Category: 2019 Fire Season

USFS to limit public comment due to changes in the NEPA

“Under President Donald Trump, federal agencies have chipped away at the reviews and permitting required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), one of the nation’s bedrock environmental laws. Earlier this month, the Forest Service proposed a significant overhaul of the NEPA process for logging and development on millions of acres of federal forest and grassland across the West. 

In a statement, the Forest Service said NEPA environmental reviews are time-consuming, redundant and prevent active maintenance of healthy forests. The agency called it the first serious change to NEPA’s regulation of forest management in more than 10 years. 

The public has 60 days to weigh in on these significant changes. The proposed NEPA revisions comment period closes Aug. 12. Here are some key takeaways:

The proposed changes would reduce environmental review for logging and infrastructure.

The Forest Service wants to expand the number of projects that would qualify for “categorical exclusions” — projects that can bypass environmental analysis or environmental impact statements. The exclusions would apply to forest thinning, various types of road and trail building, brush removal and recreational site management. More controversially, forest projects of up to 7,300 acres (with logging on up to more than half of those acres) could be excluded from NEPA review. Mineral and energy exploration — such as using seismic testing to gather geological data and various small-scale infrastructure building — could also be exempt if it lasts less than one year.”

For the rest of this article see: https://www.hcn.org/articles/u-s-forest-service-might-limit-public-comments

No Campfires in LPNF starting Sat. 6/29/19

Los Padres National Forest 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 will be raised throughout the Forest effective tomorrow, June 29. 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 June 29, 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 U.S. 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. 

·         Fireworks – even the “safe and sane” variety – are not permitted at any time or in any location within the Forest,

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 U.S. Forest Service district office nearest you.

Lone oak Fire

UPDATE, WED. 6/26, AT 10 AM – 2, 546 acres as of 8:30 am, 80% contained expect full containment by tonight.

7:00 pm — I just got home from the Cal Trans meeting in Cambria, and immediate had notice of this fire 3 miles east of King City:

These photos were provided by Crystal Wilson:

Fire in north SLO Co.

From twitter: “Fully involved structure @ 9892 River Rd, extension to 1/4 acre of veg.” in response to my post from fire scanner.

This is north of Paso Robles. Camp Roberts and San Miguel are responding. No further at this time.

Incident: 00120 Type: Report of Fire Location: San Pablo Ln / Mission St Loc Desc:   Lat/Lon: 35.747341 -120.681965 

Detail Information
3:37 PM1[1] XFER CAL FIRE

Saddle Fire, Heritage Ranch, Paso, 6/17/19

4:13 — Vegetation fire holding at 3 acres, making good progress on the structure fire.

Structure Fire into vegetation. From the looks of it on the map, they will be wanting to put aircraft on this asap. Here:

Monday Meanderings, 6/10/19

Not a new weekly feature, just a title for today’s blog thoughts/post.

Saturday a significant fire broke out in Yolo County. It quickly grew to 1700 acres in just a few hours. While these “far-away” fires do not directly impact Big Sur, they do indirectly impact us due to the drawing down of resources available for other fires, statewide.

It is an earlier than expected (by me) start to the fire season, given the amount of cold and rain we had all the way through Memorial Day weekend — just 2 weeks ago. It feels as if we went from winter straight to summer. (And there are still a few people who doubt we are in a climate crisis?) Given this developing situation, and also given that I am working on another piece for Voices http://www.vomb.org, my time will be spent doing more research, keeping an eye on fire conditions through out the state, reporting on some of them, and less focus on daily blog posts.

I have one more Tourist Tuesday planned that will take a look at a light-hearted approach Amsterdam is taking toward its own overtourism problem, but otherwise, I am focusing my energy on our issues and the solutions we need to look at and reporting on those. I also will be devoting time on community involvement in projects aligned with my interest in preserving the natural beauty and environment of Big Sur, by attending more meetings, interviewing more people, and working with others to find meaningful solutions.

I do my best to make sure all my important Big Sur related posts are shared with social media, and will continue to do so to through: two facebook accounts, my personal one (in which I do get vocal on national politics) here: https://m.facebook.com/BigsurKate; my “business” page (solely a recap of my non-nationally-political blog) here: https://www.facebook.com/BigSurKatePage/; my twitter account (warning, this is my most political social media account, and I am very vocal here regarding my political opinions); https://mobile.twitter.com/bigsurkate; or my instagram account (I am very unskilled in this arena, but I keep trying) https://www.instagram.com/bigsurkate/

I would like to note, however, that if a fire breaks out in our neighborhood this season, I can only promise to update the blog posts, so I would suggest you sign up on the right at the bottom for email notifications of any new posts.

That’s my Monday and the direction I expect this blog to take in the coming months. Thanks for your continued support.

Forest Fire Lookout Project – Chew’s Ridge, 6/6/19

CHEWS RIDGE LOOKOUT

Project Description

The Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest, in partnership with the Forest Fire Lookout Association, will be exploring the possibility of activating the Chews Ridge Lookout and staffing it with local volunteers in order to provide firefighters with early fire detection, as well as other assistance to the National Forest.  In many circumstances, catching a fire when it is still young can prevent it from becoming large and destructive.  This project gives volunteers the opportunity to help improve fire safety in Monterey County rural areas, the Ventana Wilderness, and the Los Padres National Forest.

To read about this project in detail, see: https://firelookouthost.org/chews-ridge-project/