New USFS Closure Orders re campgrounds & trails

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• This letter actually says they are closing the sites from now into last May? Assuming they mean 2021?

  • Which is why I put at the very top, before the order: “ Note, there is a clear error, as this order is from now until May of NEXT year.” I pointed it out to the PIO, but the LEO wrote it, so he couldn’t correct it.

• What is the reason to shut down the forest and the trails for such an extended period of time? The virus doesn't attack hikers or campers in the back country. It has to be one of the safer places to go. I really can't understand the continued over reach of local government leaders.

  • Because they have been damaged in the Dolan Fire and the Soberanes Fire, and are dangerous.

• This seems irrelevant when the ENTIRE Monterey district of the Los Padres National Forest remains closed to the public under threat of $5000 fines and 6 months in jail. It's time to reopen those areas of the wilderness that did not burn in the Dolan Fire. These inconsistent restrictions and overreaching closures of public land are out of control.

  • Those of us who live here are glad to see it closed as it is still bone dry, with no rain on the horizon and the nights are very cold. That is a recipe for disaster. Public Lands have been abused everywhere, and now, those who care are trying to figure out how to stop the destruction. If those who visited cared, we wouldn’t be in this mess.IMHO

• There is undoubtedly a serious problem with carelessness and abuse, and I sympathize with those who live there. At the same time there are many dedicated, responsible backcountry users who are frustrated about how full closures are becoming the go-to solution.
  There is no easy answer as to how to prevent the destruction and degradation of the land, while allowing those advocates and stewards of the backcountry who are not the problem, to continue to enjoy and appreciate it.

• Dana — There is a solution...that is a use management plan with permits issued to keep the use to a manageable level and have a record of those who might be abusing it. That is what is being worked on for the back country in two different but compatible ways — one for vehicle use and one for hikers. It is in the budget for 2021, so there is hope.

• Any idea what's up with the Brazil Ranch trail? It's not within 10 miles of the fires, but someone dumped a bunch of gravel to block the entrance and there is a hand-spray-painted "no hiking" sign. That doesn't seem like official Forest Service closure behavior

  • I do not know, and this is the first I have heard of it. It is possible, but this is speculation on my part, that it was damaged in the Soberanes Fire and the trail has not been repaired. That is true for other areas of the trail system in that area. I know the Pine Ridge trail and Skyes are both closed per a recent order I posted earlier this week. Is Brazil mentioned? I do not remember.

• No, the trail has been open for the past two years after being closed during Soberanes. This seems to have happened in the last couple of months.

• Brazil is closed bacause it is part of the national forest (Monterey ranger district). The unfortunate repercussion of closing the national forest is the abandonment of some trails which were aleready severely brushy. Trails such as puertoSuelo, Manuel, sothFork,bjgsur, willowCreek,Prewitt.Santa Lucia are all at risk of being abandoned for the foreseeable future

  • Thank you for that. I was not sure the Brazil Ranch was actually part of the MRD of the LPNF. The USFS did, however, open the Silver Peak Wilderness Area, despite the closure of the rest of the forest.