The letter about Los Padres National Forest says simply, “It’s time to reopen the forest.”
“Over the past 6 weeks, you have done a great job of clearing roads, repairing infrastructure,” it continues, “and leading the forest-wide damage assessment effort.”
The letter is addressed to Los Padres National Forest, and while acknowledging the efforts made thus far by U.S Forest Service officials as well as the extent of the trail damage, it is clear and concise in its message.
“While the extent of the trail damage is significant, we have not seen the type of show-stopper trail damage that would warrant the majority of the forest remaining closed.
“While that’s not ideal, we can’t wait for every trail issue to be repaired, that’s going to take years. We understand that there are going to be some roads and trails which will need to remain closed.
“Forest users understand that not every trail, trailhead, campground or picnic area will be ready to reopen. That’s okay, we just want to get back into the forest and go where we can. Please, it’s time to reopen the forest.”
The letter from the Los Padres Forest Association is signed, “Your Forest Users.”
Prepare for the New Reality
Like those who signed the letter, I agree that it would be “a shame to have another beautiful wintery-spring weekend come and go without people enjoying their Los Padres.”
But the new reality is that the forest is not the same as the one you may have visited before the first of our winter storms occurred.
Access to the forest has been severely damaged, trails are in need of repair, and hillside failures have created dangerous conditions on some of the trails.
You should know that using the trails once the forest is opened will require vigilance and care.
Access in emergency situations may be much more difficult, even on the front-country trails given the damage to many of the Edison catways and washed-out gully and stream crossings.
Another new reality is that we really can no longer count on the Forest Service to be responsible for restoring or maintaining the trails in our backcountry. This has been the case for years, but it is crystal clear today.
The Forest Service is for all intents and purposes a firefighting agency today. There are no forest trail crews or funding for maintaining them.
Recreation area responsibilities have been farmed out to private concessionaires, and the only hope for long-term fixes caused by this winter’s storms is a one-time congressional appropriation at some time in the future.
While the Forest Service can legally close Los Padres Forest trails to the public, the sad news is that it can no longer care for them.
While I can appreciate the work forest officials put into opening road access in areas such as Figueroa Mountain and along Sunset Valley Road to the San Rafael Wilderness trailheads, it has been the valiant efforts of hundreds of volunteers under the umbrella of Los Padres Forest Association’s Wilderness Volunteer Rangers (VWR) who were out on the trails surveying the damage and reporting back.
They’ve let us know where and how serious the issues are, have begun work with other organizations to build the volunteer resources needed for the restoration efforts, and started the fundraising campaigns needed to rebuild the trails.
Besides the LPFA, these include the Montecito Trails Foundation (MTF), the Santa Barbara County Trails Council (SBTC), the Sage Trails Alliance, and Dave Everett’s volunteer crew — all working tirelessly to get the trails reopened.
Understanding the Impacts
One of the volunteers who has been surveying the trail damage almost from the day the rain ended is Paul Cronshaw. He is a retired school teacher, a disciple of the “going light” hiking school of backpacking, and a tireless volunteer for both MTF and the LPFA.
Over the past month, Paul has hiked the Romero, Cold Springs, McMenemy and Buena Vista trails, among others in the front country, and has just recently completed a three-day, 45-mile survey of the Sisquoc River and Manzana Creek trails network.
According to Bryan Conant, the LPFA executive director, volunteer groups across the entire forest have now surveyed over 200 miles of trails across the southern four ranger districts, and have probably collectively seen most of the forest by now.
The reports back from Paul and others confirm that the damage is extensive but not incapacitating. As noted in the letter, “Most of the trail damage we’ve seen are obstacles that savvy forest-users can easily walk around or bypass.”
This implies the need for both experience and caution once the forest is open again.
River crossings are wide, and many of them have no flagging or other signage to follow. Crossings can be deep. Side drainages cutting across the trails may be difficult to get past.
These are all challenges, but not a reason to keep them closed now that we have a better understanding of conditions.
Impacts to the Front-Country Trails
Locally, people are understandably itching to get back on the trail.
Thanks to Cronshaw’s local surveys, it became clear that while there was extensive damage to several of the Montecito-area trails, the majority could be reopened reasonably soon.
To make that happen, the LPFA and MTF are teaming to use the association’s crew and MTF’s funding capabilities to kick-start the restoration effort.
Together they’ve begun work on the development of a phased plan.
“Phase One,” MTF President Ashlee Mayfield tells me, “is get to a place where it will be safe for people to be hiking again, and hopefully we can do it before the forest reopening.”
Mayfield ticks off a number of those she thinks can be reopened in the next several weeks, including the Cold Springs East, West and Ridge trails, and McMenemy, Girard, Buena Vista and lower Franklin trails.
Phase Two includes trails such as the Romero Single Track and upper Franklin Trail, both of which will require extensive work but can be dealt with once the most popular trails have been taken care of.
Condition of the Western Trails
While less is known about trails in the more western part of the front country, initial reports are similar to those in the Montecito area thanks to work being done by Everett and the Sage Trail Alliance.
The lower part of Rattlesnake Canyon Trail has already been reopened by Santa Barbara City Parks, work is being done on the San Roque side of the Jesusita Trail, and it appears similar work like that being done in the Montecito area will allow the Inspiration Point and Tunnel trails to be opened as well.
Longer-Term Challenges
The biggest challenges to reopening other of the front country trails aren’t trail conditions but the impacts from damage to the Edison catways and hillside failures that have cut across trails such as the Cold Springs, San Ysidro and Old Romero Road.
Hillside failures are caused when prolonged periods of rain occur over days or weeks of rainfall, often capped off by heavy downpours that cause them to fail when the weight of the water and soil become too much for the vegetation to hold them in place.
To complete work on the Cold Spring Trail, a realignment around and above a 20-foot drop-off was able to be constructed to avoid that spot.
However, several massive slides on the San Ysirdro Trail and multiple slides on the Old Romero Road, a favorite route for mountain bikers, have made both impassable.
Mayfield estimates that costs for what she has called “engineering solutions” could take years to complete and run into the multiple millions of dollars.
Edison Catway Issues
Complicating restoration of the entire front country trails network is damage to many of the Southern CA Edison catways, either from hillside failures that have caused massive landslides or major creek washouts.
These include the three major creek crossings in Romero Canyon and slides in other areas.
The catways are dirt access roads the utility company uses to reach its towers and other equipment along the front country.
They are used by hikers, cyclists and equestrians to access some local trails, and also provide access for emergency responders.
“One of the biggest differences when we started restoration efforts after the Thomas Fire and debris flow was that Edison had reworked the entire catway system,” Mayfield said. “That gave us this great jumping-off point for our work.”
This time the situation is much different. Edison hasn’t worked the catways since 2018, and may not have an interest in doing that given much of their work can now be done by helicopter.
“The catways give people a really safe place to walk,” Mayfield adds.
Currently, the Montecito Fire Protection District is communicating with Edison to see what their intentions are.
The Bottom Line
There is a certain irony in the idea that an organization such as the U.S. Forest Service can unilaterally close access to areas and trails that they do not actually maintain, and can dictate what, when and where they will be reopened.
While the most important thing for now is getting the trails reopened, for the long term, development of a trails-management system for the front country that provides a framework for local control over our trails is a first critical step that needs to be discussed now.
Please, sir, can we have our trails back?