As the U.S. Forest Service closes in on an official announcement that the Thomas Fire is completely out, a final decision will be made in the next week regarding the fate of the trails within the Montecito part of the massive burn area.
If approved, a closure order will be announced by Los Padres National Forest that will prohibit public access for at least one more year.
At the recent annual meeting of the Montecito Trails Foundation, Santa Barbara/Ojai District Ranger Pancho Smith noted that almost all of the hot spots within the Thomas fire perimeter had been extinguished, with the exception of a small area in the Fillmore area.
An official declaration that the Thomas Fire is out is required before closed portions of Los Padres Forest can be reopened.
In an interview with Smith on Saturday, he told Noozhawk that declaration will be announced either this coming week or the next.
In preparation for the reopening of the burn area, signs are being prepared by the Forest Service for installation at points of entry — for both the Santa Barbara and Ojai ranger districts — warning the public that they are entering the Thomas Fire burn area and to use caution when doing so.
Reopening the burned portions of Los Padres Forest required Smith to make a determination about whether it would be appropriate to reopen the trails as well.
“My experience is that we need to be cautious about opening up trails so soon after a fire like this,” he explained.
Smith said he will be announcing four new closure orders that will affect public access.
The first two will be for the Pendola area and the Divide Peak OHV route. While this will keep motorized use out of the area, Smith noted that both will be open to foot traffic or mountain biking while the closure is in effect.
“There is still quite a bit of work needed to improve the road down into Pendola,” he said.
He added that Little Caliente Hot Springs is completely silted in, and Big Caliente Springs has had most of the piping burned out and some of its structures damaged.
The biggest concern, however, is a washout along the road that affects access to both Pendola and the OHV route that is not too far down from Romero Saddle.
Smith also noted that quite a bit of fencing must be installed along the Divide Peak OHV route to keep ATVs and motorcycles off the bulldozer lines constructed during the Thomas Fire. He said he expects this area will stay closed until the fencing can be installed.
Year-Long Closures
Those who have been hoping that some of the Montecito-area trails might be reopened soon will be extremely disappointed. Two closure orders, one each for the Montecito and Ojai burn area trails, will also be issued.
These will take effect as soon as they have been approved, and will last for the next year. Smith also told me he expects these closures could be extended even longer, depending on weather impacts next winter.
This may not sit well with some local trail users. Reports have been circulating in recent weeks on Facebook from a number of users who feel the trail conditions aren’t that bad, at least on some of the trails.
One hiking group noted that it was able to hike the Cold Spring Trail with participants ranging in age from 55 to 60, and on another trip had no problem hiking up the Romero Canyon Trail.
For those of you who might be thinking that it’s OK to hike within the closed area, Smith reminds everyone that the closed trails are clearly marked as such, and that entering the Thomas Fire Closed Area is not only illegal but carries a penalty of $5,000 and/or six months in jail.
While he admitted he does not have the staff needed to patrol the closed area, Smith added that should someone be injured and require rescue while within the burn area, that person may also be cited for violation of the order.
Need to Go Slow
One factor that may have entered Smith’s calculations regarding the upcoming closure order for the Montecito trails is its impact on the local community. Montecito is simply not prepared for the onslaught of the hundreds of trail users and dozens of vehicles that will certainly want access to areas still recovering from the impacts of the fire and debris flows that killed 23 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and blew out the community’s infrastructure.
These impacts also include damage to trail access, severe limitations on trailside parking, road closures and the like.
More important, many homeowners near the Montecito-area trailheads are still in the midst of repairing their roads and residences, installing new water and gas lines, rebuilding sewage systems, and hauling out tons of mud, rock and the remnants of their houses.
Aside from the community impacts that reopening the trails too soon may cause, reconstruction of the Montecito trails will require planning, possibly require permits for work in sensitive areas such as the creek and riparian zones, and most certainly will require the city, county and Forest Service to work with homeowners whose properties many of the trails cross.
What all of this points out is that now is the time to assess trail conditions, develop well thought-out plans for restoring them, and begin raising the needed funds to do so … and in the process allow the community the space to rebuild.
— Noozhawk outdoors writer Ray Ford can be reached at rford@noozhawk.com. Click here for his website, SBoutdoors.com. Follow him on Twitter: @riveray. The opinions expressed are his own.