Fourth of July, 2018
Month: July 2018
No campfires in Los Padres National Forest effective immediately!
Just in time for 4th of July! Thank you LPNF!
Los Padres officials raise fire restrictions
GOLETA, Calif. – In response to the increasing potential for a wildland fire start, Los Padres National Forest officials announced that fire restrictions have been raised throughout the Forest effective immediately. These restrictions will affect the use of campfires, stoves, smoking materials and internal combustion engines, and will remain in effect until the end of fire season in late autumn.
Effective immediately, the following restrictions will be in effect:
- No open fires, campfires or charcoal fires will be permitted outside of developed recreation sites or designated Campfire Use Sites (list attached), even with a valid California Campfire Permit. Lanterns and portable stoves using gas, jellied petroleum or pressurized liquid fuel will be permitted, but only with a valid California Campfire Permit, which are available free-of-charge on the Forest website and at any Forest Service office. Forest visitors must clear all flammable material for five feet in all directions from their camp stove, have a shovel available, and ensure that a responsible person attends the stove at all times during use.
- Smoking is prohibited, except within an enclosed vehicle, building, or a designated Campfire Use Site, or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable material.
- Internal combustion engines may be operated only on roads or designated trails. This restriction is in effect year-round. Please make sure your engine is tuned, operating properly, and has an approved spark arrester.
“The moisture levels are approaching a critical threshold. Combine that with warm temperatures and high winds and we have all the ingredients for fire starts,” Los Padres Deputy Forest Fire Management Officer Jim Harris said. “The most important thing is for forest visitors to be aware of their surroundings and exercise caution when conditions are ripe for a wildfire.”
For a list of Developed Recreation Sites and Campfire Use Sites in Los Padres National Forest, or further information regarding Fire-Safe Camping, visit www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf or contact the Forest Service district office nearest you.
Cal Trans announces opening date of Mud Creek
Today’s Date: Tuesday, July 3, 2018
District: 05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa
Cruz Counties
Contact: Jim Shivers or Colin Jones
Phone: (805) 549-3237 or 549-3189
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CALTRANS ANNOUNCES PLAN TO RE-OPEN STATE ROUTE 1 AT MUD CREEK AFTERMASSIVE LANDSLIDE
Highway Opening Set for July 20 Restores Full Access to the Big Sur Coast
MONTEREY COUNTY–Caltrans has announced that State Route 1 at Mud Creek along the southern Big Sur Coast is scheduled to re-open by Friday, July 20 at 11 am.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening will take place at the Ragged Point Inn at that time.
The re-opening of this section of State Route 1 follows a massive landslide on May 20, 2017 which resulted in the movement of six million cubic yards of material and 50 acres of displaced land, including the creation of 2,400 feet of new shoreline. A quarter-mile section of roadway was lost due to this landslide.
“We’re very pleased to share this long-awaited news with everyone who travels along this international destination the many businesses that benefit from the coast highway,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman. “Mud Creek is the last closure point so travelers will be able to take Highway 1 all the way through Big Sur for the first time in 18 months.
This section of State Route 1 was built across the slide material buttressed with a series of embankments and compacted soil and using protective features including berms, rocks, netting, culverts and other stabilizing material.
The rebuilding effort included construction seven days a week, dawn to dusk for the past year and was completed two months ahead of our initial mid-September estimate.
The contractor for this $54 million emergency project was John Madonna Construction of San Luis Obispo, CA.
For traffic updates on all state highways in San Luis Obispo County, motorists may call Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or visit: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/road_information.htm.
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Highway 1 at Mud Creek near Gorda looking south (7/2/18, photo courtesy of Caltrans)
No Fireworks!
Tourist Tuesday, 7/3/18
The Next Trend In Travel Is… Don’t.
Tourism can destroy environments and drive out local residents. It’s time to rethink the purpose of travel.
So says brightthemag.com See a couple of excerpts from the article below.
Bali is in the midst of an ecological crisis. Half of the Indonesian island’s rivers have dried up. Its beaches are eroding. In 2017, officials declared a “garbage emergency” across a six-kilometer stretch of Bali’s coast. At the peak of the clean-up, hundreds of cleaners removed 100 tons of debris from the beaches each day.
The cause? Too many tourists — who just keep coming. This year, the Indonesian tourism ministry hopes Bali attracts 7 million foreign tourists, to an island of only 4 million residents.
“Do we want more tourists? Maybe no,” said Balinese community activist Viebeke Lengkong last year. “It is a question of what kind of services we can actually provide for millions of tourists. Bali is in the middle of a water crisis. Bali is drying up.”
It’s reaching a breaking point. “The last time I went, I swore never again,” a friend recently told me, horrified by the number of people and amount of trash he saw. On his next vacation, he visited a small, relatively unknown island off Bali’s coast, thinking it would be quieter. It wasn’t. Tourists arrived by the boatload on the small island’s shores.
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When tourism dominates an economy, some governments prioritize tourists over their own citizens. Around the world, people are evicted from their homes to make way for tourism developments. Last year in Tanzania, an estimated 185 Maasai homes were burned down by authorities that operate hunting tours, leaving 6,800 people homeless. So-called “ethical travel” doesn’t necessarily provide a solution; it’s been argued ecotourism in Tanzania contributes to the problem, as tourism dollars provide an incentive to turn Maasai pastures into safari grounds.
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For the rest of this article see:
https://brightthemag.com/the-next-trend-in-travel-is-dont-226d4aba17f6
Next week, I will start to write about Managing this world-wide Destination Place we call Big Sur. We all know what the problems are, not just here, but world-wide. Is it to late? Is there anything we can do? Stay tuned…
Car Week Public Meeting with Mary Adams on 7/11/18
How come car “week” is 9 days long? Extra days for set up and clean up? Inquiring minds want to know!
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Photo Sunday, 7/1/18
Here are some wildflowers we have not seen down here before. The first one is from Gail D. The second one is from Rock Knocker. Enjoy your wonderful Sunday. Namasté
