Category Archives: National Forests

Big Bear Lake, National Forests, Wildfire, Wildlife

Summit Fire burning south of Big Bear Lake

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

A fire now named the Summit Fire is burning in the San Bernardino National Forest near Forest Service Road 2N08 (to the south of the city of Big Bear Lake and west of the Snow Summit ski resort).

The fire appears to have started near Pine Knot Avenue and Knickerbocker Road around 12:30 p.m. Within an hour, the fire had grown to more than 10 acres, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department. At last report, it had grown again to between 20 and 25 acres.  It has a moderate rate of spread, and is being fueled by moderate to heavy forest growth.

There are mandatory evacuations for the area from Knickerbocker Road east to Georgia Road and south of Pennsylvania Road to the forest boundary.

08/24/15 Update (from InciWeb):

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Conservation, National Forests, National Parks

Sportsmen-Legislators, Conservation Groups Discuss Federal Forest Policy

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Today, members of the sportsmen’s conservation community gathered with Members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) at a Breakfast Briefing, titled, “The Resilient Federal Forests Act: Wildlife Habitat and Forest Diversity,” hosted by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF).

Speakers addressed issues from funding, increasing litigation, and complicated regulations to wildlife habitat management and public access for outdoor recreation on federal lands, many of which are addressed in H.R. 2647.

CSF President Jeff Crane, CSC Co-Chair Congressman Rob Wittman (VA), and CSC Vice-Chair Congressman Gene Green (TX) introduced H.R. 2647 and its importance, not only to sportsmen and women, but to all users of public lands.

CSC Member and House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Congressman Rob Bishop (UT) addressed the audience. “[Forest management] needs more money to be effective, but that alone is not going to solve the problem. There has to be some substantial changes. The Resilient Federal Forests Act is the first step forward.”

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Conservation, National Forests, National Parks

Returning Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep to the heart of Yosemite

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep are back in Yosemite’s Cathedral Range after over 100 years of absence!

Between March 26 and April 3, 2015 seven ewes were moved to the Laurel Creek area of Sequoia National Park. During this same time period ten ewes and three rams were were moved from the Inyo National Forest and Sequoia National Park and released into the cliff habitat of the Cathedral Range in Yosemite National Park. All migrated sheep are in great condition, with nine of the Cathedral Range ewes pregnant (the single non-pregant ewe is a yearling).

From the National Park Press Release:

A multiagency operation was recently concluded that returned two herds of endangered bighorn sheep to locations in Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, Inyo National Forest, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, worked together on the complex operation in the Sierra Nevada.

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National Forests, News

Nestle pumping water out of the San Bernardino Forest without a valid permit

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Nestle Waters North America – the bottler of Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water (one of my absolute favorites bottled waters; yes, I am a water snob!) – is in a bit of trouble over their water extraction operation in the San Bernardino National Forest.  It appears that during California’s current environmentalist caused drought catastrophe, Nestle has been pumping out water under permits that may have expired as far back as 1988.

Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water, which takes its name from a natural rock formation in the San Bernardino Mountains that’s shaped like a giant arrowhead, is a brand of drinking water that is sold primarily in the western United States, including California, Arizona, and the Pacific Northwest.  The company was acquired by Nestlé in 1987 – a year before the oldest permit expired.

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Hiking - General, National Forests

Update on the fundraiser to save Sturtevant Camp

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Last weekend was a great fundraiser to help save the historic Sturtevant Camp.  KCET did a follow up, titled “Friends of the San Gabriels Mount Fundraising Efforts to Save Historic Sturtevant Camp”

From the article:

Sturtevant Camp — which contains the country’s oldest surviving USFS Ranger Station in its original location and a historic main lodge built as the open-air Swiss Dining Pavilion in 1897 with all original wood — is the last of five resorts that once flourished in Big Santa Anita Canyon but has since been lost to floods and fire (including Hoegee’s Camp, Robert’s Camp, and Fern Lodge). There was at one point over 200 cabins just like the ones at Sturtevant. But despite its historic significance, Sturtevant has never received landmark status. Although Angeles National Forest is protected from being developed, there’s nothing preventing Sturtevant’s structures from being demolished or languishing in disuse.

You can read the entire article HERE.