Forest Service to increase access to national forests in California

The USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region has increased access to some National Forests in California beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19.

The prohibition of the use of any ignition source on all National Forest System lands (campfires, gas stoves, etc.) throughout California remains in place.

Six Rivers and Klamath National Forrest are two of nine in California that remain closed, including Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres, Inyo, San Bernardino and Sequoia, Sierra. This decision will continue to be reviewed daily with evolving fire and weather conditions.

Nine other national forests may open to varying degrees. Visitors should contact the following national forests for more information on their status: Eldorado, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta-Trinity, Stanislaus and Tahoe. These forests will implement their own forest orders that will either limit dispersed use or provide for area closures around fires.

Conditions can change quickly. Therefore, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region emphasizes that all citizens heed local announcements for changes in conditions and potential evacuations.

“We understand how important access to the National Forests is to our visitors,” said Randy Moore, Regional Forester for the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region. “Continued closures are essential based on extreme fire conditions, critical limitations of firefighting resources, and to provide for firefighter and public safety.”

Visitors are encouraged to contact their local national forest for more information. View a web map to find which sites are open at https://www.fs.fed.us/r5/webmaps/RecreationSiteStatus/.

The Forest Service manages 18 National Forests in the Pacific Southwest Region, which encompasses over 20 million acres across California, and assists State and Private forest landowners in California, Hawaii and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands. National forests supply 50 percent of the water in California and form the watershed of most major aqueducts and more than 2,400 reservoirs throughout the state.

For more information, go to www.fs.usda.gov/R5.