Forest Closure – September 2021

UPDATE 9/22/21: The Angeles National Forest is now open to the public.

It’s that time of the year again, unfortunately. As of midnight tonight August 31, 2021, the Angeles National Forest and all other National Forests in California are closed to the public. This is due to fire conditions across the state and the major fires elsewhere, particularly the Dixie and Caldor fires. The USFS and other fire agencies share resources across regions and states, so our area is impacted even when there aren’t major fires locally.

Lowelifes’ work on Condor Peak Trail and elsewhere in the ANF will be temporarily suspended, including our upcoming workdays on September 4th and 5th. As soon as we are allowed back to work, we will let you know. Follow our Instagram and sign up for Newsletters to hear the latest news.

You can read the official USDA-FS Regional Order No. 21-07 here.

And we’ve copied the official statement from the NF website for you to read here:

USDA Forest Service Temporarily Closing All California National Forests for Public Safety

To better provide public and firefighter safety due to the ongoing California wildfire crisis, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region is announcing a temporary closure of all National Forests in California. This closure will be in effect from Aug. 31, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. through September 17, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. This order does not affect the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, which is not in the Pacific Southwest Region.

“We do not take this decision lightly but this is the best choice for public safety,” said Regional Forester Jennifer Eberlien. “It is especially hard with the approaching Labor Day weekend, when so many people enjoy our national forests.”

Factors that led to this decision include:

1. By temporarily reducing the numbers of people on national forests, we hope to minimize the likelihood that visitors could become entrapped on National Forest System lands during emergency circumstances.
2. The closure order will also decrease the potential for new fire starts at a time of extremely limited firefighting resources, and enhance firefighter and community safety by limiting exposure that occurs in public evacuation situations, especially as COVID-19 continues to impact human health and strain hospital resources.
3. Due to state-wide conditions, any new fire starts have the potential for large and rapid fire growth with a high risk to life and property. The Forest Service and our partners are absolutely doing all we can to fight these fires and will continue to do so, but the conditions dictate the need for this region-wide closure order.
4. Forecasts show that conditions this season are trending the same or worse as we move into late summer and fall.
5. Although the potential for large fires and risk to life and property is not new, what is different is that we are facing: (a) record level fuel and fire conditions; (b) fire behavior that is beyond the norm of our experience and models such as large, quick runs in the night; (c) significantly limited initial attack resources, suppression resources, and Incident Command Teams to combat new fire starts and new large fires; and (d) no predicted weather relief for an extended period of time into the late fall.