Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board The damage to Angeles National Forest

Why close the whole forest now?

All available manpower has been shifted to fire suppression and fire suppression support.

It is easy to think that once the fire is out, the work is over, but that is very far from the truth. There is a HUGE amount of rehabilitation to be done. There is a looming disaster when the rains come, which may be prevented to some degree, by preventive measures, now and in the next 6 months. To open some of these trails, thousands of trees will have be cut and moved. Same for roads.
Who is going to do the work?

Is it bad to lose a home from a fire, but ok by a mudslide created by that fire 6 months later?

All available personnel are going to be shifted from other areas of the forest, and probably temporarily assigned from other forests, to try to mitigate the potential mudslide disasters that are the possible next event in all this.

Over the years when they have closed the forest, they've reopened it after for first significant rain.

My guess is there would be too much political pressure to keep it closed until spring.

The fire areas will likely be closed for a term measured in years, as has been the case in previous large fires in SoCal.

For example; the Slide, Butler 2 and Buckweed closures are currently at two years and likely to continue.

Unaffected areas will probably open after the fire when USFS staff can get to it.

This is just sad sad sad...I hate arsonists. We just got Hwy 2 open between Vincent Gap and Islip Saddle after 4 or 5 yr of closure (mud slides) this past Spring. I am glad I got so much hiking (and pictures) in the ANF this year, but heartsick over how large an area the Station fire burned.

I think that once they open the areas that weren't significantly affected, they will open the 2 from Wrightwood to Vincent Gap (Baden-Powell trailhead). I guess I'll be taking my pictures next year in the Blue Ridge area...I think that whole area was spared.