 short of our fundraising goal that would send the crew back out for another week. If you are interested in donating or to learn more, please click here. THANK YOU!

• Of course none of us are in the forest right now but if you’ve spent any time exploring the LP you’ve no doubt come across the remnants of illegal marijuana grows. October is generally harvest time for grow operations within the LP and it can be pretty scary if you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Here are some tips and clues about illegal forest grows and what you should do in case you come across a site. The forest might be closed but they’re still out there.

• It seems that black bear sightings outside of the forest are becoming more and more common. Last week there was a particularly photogenic bear seen outside of Solvang, another Solvang bear in April, another in Lompoc, Simi Valley and yet another outside Carmel. There was even a bear attack reported outside of Santa Paula. We’ve heard a few theories as to why bears appear to be coming out of the hills more than ever. Is it that phones (cameras) are everywhere these days and it’s much easier to share (social media) photos of bears who happen to wander into the streets? Some say that the Los Padres has become the new home of humanized Sierra ‘problem bears’ who were sent packing after tasting one too many picnic baskets in Sequoia or Yosemite? Others reasons might include drought, competition, easier food sources or that they were here before us anyway (or were they?) ? It’s always exciting to see a bear in or around the Los Padres and if you’re a podcast person, Outside Podcast shared an entertaining episode earlier this year about “the wrong way to fight off a bear” – check it out. And if you’re interested in some more information about black bears and what to do if you encounter a black bear, click this link.

• The Los Padres National Forest Supervisors Office (SO) has moved from Goleta to Solvang. At the moment the offices remain closed due to COVID and we’ll share more information including address and hours once the SO reopens.

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Speaking of bears….
this mamma and her two cubs (see them?) were spotted earlier this year safely within the Los Padres,
taking the high road to avoid Spencer & Leslie – thanks for sharing!

Los Padres Forest Closure Update & More…….

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Bryan Conant

*The closure of 9 California Forests, including the Los Padres, has been extended through September 24*

FOREST CLOSURE EXTENDED AGAIN

Hello Friends,

We wish that we had better news to share but it was announced earlier today that the Los Padres, along with eight other California Forests, will remain closed through Thursday September 24 as a result of wildfire safety. As of this morning there were 27 major fires across California with over 18,500 firefighters engaged on the fires. While the weather has certainly cooled as compared to earlier this month, red flag and heat warning remain in the forecast for much of California. Resources (crews, support, air attack, etc…) are spread incredibly thin between California, Oregon and Washington and we collectively cannot afford to have any new fires with the resources being what they are. Once again, this forest closure forbids all access into the forest including trails and forest roads. We realize the inconvenience this has caused, especially for A-Zone hunters who have missed the last two weeks of the season, and hope people will remain patient as this too shall pass (favorite saying for 2020). We’ll provide updates as they are made available. If you have any questions please contact your local Los Padres Ranger Station.

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Sewart Mountain is in the eastern Ojai RD and burned in the 2006 Day Fire. Fourteen years later and we only found a few conifer seedlings within this 20 acre flat along the ridge line. Note how the conifers along the slopes have largely survived. This is a recurring theme we’ve noticed along fire scorched mountains in the southern Los Padres. (Little Pine, Big Pine, Bear Meadow, Madulce, Alamo, Mission Pine, etc..)
Conifers along the slopes tend to survive while those within flats do not.

FOREST 411

There is so much news from around the forest that doesn’t make sense to share at the moment due to the larger scale closure. We’ll save most of that for when the forest reopens but we’ve still got a bunch of things that remain relevant. Let’s go….!

• The largest (and only? knock knock) fire burning in the Los Padres remains the Dolan Fire within the Monterey Backcountry. Currently, Dolan has burned 127,724 acres and is 46% contained with an estimated full containment date of September 28. Some tragic news from the fire is the death of two condor chicks as reported by the Ventana Wildlife Society. And if you hadn’t heard, on September 8th the fire overtook 15 firefighters while they were fighting to protect Nacimiento Station. Fortunately all 15 survived but three did suffer significant injuries. You can read a spine-chilling account here as well as a link to the Big Sur Dolan Fire Relief Fund. #TrueHeroes

• Word on the beach is that sensors are showing La Niña ocean temps forming across the Pacific. La Niña winters are usually on the drier side and lack the large major winter rains that we’ve seen during some of the El Niño events. It’s early, but something worth keeping an eye on, especially after all the fires.

