NEWS RELEASE: Inyo National Forest officials urge backup plans this Memorial Day Weekend

BISHOP, Calif., May 25, 2023 — As we head into Memorial Day weekend after a long winter season, the Inyo National Forest would like to caution visitors to plan for a safe trip, while also being aware of winter’s impacts to its recreation sites. There is also a heightened risk of flooding, rock or landslides, debris flows, road or trail washouts and avalanches.

“This year, there will be a much higher chance your trip may not go as planned due to the extensive damage that the prolonged winter has caused on our trails, roads, and campgrounds,” said Inyo National Forest’s Public Services Staff Officer, Adam Barnett. “We encourage visitors to know their limits and to have a backup plan that allows them to turn back if they encounter potentially dangerous situations.”

Campgrounds and Roads

Visitors anxious to get outdoors and enjoy this spring recreation season will also be met with delayed campground openings and limited access to trailheads and other areas due to lingering snow and road damage. Many campgrounds, roads and hiking trails are also near lakes and rivers with changing water conditions. Water will be colder and swifter with the record-breaking snowpack now melting.

While forest staff continue to assess the full extent of the damage across the forest, roads may need to be closed throughout the summer. Before you head out, please check the following pages to see if the area you want to visit is even accessible:

Inyo National Forest Alerts and Notices

Inyo National Forest Road Conditions

Inyo National Forest Recreation Conditions Report

Additionally, please be aware of winds and avoid areas with dead standing trees. Look up before you choose a trail, park your car, or set up camp. And no matter how tempting, do not park your car illegally and block emergency vehicle access.

Outdoor Safety

This is not going to be a normal year for hiking or backpacking. Even after you secure a permit and start your trip, your plans may need to change in order to adapt to situations you encounter. This could include trail and bridge washouts, trails covered in snow or ice, fallen trees, high and swift water levels in creeks and drainages, and eroding soils bringing down rocks and large boulders.

Visitors should always bring essentials including navigation, light sources, first aid supplies, clothes for changing weather, food and water. We recommend hikers send someone not on the hike a detailed plan of where they plan to travel and GPS location when arrive, in case of an emergency.

If you are headed to higher elevations for hiking or backpacking, your adventure may require technical off-trail navigation and full winter mountaineering skills and equipment. Have a “Plan B” and “Plan C” figured out ahead of time, so if you do encounter a potentially unsafe situation, you can turn around and still enjoy one of your backup plans.

“It is up to you to know what your limits are,” said Mount Whitney District Recreation Officer, Calder Reid. “If you’re not sure, remember the mountain will always be there. Make some plans for the fall, or try again next year!”

Check this page for more tips: Inyo National Forest Wilderness Safety

Trail detours

Trail conditions will be extremely dynamic. Specifically, for through-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trails, this may mean detours or changes in exits and reentries. For example, a bridge has recently washed out on the San Joaquin River on Sequoia-Kings National Park, causing hikers to detour their trips on other Inyo National Forest trails. Please check the Pacific Crest Trail Association’s website for the latest: https://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/closures/central-california/south-fork-san-joaquin-river-bridge-damaged/

This type of situation is likely to keep occurring on forest trails as water levels rise from snowmelt.

Wildlife

Additionally, forest staff are expecting higher incidences of human-wildlife interactions with bears, skunks, rodents, rattlesnakes and insects. With the record snowfall/precipitation, some wildlife have experienced severe food scarcity and may be more likely to take bold action to find food resources, in other cases wildlife may have fed on bountiful food sources and increased their populations.

“Help us protect our wildlife by keeping yourself safe,” said Inyo National Forest Wildlife Biologist, Kary Schlick. “This means properly storing your food, paying attention to where you're going, and wearing protective clothing and gear to guard against ticks and mosquitoes.”

