After the largely unnecessary closure of Yosemite National Park due to the nonsensical mediademic imposed by Gavin Newsom, Yosemite is now reopening.
It was FAR more worthwhile to visit it while it was closed. With the newly imposed limits to visitors, though, it could still be considered a great destination because of the much smaller and distanced crowds. It should seem more like a National Park with wide open spaces instead of Galaxy’s Edge at Star Wars during Labor Day Weekend.
On April 15, 2020 the California Fish and Game Commission determined that a “temporary, adaptive approach was needed to give the California Department of Fish and Wildlife the ability to suspend sport fishing in any waters of the state or restrict the taking of any fish species to protect public health and safety from the immediate threat posed by COVID-19” so they created an emergency action to add Section 8.02, Title 14 to the California Code of Regulations. This allowed the Department of Fish and Wildlife with “the ability to delay, suspend, or restrict sport or recreational fishing for particular species or areas to ensure that anglers, local communities, and government employees are protected from increased risk of transmission of COVID-19.”
We’re all getting ready to go back outside. This year I’m planning on writing a couple of books about Jeeping, so I probably won’t be hiking as much as I’d like (much to my bathroom scale’s distress). I’ll still be out there – I’ve got a Mount Whitney hike planned for later this year, and I’ll be hitting some old favorites (Mounts Wilson (14 miles, 5,710’ elevation), Baldy (10 miles, 10,064’ elevation), San Jacinto (11 miles, 10,834’ elevation), as well as Cucamonga Peak (11 miles. 8,859’ elevation), San Bernardino Peak (16 miles, 10,649’ elevation), and San Gorgonio (17 miles, 11,503’ elevation)).
The Forest Service has announced that they’re starting to open up access to developed recreational opportunities.
In California we’re part of Region 5 – the Pacific Southwest Region, which manages 18 national Forests from Klamath and Modoc in the northern part of the state all the way through the Angeles, San Bernardino, and Cleveland National Forests in the southern part of the state. These national forests cover more than 20 million acres of our lands and supply 50% of the water in the state.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, and Society for Conservation of Bighorn Sheep (SCBS) are looking for volunteers to assist biologists with a bighorn sheep count in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties at the end of February (February 29 through March 1st). It’s the last weekend of the month, and the event will go on Saturday evening and all day Sunday.
