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

New Road Work in Big Sur next week, 7/7-7/13

I see no reason to publish the entire TAMC report each week, so here is the new information specific to Big Sur.

Highway 1: Hot Springs Creek Bridge – Burns Creek Bridge, Big Sur: July 9   
One lane closure will occur on northbound and southbound Highway 1 between Hot Spring Creek Bridge and Burns Creek Bridge in Big Sur for a crack seal operation from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Highway 1: Burns Creek Bridge – Anderson Canyon Bridge, Big Sur: July 11   
One lane closure will occur on northbound and southbound Highway 1 between Burns Creek Bridge and Anderson Canyon Bridge for utility work from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Highway 1: Ventana Entrance – Nepenthe North Entrance, Big Sur: July 9   
One lane closure will occur on northbound and southbound Highway 1 between the entrance to Ventana  and the north entrance of Nepenthe for a crack seal operation from 8:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Highway 1: Pfeiffer Canyon  Bridge – Ventana Entrance, Big Sur: July 10, July 12   
One lane closure will occur on northbound and southbound Highway 1 between Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge and Ventana entrance for survey work from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Esalen’s Midsummer Festival to impact Highway 1 traffic 7/6 — NOT all week! (Correction by Cal Trans)

Today’s Date: Tuesday, July 2, 2019

District:05 –    Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties                                                  

Contact:           Heidi C. Ruiz or Colin Jones

Phone:            (805) 549-3318 or 549-3189

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PARKING AND TRAFFIC CONTROL ON STATE ROUTE 1 FOR ESALEN MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL

MONTEREY COUNTY – The Esalen Midsummer Festival will begin Monday, July 1 through Sunday, July 7. (UPDATE: FESTIVAL ONLY JULY 6TH, NOT ALL WEEK) An approximate one-mile section of Hwy. 1 in the vicinity of Esalen will be under traffic control during this period, Caltrans officials announced today.

Parking will be provided along the dirt shoulder with specific parking locations. Motorists can expect minimal delays. Caltrans would like to remind motorists to share the road.

NOTE: Electronic message boards alerting motorists will be activated to alert motorists of this event.

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway work zones.

Lost Dogs in Coastlands — FOUND!

“Hi Kate
We have a home in Coastlands 48310 Highway 1. 2 of our dogs escaped last night and we have been looking for them all night. Photographs are attached. They are Dylan (the black one) and Little Bear (Grey guy) they are friendly and little bear is a pup. Could you post to the blog in the hope that someone has seen or found them?” Best number to contact owner, Lowell Strauss per Patte Kronlund is: 415-272-4954

Dylan (left) and Little Bear (right)

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:

Tourist Tuesday — Big Sur can take a lesson from Kauai

“The idea is to create a better experience for the residents and the visitors and then lessen the impact on the place,” said Joel Guy, executive director of The Hanalei Initiative, a nonprofit launching the North Shore Shuttle. “I think it’s a pretty unique model that can hopefully be used in other places.”

June 20, 2019, 2:31 AM PDT By Michelle Broder Van Dyke

HĀʻENA, Hawaii — To reach the northeastern corner of the island of Kauai requires driving or biking on a winding two-lane highway flanked by the mountains and the sea, where rocky outposts are interlaced with strips of sandy beach protected by fringe reefs.

A two-mile stretch of Kūhiō Highway reopened this week after being closed since April 2018 because of landslides triggered by record-breaking rainfall. Now, parts of the mountainside are held back with wire mesh that climbs 40 feet in a highway repair project estimated to cost at least $85 million. Three narrow bridges built in 1912 were wiped out and only one has been completely repaired; the other two are partially complete, with makeshift wooden guardrails and cones blocking cars from crashing into the Pacific Ocean.

Without tourists to disturb the wildlife, native plants and animals rebounded, and even the local community grew stronger. The highway leads to Hāʻena State Park, which once drew more than 2,000 visitors a day. Although tourism is the main economic driver in Hawaii, officials are reconsidering its position as host to nearly 10 million tourists a year across the six islands accessible to visitors. To maintain its unique natural and cultural resources, Hawaii is attempting to shift from encouraging to limiting tourists. With the reopening of Kūhiō Highway, new regulations will aim to cut the park’s number of visitors in half, a goal some locals say is not enough.

See the rest of this article here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/after-year-without-tourists-kauai-s-rugged-coast-reopens-n1019551

“A popular sentiment among born-and-raised locals is that the flood was a divine declaration from Mother Nature that she had had enough.” 

From another article on what it is like since it reopened with some controls over tourist numbers in place:

Kauai’s Newly Reopened Park Is A Case Study In Controlling Tourism

“There are people who have been born and raised there and all they know is crowds of people,” said Curt Cottrell, the administrator of the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks. “And then … they looked up and saw their community as it once was 70 years ago. Even the fish started looking up and recognizing that there was room now for them to come back and swim.”

For the rest of this wonderful article see: https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/06/kauis-newly-reopened-park-is-a-case-study-in-controlling-tourism/

As Lisa Kleissner says, ”What will our story be?”