• The major LP news last month was the Reyes Peak Forest Health Project Proposal which received over 16,000 public comments. We talked with the Forest Service and they are currently reviewing the comments and will be sharing those comments with their specialists in order to assess if changes are needed within their proposal. There is no hard time-frame as to when the final decision will be made but we were told it would most likely come in late 2020 or early 2021. If you’ve not read the Reyes Peak Proposal, you really should take a few minutes and look it over. We may not all agree with all aspects of the proposal but we should all agree that we don’t want Pine Mountain to end up looking like Sewart. Stay tuned……

• We’ve started a new monthly feature where we highlight some of the extraordinary volunteers who dedicate their time to the trails, critters, habitat and heritage of the Los Padres Forest. Up first is the dynamic duo husband/wife tandem of Maureen and Kevin Wallace. Read more on our Instagram page and we’re looking forward to highlighting more volunteers in the months to come…

• Late last month South Coast Habitat Restoration and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation completed an aquatic organism passage project where they removed the concrete crossing at the bottom of the Davy Brown Trail. The project was successful but they will be back later this season to complete the job. Eventually they’ll also build bridges at the two Arizona crossings between Davy Brown and NIRA, most likely 2021. More to come….

• Many of you (we’ve been getting the emails) have noticed that HikeLosPadres has been down over the past few days. We’ve been working with the web guru himself to use this forest closure downtime to perform some site updates and maintenance. It’s a race, we’re hoping to get the site back up before the forest reopens. Thanks for your patience….

• Last week the Forest Service shared their decision notice for the Forest-Wide Invasive Plant Treatment Program.

• Camp Scheideck Lodge (aka Reyes Creek Bar & Grill) shut its doors last month. You can read more here. We’re not sure what’s next for the Lodge/Grill but we’re certainly going to miss coming off the Piedra Blanca Trail and having tasty burgers (today happens to be National Cheeseburger Day) and cold drinks. Hope it get resurrected again soon….

• VOTE.

• Last but not least, we’re still looking for a car donation in case any of you have an extra vehicle looking for a new home. We can promise it will be well cared for, fed as often as needed and will have access to some of the best views around the Los Padres. Let us know……

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*And a beautiful photo taken by ECarroll – a mountain biker, enjoying a ride, on a normal day down the backside of Pine Mountain.*

Los Padres Forest Wide Closure & Dolan Update

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Kendra Moss

Hello Friends,

First off, we hope you are all staying safe and cool with all the recent wildfires and heat around the area. We’ve got a lot of information to share from across the Los Padres but this blog post will be focused primarily on the recent wildfire related closures. We’ll post again later this week covering more of the fun stuff but for now, lets get to it…..

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TEMPORARY HARD FOREST CLOSURE

As of 5pm on Monday September 7, the Los Padres Forest, along with 7 other California Forests, has been closed to all activities. This includes “being upon National Forest System lands”, “being on a National Forest System road” and “being on a National Forest System trail”. The closure comes as a result of a combination of the fires currently raging across California (Creek, Dolan, etc, etc, etc….), the upcoming weather forecast (heat & winds), the scarcity of fire fighting resources (lots of fires already using lots of resources) and COVID (need to protect the fire fighters). The last thing we need right now are more fires and the intent of the closure is to limit the potential for more fires. There are additional measures enacted as well, please read the full order here or watch the video announcement here.

We shared this information on social media on Monday and received quite a few complaints. Of course, no one likes closures and we all understand how closures can impact our plans to enjoy the forest. We get that but we also need to acknowledge and understand that the greater good of Californians and the safety of the fire crews working to keep us safe needs to take precedence. Looking through the history of the Los Padres, there have been previous large scale fire safety closures including portions of 1942-1944 during World War II. Seeing that is just another reminder of how crazy and historic 2020 has been and continues to be.

There are moderate Santa Ana winds in the forecast for the first part of this week and the temps across California are expected to drop significantly as well. While no one is sure as to when the closure will be lifted, we’re hopeful the forest will reopen quickly as the fire weather diminishes. We’ll keep you posted as usual and until then be safe and please be part of the solution.