Plan Ahead, Be Kind, and Recreate Responsibly

Inyo National Forest staff is working in conjunction with its concessionaires and local cooperating agencies to remediate maintenance issues, and will open roads and recreation sites as soon as possible. In the meantime, please do your part to know before you go, and recreate safely.

In addition to the Inyo National Forest website, here are additional links to keep handy before you leave for your trip:

National Weather Service - Reno (covers northern half of Inyo National Forest)

National Weather Service - Las Vegas (covers southern half of Inyo National Forest)

Ready Inyo County

Ready Mono County

Caltrans QuickMap

#RecreateResponsibly | Water Safety

Get Involved

Are you interested in helping repair or rebuild our trails and roads on the forest? There’s no better way to enjoy your trails and give back at the same time. Join in on the efforts of our non-profit partners who regularly schedule volunteer event opportunities:

Bishop Area Climbers Coalition

Eastern Sierra 4x4 Club

Eastern Sierra Interpretative Association

Friends of the Inyo

June Lake Trails Committee

Mono Lake Volunteers

Pacific Crest Trail Association

As always, feel free to contact one of the Inyo National Forest Visitor Centers if you have any further questions:

Mammoth Lakes Welcome Center: (760) 924-5500

White Mountain Public Lands Information Center: (760) 873-2500

Eastern Sierra Visitor Center: (760) 876-6200

Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center (opens May 26): (760) 647-3044

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WHAT IS SNOWMELT FLOODING

From NWS Training Portal: flooding_factsheet.pdf (weather.gov)

A flood is considered a snowmelt flood when melting snow is a major source of the water involved. Unlike rainfall, which reaches the soil almost immediately, snow stores the water for some time until it melts, delaying the arrival of water downstream for days, weeks, or even months.

Once it does reach the soil, the water either soaks into the ground or runs off. If more water runs off than soaks in, flooding occurs.

How common are snowmelt floods? Are they severe? Snowmelt flooding typically occurs every year in the northern United States, with most snowmelt events being minor and localized. Eight of the most significant floods of the 20th century (in terms of area affected, property damage, and deaths) were related to snowmelt.

What causes snowmelt flooding? High soil moisture conditions prior to snowmelt, frozen ground, heavy snow cover, widespread heavy rain during the melt period, and rapid snowmelt (unseasonably warm temperatures, high humidity, rainfall, etc.)

Magdalena Ranger District to Implement
Prescribed Fire Operations

Durfee Bolander Unit 8 & Corn Canyon

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – May 23, 2023 – Fire Managers on the Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands (NF & NGs) plan to conduct previously announced prescribed fire operations on the Magdalena Ranger District. Ignitions are planned to start as early as Wed May 24 and continue thru Tues. May 30.

Ignition will depend upon agency administrator approval and conditions within the ranges outlined in the prescribed fire plan. Optimal conditions will result in effective smoke ventilation and dispersal and help achieve the desired effects needed to accomplish the burn plan objectives. 

Crews are preparing for burning on:

Magdalena Ranger District: Durfee Bolander RX Fire: 1,135 acres on Unit 8 in the vicinity of Durfee and Bolander Canyon along FSR 476, FSR 220, 661A and 220X. Smoke may be visible from the communities of Magdalena, Alamo and Datil. See Map

Magdalena Ranger District: Corn Canyon RX Fire: 1,890 acres of Unit 2A in the vicinity of Corn Canyon along FSR 225. Smoke will be visible from the communities of Monticello, Truth or Consequences, Socorro and traffic along I-25. See map.

Our land management strategy is centered on long-term forest health, including reducing forest fuels and using prescribed fire on the landscape. Prescribed fires are intended to reduce hazardous fuels that have accumulated due to drought, climate change, insects and disease, and decades of fire suppression.

