Attempting to Deal With Massive Wildfires, for the First Time Ever, US Forest Service Closes All California National Forests

Sunlight through Redwoods National Park

Sunlight through Redwoods [Image from the National Park Service]

Press release from the USDA Forest Service:

Due to unprecedented and historic fire conditions throughout the state, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region is announcing a temporary closure of an additional ten National Forests, meaning all eighteen National Forests in California are now closed. The closure of the additional ten forests [was] effective at 5:00 pm [yesterday]. These additional forests include the Eldorado National Forest, Klamath National Forest, Lassen National Forest, Mendocino National Forest, Modoc National Forest, Six Rivers National Forest, Plumas National Forest, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Tahoe National Forest, and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. This decision will be re-evaluated daily as conditions change.

We had closed eight National Forests on Monday evening, Sept. 7, 2020. Explosive growth of fires throughout California during the day and late evening of Sept. 8th led to this updated decision.

“The number of large fires and extreme fire behavior we are seeing across the State is historic,” said Regional Forester Randy Moore. “These temporary closures are necessary to protect the public and our firefighters, and we will keep them in place until conditions improve and we are confident that National Forest visitors can recreate safely. I ask all Californians and visitors to take these closures and evacuations seriously for their own safety and to allow our firefighters to focus on the mission of safely suppressing these fires.”

The Forest Service thanks our partners and the public for their cooperation and understanding of this monumental fire threat. It is critical that all Californians and national forest visitors follow these important closures and restrictions for their own safety and the safety of our firefighters. Citizens with specific questions within their area may call their local forests for more information.

The Forest Service manages 18 National Forests in the Pacific Southwest Region, which encompasses over 20 million acres across California, and assists 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, visit www.fs.usda.gov/R5.

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Taco 36
Guest
Taco 36
3 years ago

Just like the government sets bricks at protests who is to say they don’t light fires during fire season.

Jc
Guest
Jc
3 years ago
Reply to  Taco 36

This Blue state sucks. Need to get people who care in offices of commifornia, they take fed money to do fire prevention and don’t use it for that. Miss management of all of cali

Puest
Guest
Puest
3 years ago
Reply to  Jc

If you don’t like the way this “Blue State” works by all means,
feel free to LEAVE ASAP!!!!

Chas
Guest
Chas
3 years ago
Reply to  Taco 36

Hey taco 36, do you really believe that crap that you just spewed? If so you need to get life. What ignorance!!!
Not even the Dumbocrats are stupid enough to be doing that kind of crap.

THC
Guest
THC
3 years ago
Reply to  Chas

They might not necessarily be doing it intentionally but anybody who has dealt with a bloated California bureaucracy understands the waist and mismanagement of funds. Of course that is not exclusive to California alone.

Shaka
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Chas

There were pallets of bricks at some of the protests in a very orderly manner, but saying ” it’s the government ” kind of throws away what useful information and what damning evidence there might have been in favor of blaming his personal favorite Boogeyman.

The Real Brian
Guest
The Real Brian
3 years ago
Reply to  Taco 36
Sigh Ants
Guest
Sigh Ants
3 years ago
Reply to  Taco 36

It must be kind of sad and scary to live in your head.

You don’t need to blame a government conspiracy for the fires when there are plenty of just plain stupid or unlucky people around to start fires. Accidents, negligence, and criminal stupidity (like a gender reveal party or fireworks) start the vast majority of wildland fires in California.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 years ago
Reply to  Sigh Ants

Sigh,

And criminal stupidity like the arsonists in Portland and the democrat politicians that watch them burn down businesses, while the politicians defund and hogtie police but have private security for themselves at our expense.

So Stupid that they still support them as they run and hide as the arsonists try to burn out the idiots supporting them.

Talk about living in your own head….

Shaka
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

Personally I worry about people whom consider California and enemy state not Californian governments to be a danger when it comes to arson.

Right wingers have mailed pipe bombs to politicians and regularly celebrate violence if sarcastically, a responsible for more than 10 times the violence of Islamic or Democrat groups when it comes to actually shooting people running into crowds or the like.

I’m not blaming them for the fires, but if I was to worry about people wanting to start fires, I’d start with those ready to cause death and destruction finding a channel that is extremely safe to do so compared to other means of hurting California and getting to blame Democrats. The same goes for pallets of bricks or windows broken by guys in surplus cop gear.