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DOLAN FIRE

While Northern California suffered through a horrendous mid-August onslaught of 12,000 dry-lightning strikes that resulted in over 500 wildfires, the Los Padres for once appeared to escape the storm unscathed. That all changed though on Tuesday August 18 when a pot grow related arsonist set fire to a hillside in Dolan Canyon along the southern Big Sur coast. Since then, the Dolan Fire has chewed up a reported 73,000 acres including doubling in size on Labor Day, and appears hungry for more as it heads deeper into the Ventana Wilderness. At the moment Dolan is being reported as 40% contained (which is unlikely after yesterday’s blowup) with an expected containment date of September 28. Fire crews have made great progress on the west and northern flanks of the fire but the record heat from this past Labor Day weekend was not helpful on the east side of the fire. We don’t have current maps as of yet but please check the InciWeb map portal as well as Big Sur Kate for the latest information.

There are quite a few Dolan Fire related closures including the closure of Hwy 1 between Ragged Point and a short distance south of Big Sur. In addition, all State Parks along the Big Sur coast are closed, Nacimiento-Fergusson Road is closed as is a large portion of the Monterey Ranger District. There are evacuations in place for many areas affected by the fire and there is no known date as to when the closures might be lifted. Dolan has burned many of the slopes just above Hwy 1 and CalTrans has already been busy clearing fire related rockfall across the Highway. It’ll be interesting to see how the Highway fares this winter during rain events. Never a dull moment…..

One Dolan story worth monitoring has been the destruction of the Big Sur condor sanctuary and the subsequent search for 13 missing condors. Fortunately, some of the condors have been recovered while the Ventana Wildlife Society continues their quest to locate the others. You can follow along by checking the Ventana Wildlife Society Twitter feed and lets all hope for a happy ending here for sure…..

The map below shows the extent of the Dolan Fire as of September 6, not including the Labor Day blowup. The scatter dots of recent hot spots and fire activity should indicate the direction of the fire and we think today’s perimeter map will look quite a bit different, shockingly different…….

Los Padres Updates, News, Pine Mountain and Much More…..

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Bryan Conant

The Los Padres Forest Association stands with the collective effort to change the inequalities that persist across our country and the world. We believe racism has no place in nature, within the forest, on the trails or across society and we are in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. As as organization, the LPFA has committed to ensuring that we are inclusive and welcoming to diverse communities, while increasing our outreach specifically towards the Black community – LPFA Board

*View west across Pine Mountain from high atop Reyes Peak*

REYES PEAK FUEL REDUCTION PROPOSAL

The Forest Service recently shared a ‘Forest Health and Fuels Reduction’ proposal that would impact the western spine of Pine Mountain roughly between Hwy 33 and Reyes Peak within the Ventura Backcountry. The proposal calls for forest thinning (selective clearing of chaparral and trees) along 755 acres of Pine Mountain following the general path of an existing fuel-break. The intent of forest thinning is to reduce fuel loads in the hopes of minimizing the impacts of future fire events. We could ramble on and regurgitate statistics about flame length, forest floor accumulation, sensitive species impacts and historic tree densities but we strongly encourage you to read the information for yourself, click here. Somehow, miraculously, the crest of Pine Mtn has not burned within recorded fire history and opinions vary greatly as to how best to control or not to control wildfires in that portion of the forest. We’ve had the opportunity to speak with the FS about this proposal and we’ve also heard from individuals and groups who adamantly oppose the idea of fuel reduction. Some think the best way to prevent catastrophic wildfire damage is through defensible forest thinning and fuel breaks whereas others argue that the prevention efforts are more damaging to the forest and that in the case of a large fire those prevention features won’t work anyway. We encourage everyone to study up, read the proposal, visit Pine Mountain, fly through on GoogleEarth, browse social media, ask questions, talk to everyone you can and try to attend any of the upcoming Forest Service public online meetings (there will be more). Remember, this is only a proposal and the Forest Service will be accepting public comments until June 30 so please take some time and share your opinions.

*Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center, partially reopened and 100% helping educate forest-users, photo J. Stichter*

LP FOREST REOPENING UPDATE

The Los Padres Forest has been slowly but surely returning to “normal” and following the lead of both the State of California as well as each of the individual counties in their efforts to reopen. Here’s the latest and greatest from across the forest:

CAMPING
As mentioned in the last email, most of the campgrounds across the forest have reopened with the remaining Forest Service managed campgrounds scheduled to reopen June 19, just in time for Padres Day Weekend (how appropriate). We’ve been hearing that many of the campgrounds have been full so please check ahead of time with either Parks Management or the Forest Service to make sure there is availability. The usual dispersed camping options remain available across the forest other than roadside camping along Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. If you’re not sure if camping is allowed or not, it’s always a good idea to check in with the FS ahead of time. While the Ranger Stations remain closed to the public, FS staff are answering calls and assisting the public as usual.

