Category Archives: U.S. Forest Service

Activities, Hikes, National Forests, Outdoors, U.S. Forest Service

Mount Baldy Trail Closures Extended — What Hikers Need To Know

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Forest managers restrict summit approaches after heavy snow and rescue operations — check official alerts before heading into the San Gabriels.

Mount Baldy is close enough to the city that people treat it like a day hike, which is why the latest extended closure matters. When winter turns the ridgelines to ice, the mountain stops being a fairly strenuous stroll and becomes a treacherous mountaineering adventure that can kill the underprepared and the overconfident.

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California, National Forests, Outdoors, Recreation & Responsible Use, U.S. Forest Service

Tahoe Trails: E-Bikes, New Connectors, and Upgraded Trailheads

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Forest Service signs off on new e-bike branches, restroom-equipped parking and wayfinding. Construction slated for June 2026.

Lake Tahoe is about to change the way people get around on two electric-powered wheels. In early January 2026, the U.S. Forest Service finalized a basin-wide plan that expands where e-bikes can go and ties loose ends in the trail network across the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. The agency incorporated community input into route selection and environmental analysis, resulting in a mapped program with new access and infrastructure.

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Cal Fire, California, National Forests, State Parks, U.S. Forest Service

Fire Lookouts: the Overlooked Wildfire First Responders

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Volunteers and towers still catch small ignitions early — a human, practical layer that many agencies have let lapse.

Human observers remain a reliable detection option when cell service is spotty, and cellphone networks are disabled by power shutoffs. Many rural ridgelines and backcountry roads have little or no cellular coverage, and utilities’ preemptive outages can render personal devices useless exactly when they’re most needed.
 
Fire lookout towers once formed a dense statewide watch. At their peak, there were thousands of towers nationwide – and, roughly, 600 in California alone, situated to give broad, unobstructed views across forests and foothills. That system thinned over decades as budget cuts reduced staff and closed sites.
Bureau of Land Management, California, U.S. Forest Service

One Dollar, One Tree: BLM Cuts Permits to $1 for Trees and Firewood

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Bureau of Land Management opens cutting areas and drops personal-use permits to $1 to deliver holiday savings and reduce hazardous fuels.

Across BLM public lands this winter, the Interior Department has turned a holiday chore into a practical win. The Bureau of Land Management’s “One Dollar, One Tree“ action makes gathering a Christmas tree or personal-use firewood inexpensive while directing work into overstocked stands that need thinning.

Effective immediately for the 2025–2026 winter season, the BLM has cut personal-use permits for Christmas trees and firewood to $1 per tree or per cord through January 31, 2026. The agency is opening new cutting areas in overstocked woodlands, with priority given to locations near communities, military bases, tribal areas, and rural counties. Household limits are raised in many places — up to 10 cords of firewood and up to three Christmas trees — and caps can be relaxed where resources allow. The department projects the combined programs will deliver nearly $10 million in holiday savings to families while helping reduce hazardous fuels on public lands. Continue reading →

California, National Forests, U.S. Forest Service

Christmas Tree Permits for Mendocino National Forest Are Now Available

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell
Bring home a real tree and help the forest at the same time!
 
You can buy permits online through Recreation.gov (go to: Mendocino National Forest Christmas Tree Permits)) — read the overview and need-to-know info before you buy, and remember you’ll need to sign in or create a Recreation.gov account to complete the purchase.
 
Permits are also sold in person at local vendors and at forest offices in Willows, Stonyford, Upper Lake, and Covelo. Fourth graders with an Every Kid Outdoors pass can get a free permit by entering their pass/voucher number when purchasing (a $2.50 reservation fee applies).
 

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