With fire there is smoke, but firefighters take measures to reduce smoke impacts as much as possible. Fire crews use tactics such as starting early in the day and ending ignitions early in the afternoon to allow for the most ventilation possible throughout the burn. Smoke may settle into drainages and lower elevations at night, but is expected to dissipate by late morning, as daytime temperatures increase. Information on air quality and protecting your health can be found online at the www.airnow.gov/

Implementation announcements and updates on prescribed fire projects will be posted on InciWeb, New Mexico Fire Information and on the Cibola NF & NGs website, Cibola Facebook and Cibola Twitter sites.

Magdalena District Office: 575-854-2281

Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands Supervisor’s Office: 505-346-3900

A lightning strike ignited the Pass Fire on the Gila National Forest the evening of May 18, located about ¼-mile from Forest Road 59 about 1 mile east of Indian Creek Cabin and 0.7-mile north of the Gila Wilderness boundary. The low-intensity fire is burning in grass and pine needles has grown to approximately 193 acres.

“We are applying a confine and contain strategy on this fire and allowing it to play its natural role in this fire-adapted ecosystem,” said Agency Administrator Elizabeth Toney. “We’re seeing really excellent fire effects, burning surface fuels in pine understory, consuming dead grass and dead and down logs.”

Fire weather conditions so far this season are much less volatile than this time last year, given the wet summer, fall, and winter of the past 11 months, as well as unseasonal rains that fell over the area last week. Recent and ongoing fuels sampling shows that trees and shrubs are holding enough moisture that they are not yet available for burning.

Limited values at risk will be protected as appropriate if fire reaches pre-identified management action points. Pass Fire produced low-lying smoke that settled overnight Sunday into the Indian Creek and the Gila River drainages, impacting the Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument, area campgrounds, and residential areas near Gila Hot Springs. Smoke-sensitive individuals should follow recommendations at NM Fire Info | Smoke Management.

More information about the Pass Fire is available at Nmgnf Pass Fire Information | InciWeb (nwcg.gov) and on New Mexico Fire Information at | Fire crews responding to Pass Fire near Indian Creek CabinNM Fire Info For more information contact Maribeth Pecotte at 575-388-8211 or Maribeth.Pecotte@usda.gov.

From May 12th through May 27th approximately 1,600 acres have been completed on the Emmett, Cascade, Idaho City and Lowman Ranger Districts including:

Cascade Ranger District: 

• French Campbell Prescribed Fire: 54 acres complete, located about 3 miles west of Cascade, Idaho, off West Mountain Road
• Lost Horse Prescribed Fire Units 6, 7, and 8 total 381 total acres. Approximately 194 acres have been completed to date. Lost Horse is located about 10 miles east of Cascade, ID

Emmett Ranger District:

• Pinney Slope Prescribed Fire: 960 acres, ignitions are complete. Located 6 miles north of Crouch, Idaho, near West Scriver Road, Forest Service Road 693
• Williams Creek Prescribed Fire: Ignitions complete, located about 6 miles north of Banks, Idaho, near Forest Service Road 643

Lowman Ranger District:

• West Lowman Prescribed Fire: Clear Creek 5 and Lick Creek units are complete. Located 1/2 mile east of Lowman and 2 miles north of Lowman, Idaho respectively, near Idaho State Highway 21. Planned ignitions for Clear Creek #1, Miller Creek #11 and12 over the weekend, pending conditions.

Idaho City Ranger District:

• Boulder Creek Prescribed Fire: 427 total acres, with 100 acres completed and unit is being monitored. Boulder Creek unit is located 8 miles north-east of Idaho City, Idaho, near Idaho State Highway 21.

The Goosenest Ranger District will be out at the Van Bremmer project today to do up to 213 acres of prescribed burning.

Van Bremmer is located nine miles northeast of the community of Tennant.

Prescribed burning mimics the role that natural fire played for centuries in the fire-adapted ecosystems of the Klamath National Forest: reducing surface and ladder fuels, returning nutrients to the soil, and increasing the resiliency of forests to future fire events.  