HIKING, RIDING & BACKPACKING
The trails continue to be open for backpacking, riding and hiking other than the continued closure of the western portion of the Pine Ridge Trail (Big Sur, reopen Fall 2020?) and the recent closure of Santa Paula Canyon (Santa Paula, reopening July 31, 2020). We’ve been getting a lot of recent trail/camp reports through HikeLosPadres.com and for the most part conditions remain very good for backcountry trail use.

OHV & ROADS
Most of the gates, roads and OHV trails across the forest should be open and ready to roll. The only closures we’re aware of are the continued closure of Dry Canyon and Dome Springs, the continued closure of the La Brea (more on that later) and the continued closure of East Pinery, Pino Alto, Cumbre and Figueroa Mountain Lookout Road.

It’s a good time to be in the forest. Be sure to keep an eye on the weather forecast and pay special attention for excessive heat and potential thunderstorms. And of course, please post whatever you find on HikeLosPadres when you return…….

*Choose your own adventure, Sespe style, photo Sonia C.*

FOREST 411

• The LPFA is hiring for our Program Manager position. You can read more here but we’re looking for a wonderful person to help manage a variety of our existing programs while also developing and driving new forest programs. This is a very exciting opportunity for us and we can’t wait to hear from some of you soon. Please email with questions, thanks!: INFO@LPForest.org

• The LPFA has been allowed to reopen the Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center following Ventura County COVID procedures. We’ve been open the past couple Saturdays and have been trying to help the record number of people who have been visiting the Los Padres. We are greeting all guests outside the Visitor Center, following isolation and face mask practices and attempting to get them answers without having them enter the building. It’s been really fun helping the public and sharing information about which trails to explore and what camping options might be best in the Ventura Backcountry. That being said, we could use volunteers to help at Wheeler Gorge. If you are interested in volunteering or have any questions, please email us at: WheelerGorge@LPForest.org. Thanks……

• We’ve shared this a few times over the past 2-3 years but the bridge construction project along Sunset Valley Road appears to be happening soon. We’ll share more when details are finalized but it looks like Sunset Valley Road will be closed to all vehicle access at Cachuma Saddle from roughly mid/late July through the end of October while the two bridges are constructed. Both Davy Brown and NIRA Campgrounds will be closed and it is unsure if the public will be allowed to hike/ride down Sunset Valley Road in order to access the trails along the north side of Fig Mtn (we’ve been asking for public access). Access to NIRA or any of the regular Manzana trailheads will likely be prohibited for everyone. August – October is not the most popular time for Sunset Valley but the closure will certainly impact this years A-Zone hunting season.

• Don’t forget, you can always support the LPFA by shopping at Amazon and donating a portion of each purchase to the LPFA through the AmazonSmile program. Every little bit counts and we really appreciate the support. Thank you!

• As California reopens, we are seeing small spikes in reported COVID cases. Please remain diligent and continue with the now standard trail isolation practices.

• Earlier this month the Forest Service shared their final Decision Notice for the La Brea Restoration project. While most of the decision was what we had expected, there were a few aspects of the final decision that were not included in any of the Alternatives that we’d been collectively working on over the past 5+ years. We’ve got a few questions out to the FS about some of these changes as well as how these changes impact the Condor Trail and we’ll share the whole La Brea enchilada once those details are finalized. Stay tuned…..

• There have been a lot of wildfires up and down the Central Coast over the past month, some are burning right now. Most of the fires have remained relatively small but please remember that the Los Padres is in fire restrictions and to stay alert and safe with your stoves or campfires where allowed. Here is a link to get your California Campfire Permit and a list of where and what sort of fires you can have within the forest.

• We’ve been getting a lot of reports of poodle-dog bush explosions within the Thomas Fire scar of Ventura County. Watch out for those beautiful purple flowers!

• The LPFA is looking for a car or truck to help at one of our Visitor Centers. If you’ve got a car/truck that you’d like to donate, let us know and we can certainly help with a tax write off – email INFO@LPForest.org. Thanks……