Weather forecasts, drought conditions, and limited firefighting resources have prompted restrictions on shooting, camp fires, smoking and welding in the westernmost half of the Stanislaus National Forest — a designated High Fire Hazard Area — the rest of this year, the acting forest supervisor ordered Friday.
The order issued Friday is effective immediately and is expected to remain in place until Dec. 31. The designated High Fire Hazard Area includes all of the forest west of Donnell Reservoir, west of Pinecrest Reservoir, and west of Cherry Reservoir.
The order prohibits discharging firearms; building, maintaining, attending, or using a fire, camp fire, or stove, except at developed recreation sites; smoking, except in enclosed vehicles and buildings, and at developed recreation sites; welding; and operating or using internal combustion engines and external combustion engines without properly installed, maintained, working spark arresting devices.
“Protecting our natural resources is at the core of what we do,” Beth Martinez, the acting forest supervisor, said in a prepared statement. “Additionally, public safety is top of mind in all our efforts. With that, I have decided to implement these fire restrictions to help protect our forest and everyone who enjoys recreating there.”
The fire restrictions are believed to be the most immediate and effective way to reduce potential loss of lives and property, and to protect physical, biological, and cultural resources of the forest, Martinez said.
The four-page order, including a map of the designated High Fire Hazard Area, can be viewed online at https://bit.ly/3OCgYlj.
As of Thursday, most of western Tuolumne County was in exceptional drought, the most dire category of drought, according to scientists with the U.S. Drought Monitor. More than 97% of California was in severe, extreme, or exceptional drought.
The Stanislaus National Forest was created by Congress in February 1897. Today it covers 1,403 square miles in Alpine, Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Mariposa counties, including 42% of all the land in Tuolumne County.