Prescribed fire is implemented under a predetermined specific set of weather and fuels parameters that is described within the approved burn plan for that project. This allows fire managers to reintroduce fire when conditions are optimal for desired results.

Smoke may be visible from CA Highway 97.

Attached to this news article are "Frequently Asked Questions" complied by agencies representing the Eastern Sierra Unified Command as they coordinate and manage 2023 Spring snowmelt runoff emergency conditions.

On March 8, the Inyo County Board of Supervisors proclaimed a local state of emergency as a result of the early 2023 atmospheric river events and projected spring runoff conditions.

The declaration stated, in part: “… 2023 storms and runoff conditions threaten the safety of property and persons in Inyo County by flooding private, Tribal, and public property; damaging or destroying infrastructure including roads, bridges, water conveyance and diversion structures, dust control apparatus, sanitary facilities, and campgrounds; creating conditions that propagate mosquitoes and other vectors that harbor disease and threaten public health; and, posing long-term environmental threats associated with the spread of invasive species …”

The County of Mono and the Town of Mammoth Lakes made similar declarations on March 8 due to the massive amount of snow burying homes and businesses. A Unified Command was immediately formed to organize and accelerate snow removal and runoff preparation efforts.

AGENCIES REPRESENTED IN THE EASTERN SIERRA UNIFIED COMMAND:

Inyo County Administration, Emergency Services, Sheriff’s Office | Los Angeles Department of Water and Power | Caltrans | Mono County Office of Emergency Management | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Weather Service | Southern California Edison | City of Bishop

May 25, 2023 - Smoke can is still visible from the Mount Laguna Prescribed burn. Firefighters are patrolling and monitoring the area throughout the day and evening. 

Bayfield, CO May 25, 2023—The Columbine Ranger District is planning to burn an additional 1,300 acres in the Beaver Meadows and First Notch areas of the San Juan National Forest to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and improve forest health. Operations are scheduled to begin Sunday, May 28th, depending on weather conditions and availability of fire personnel and other resources. Fire managers expect little impact to the public over the Memorial Day Weekend due to the prescribed fire’s remote location away from communities, recreation areas, and major roadways.

The prescribed fire project area is located 10 miles northeast of Bayfield, north of Beaver Meadows Road #135, which will remain open to the public. Jungle Canyon Road #160, Ute Park Road #133, and Rocky Canyon OHV Trail #717 will not be accessible during prescribed fire operations. Ignitions will take place over several consecutive days and operations may take multiple weeks to complete. District San Juan NF personnel and partner agencies will conduct using both ground and aerial ignition. Prescribed fires will only be ignited when all weather, fuels and smoke requirements are met.

Other prescribed fire units in the Vallecito-Piedra project were successfully implemented May 11th and 12th for a total of 1,112 acres. This burn project is aimed at reducing hazardous ground fuels, reducing the risk of unplanned catastrophic wildfire, restoring ponderosa pine ecosystems, and improving wildlife habitat. The forests in Southwest Colorado are part of a fire-adapted ecosystem, which historically experienced frequent, low intensity fires on a large scale. Prescribed fire replicates that fire regime and increases the area on our landscape that has been burned at low and moderate conditions.

Daytime smoke is expected to travel to the north/northeast and to be lofted high into the sky. Nighttime smoke is expected to travel downslope into the Beaver Creek drainage, the Piedra River, and south to the Pine River just north of Ignacio.  Smoke will be heavier in the mornings following burning operations, then lifting and clearing out by mid-day. Smoke will be visible from Bayfield, Pagosa Springs, and the U.S. Highway 160 corridor between those two towns. Learn how smoke from prescribed fire may affect your health by visiting the Colorado Department of Public Health website.

For more information on the Vallecito-Piedra Prescribed Fire Project, please contact the Columbine Ranger District at (970) 884-2512 or visit Inciweb. For information on the San Juan National Forest, call (970) 247-4874, visit the forest website, or follow us on social media (Twitter and Facebook).

-USDA-

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