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.
One great thing about California is the federal management of public lands. While our state government continues to wheeze and struggle under mismanagement, crazy half-baked “rules” made up by Gavin Newsom who claims to be using science (but his random decisions seem to indicate he’s not even using a dart board and a blindfold, much less an so-called actual “science”), the federal government continues to roll back lockdowns and re-open our lands as soon as it is feasible to do so.
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.
Earlier this week, Yosemite National Park closed all campgrounds and visitor centers. The park’s entrance and hiking trails remained open.
After the governor issued his ridiculous ‘shelter in place’ nonsense, however, Yosemite has now been shuttered to all visitors for an indefinite period of time due to the Chinese Coronavirus. No one is allowed into the park except for residents who live within the boundaries of the park or at Yosemite West who have to use NPS roads to get to their homes, and authorized National Park Service personnel.
The U.S. Forest Service has announced that they’re going to postpone all new prescribed burns until further notice due to the Coronavirus. The canceled fire ignitions in California include burns in Six Rivers and Mendocino National Forests.
The U.S. Forest Service works in coordination with local and state health organizations when planning and managing prescribed burns and wildfires, and potential smoke impacts on the public are first and foremost in the planning process.
