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April 4, 2008
BURN AREA REOPENS IN LOS PADRES
NATIONAL FOREST
Officials
Warn that Dangerous Conditions Remain;
ForestWatch Urges Visitors to Tread Lightly to
Allow Land to Heal from the Effects of Wildfire
excerpts from the Forest
Service press release...
Los Padres National Forest
officials today announced that the area burned by the Zaca Fire,
closed to public entry since the fire began in July 2007, will
be reopened at noon, April 4. "The trail system has sustained
extensive damage and the public is urged to use extreme caution
when traveling in the affected area," said Forest Supervisor
Peggy Hernandez.
"A great deal of dry ravel (erosion) occurred immediately after
the fire, and the winter rains and heavy snowfall caused
additional damage," explained Hernandez. "Particularly hard hit
are vulnerable mid-slope trails like segments of the popular
Santa Cruz trail, and the Grapevine and Potrero trails in the
San Rafael Wilderness. Another key area that sustained
significant damage is the Manzana Narrows. Many sections of the
trail system have been completely obliterated."
Forest Service backcountry manager Kerry Kellogg estimates that
167 miles of backcountry trail were impacted by the Zaca Fire.
Kellogg said other safety hazards include deep gullies,
landslides and rockslides on trails; burned trees and tree limbs
that can fall without warning; burned stump holes; and damaged
or missing trail signs. He warned that the land, particularly
the steep terrain, will be changing constantly and will be
unstable for many years until the vegetation becomes
reestablished. "Even the most experienced hikers will need to
stay alert to their surroundings and not take unnecessary
risks," Kellogg said.
Forest Service officials also warned that most of the burned
area will not be safe for equestrians until the trails are
repaired. "Hikers may be able to pick their way across some
damaged areas, but stock would have a very difficult time," said
Kathleen Phelps, District Ranger for the Santa Lucia District
which encompasses most of the San Rafael Wilderness. Of
particular concern are sideslope trails where horses may not be
able to turn around safely if they encounter a landslide or
gully.
A small group of dedicated volunteers who work regularly with
the Forest Service have been surveying the burned area to
document trail conditions. While they have explored a large
area, there are still some regions of the backcountry in the
Dick Smith and San Rafael Wildernesses that no one has seen
since the fire.
"We are still collecting information on trail conditions, and
the trails we know about have changed over the past few months,"
said Santa Barbara District Ranger Cindy Chojnacky. She said it
will take years to repair the trail system. "We have started
work with trail crews and volunteers in priority areas, and will
extend that work as the ground stabilizes. However, some of the
more remote, less traveled trails may never be reestablished."
Some of the burned area will still be subject to temporary
closures during rainy periods. Some gates will remain closed to
protect fuelbreaks, fire containment lines and open areas from
vehicle trespass until vegetation is reestablished. For example,
an eleven mile section of the Buckhorn Road will remain closed
to vehicles starting from the point where it intersects the
Camuesa Road. In addition, there are still several roads outside
the burned area that sustained damage during the fire
suppression efforts and are closed temporarily for repairs.
For more information about conditions in the Zaca Fire area,
contact the Santa Barbara Ranger District Office on Paradise
Road at (805) 967-3481, and the Santa Lucia District Office in
Santa Maria at (805) 925-9538. Photos of some of the trail
damage taken by the volunteer backcountry rangers are available
on the forest website at
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/lospadres .
At the height of the Zaca Fire in August 2007, the closure
encompassed over 660,000 acres between Highway 166 on the north
and Highway 33 on the south. Nearly 330,000 acres have been
closed to the public since October including most of the San
Rafael Wilderness, all of the Dick Smith Wilderness.
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