Angela Robinson
Guest
Angela Robinson
3 years ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

Boy, do you continue to chew that old bone.

Though what that has to do with the wildfires burning up the west coast I am not sure.

We have a smaller fire in my own county here on the coast, but it has been big enough to force evacuations of a town in the north part of the county (the evacuees are being brought to my town). Big chunks of the eastern side of the Willamette Valley are on fire (and people have died trying to escape it), a couple of towns in southern Oregon are pretty much gone.

The big and freak wind storm the other day didn’t help either. Trees falling on 101 closed it down.*** The highway going east of the fire was also closed. There is a video of someone driving on that highway trying to escape the fire, driving through fire on both sides of the highway.

Thank god a marine layer has moved in this morning and the whole place doesn’t reek of fire and the ash is no longer falling on us. The sky is no longer orange to red, but only a pale grey yellow (like a nicotine smoke).

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?

***The windstorm took out the cable fiber optics to our area. Before i went to bed the night before, it all had gone out, but that happens around these parts. But when the smell of smoke woke me up I got out of bed to see if my house was on fire (I found out later that pretty much everyone else did the same, it was that strong) and then in the morning I woke to an orange sky, powdery ash falling, and the intense smell of a campfire. The sky later turned red.

Because our cable was out, no news, no internet, no wifi, no landline…at first we had no idea where it was coming from. We finally got ahold of a friend to the east who told us and then we remembered the radio in the workshop.

Friends live near the Santiam Canyon fire (where people have died on the highway trying escape that fire), they have had to evacuate.

There are currently 35 active fires in Oregon.

But you think that Portland looks like the ending of the film “Knowing”.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

Just like people bring up selected social history very time they want on many subjects? Motes and beams, Angela, notes and beams.

Angela Robinson
Guest
Angela Robinson
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Don’t care. It’s a BS thing to whine about when a huge chunk of the entire state is on fire. And has NOTHING to do with what is happening right now in Oregon, Washington and as you all well know California. Except for the wingnuts who are saying that “Antifa” started the fires, and yeah, those kinds of people are out there.

I’ve been watching the fires down near Ruth…it’s entirely possible that the house I used to live in there has burned down, but I can’t find any information. It is (was?) south of the Ruth store. Also Hettenshaw valley…one of my favorite places on earth.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

I’m sorry you’re so stressed out. It is almost impossible to deal with a pandemic, wildfires, social violence along which make normal human problems seem so much worse. This has been a world class bad year. The worst I’ve known in decades. Peace for the moment. Meet you on the other side.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 years ago

Angela,

You make my point as you defend some fires but not others.

I happen to believe the people in Portland that have had their businesses burnt down and are afraid to go outside are just as upset as you are.

Um, I have friends living in several Oregon locations that see whats going on.

One of them had his 160 acres stolen by the Santa Cruz gov. so moved to Oregon and within weeks arsonist burned his business down along with all his possessions. He’s in his 80’s, you think he will recover?

This is 7 years in a row I have had life and / or property threatened by fire.

So, when things happen to you they are real, but when it happens to others it’s whining?

I wish you well.

Angela Robinson
Guest
Angela Robinson
3 years ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

I am not defending ANY fires. I am calling you out for your exaggerated vision of Portland as some hellscape (it is not, I’ve been there since the protests started, life goes on remarkably well and as usual for the vast majority of the city. We went shopping for supplies for the house reconstruction we are doing and other normal things).

What is happening on the west coast is an actual hellscape right now for thousands of people. You want to see what an actual hellscape looks like? Take a look at pictures of Phoenix or Talent, Oregon.

https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2020/09/wildfire-cuts-swath-of-destruction-in-southern-oregon-phoenix-and-talent-pretty-well-devastated.html

Smoky next summer to
Guest
Smoky next summer to
3 years ago

This is what happens you want to defend the forest instead of maintaining it I hope Tom wheeler enjoys the smoke and all the rest of enviro goons

hotsabi
Guest
hotsabi
3 years ago

Visitors are the eyes on the forest when no state forestry workers are around. Now you lose that. Dumb move guys.

