Home » City Guide » , ,

All California National Forests Closed Through Sept. 17

To better assist firefighters, 17 national forests in California are temporarily closed to the public
By - posted 8/31/2021 No Comment

To better provide public and firefighter safety due to the ongoing California wildfire crisis, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region is announcing a temporary closure of all National Forests in California.

This closure will be in effect from Aug. 31, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. through September 17, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.

“We do not take this decision lightly but this is the best choice for public safety,” said Regional Forester Jennifer Eberlien. “It is especially hard with the approaching Labor Day weekend, when so many people enjoy our national forests.”

All 17 National Forests Closed in California

Closed August 31 – September 17, 2021
Learn More | See the Official Order

  • Tahoe National Forest
  • Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit
  • Plumas National Forest
  • Lassen National Forest
  • Mendocino National Forest
  • Klamath National Forest
  • Six Rivers National Forest
  • Shasta-Trinity National Forest
  • Modoc National Forest
  • Cleveland National Forest
  • San Bernardino National Forest
  • Angeles National Forest
  • Los Padres National Forest
  • Sequoia National Forest
  • Sierra National Forest
  • Stanislaus National Forest
  • Inyo National Forest

This order does not affect the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, which is not in the Pacific Southwest Region.

Factors that led to this decision include:

1. By temporarily reducing the numbers of people on national forests, we hope to minimize the likelihood that visitors could become entrapped on National Forest System lands during emergency circumstances.

2. The closure order will also decrease the potential for new fire starts at a time of extremely limited firefighting resources, and enhance firefighter and community safety by limiting exposure that occurs in public evacuation situations, especially as COVID-19 continues to impact human health and strain hospital resources.

3. Due to state-wide conditions, any new fire starts have the potential for large and rapid fire growth with a high risk to life and property. The Forest Service and our partners are absolutely doing all we can to fight these fires and will continue to do so, but the conditions dictate the need for this region-wide closure order.

4. Forecasts show that conditions this season are trending the same or worse as we move into late summer and fall.

5. Although the potential for large fires and risk to life and property is not new, what is different is that we are facing: (a) record level fuel and fire conditions; (b) fire behavior that is beyond the norm of our experience and models such as large, quick runs in the night; (c) significantly limited initial attack resources, suppression resources, and Incident Command Teams to combat new fire starts and new large fires; and (d) no predicted weather relief for an extended period of time into the late fall.