Farce
Guest
Farce
3 years ago

People are the problem. We have become so incredibly stupid as a species and as a culture that we must now be forbidden from these lands. I get it. Next year and the year after that won’t be any better. People will go into dry tinderboxes during fire season and light campfires in the wind. Or even set off fireworks! They really are that stupid! They must be stopped. Probably best to just ban everybody from all forests from July through October every year. Or at least allow us locals to have the freedom to hunt the urban fools. With modern vehicles and unfettered access we cannot get far enough away from these morons, these e-diots who are clueless and extremely dangerous. They should stay in their condos and watch nature on their computer screens…

local observer
Guest
local observer
3 years ago
Reply to  Farce

we had some nut jobs setting off mortars and emptying clips of their AR-15s two days ago in the trees. the neighbors had to go have a talk with them. these weren’t city folk, these were local rednecks on meth. probably the ones that broke into the distillery in Blue Lake.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  local observer

What’s the difference between Antifa and rednecks? Their excuses…

Farce
Guest
Farce
3 years ago
Reply to  local observer

local observer- Thanks for balancing my rant. I do rant sometimes…There are fools everywhere, yes and unfortunately. Common sense is uncommon. I’m glad your neighbors spoke with them. Often that is all that is needed. I too was young and dumb and green at one time….but I respected and listened to my old-timer neighbors (they were rednecks) and I learned a lot.

local observer
Guest
local observer
3 years ago
Reply to  Farce

i have learned almost everything i know from listening to old-timers. we called them old salts. the old guy at the bar in The Perfect Storm is a perfect and intentional depiction of an old salt.

Jim Brickley
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Farce

Invite them all to a trump rally, sans mask!

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Jim Brickley

Little drops of poison…

local observer
Guest
local observer
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

how very Putin of you.

P*** W***lies
Guest
P*** W***lies
3 years ago
Reply to  local observer

Fluoride?

P*** W***lies
Guest
P*** W***lies
3 years ago
Reply to  Farce

Class 4 bioweapon to the rescue. ..

thetallone
Guest
thetallone
3 years ago
Reply to  Farce

I support the right to arm bears.

Shaka
Guest
3 years ago

Personally I worry about people whom consider California and enemy state not Californian governments to be a danger when it comes to arson.

Right wingers have mailed pipe bombs to politicians and regularly celebrate violence if sarcastically, a responsible for more than 10 times the violence of Islamic or Democrat groups when it comes to actually shooting people running into crowds or the like.

I’m not blaming them for the fires, but if I was to worry about people wanting to start fires, I’d start with those ready to cause death and destruction finding a channel that is extremely safe to do so compared to other means of hurting California and getting to blame Democrats. The same goes for pallets of bricks or windows broken by guys in surplus cop gear.

Lynn H
Guest
Lynn H
3 years ago
Reply to  Shaka

Shaka, I spent about 4 hours the other night searching for news reports on all arrests for brush and wildfire arsonists in Ca from May 2020 till now. Made a list with links (which I guess I can’t re-post here). I read most of the stories. There were about 25 arrested. They were from every spectrum and race of society you can think of. The only common denominator was that they were all crazy. Most of them batshit crazy.

Arson is a symptom of mental illness. It’s frequently but not always associated with personality disorders and violent or abusive individuals. Also sometimes with hard drug use or mania in combination with other mental illness. A person from any political persuasion can be an asshole.

Yes, there are people who come here from out of state and start fires- one guy from Missouri flew here and started 15 fires in the San Jose area last year before they caught him. They also caught a tourist a couple/few years back from Germany who started a horrific fire in Wy and Colorado. There are also quite a few homeless people who start fires out of frustration. But it’s not a political thing with most of them- or rather, their politics and reasons are really not the reason they do it. They do it because that individual is sick. It’s not a class thing either. They’re just individual sick evil people. Who should get life or the chair. I suppose a possible exception would be someone listening to ISIS, but I think that would be an exception.

Redwood Dan
Guest
Redwood Dan
3 years ago

So are hunters going to get refunds for hunting licenses?

Chuck U
Guest
Chuck U
3 years ago
Reply to  Redwood Dan

My hunting property just got a little more expensive…might make me half whole from a ripoff and loss of the family 4×4