House passes preservation bill on a bipartisan vote. The Protecting America's Wilderness and Public Lands Act, or House Resolution 803 seeks to conserve 1 million acres of public land in California, much of it in Southern California. HR 803 incorporates two local measures, including the San Gabriel Mountains Foothills and Rivers Protection Act that will protect the Angeles National Forest, located just north of Arcadia.
Huge California conservation bill heads to vote in Congress today. The Protecting America's Wilderness and Public Lands Act, or House Resolution 803, seeks to preserve 1 million acres of public land in California. Part of it is the San Gabriel Mountains and Rivers Protection Act, authored by Rep. Judy Chu-D. to extend the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument designation by adding 109,143 acres of the western front-facing Angeles National Forest. This includes popular hiking areas within Chantry Flat, located just north of Arcadia.
New risk rises from wildfires. Smoke can make people more subject to COVID-19, experts say. Smoke inhalation can weaken the immune system and make people more vulnerable to respiratory infections, including the novel coronavirus. Smoke from nearby Bobcat Fire shrouds Foothill Boulevard in Arcadia (in photo).
City of Arcadia asked residents north of Foothill Boulevard and east of Santa Anita Avenue to voluntarily evacuate as strong winds forecasted overnight could fuel the Bobcat Fire. American Red Cross Los Angeles has opened an evacuation point at Santa Anita Park.
San Gabriel Mountains-Veterans seeking expansion of forest. Advocates ask White House to add acreage to federal protection. Iraq War veteran Steve Dunwoody leads veterans struggling with PTSD on hikes through the Angeles National Forest. The veterans group joins legislators, cities, tribal, and environmental groups in support of adding forest land to the San Gabriel Mountains monument. The proposed addition borders the cities of Santa Clarita, Monrovia, Arcadia, and Sierra Madre, as well as Los Angeles communities of Sylmar, Tujunga, and Sunland. Twin bills from House of Representatives Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena and U.S. Sentor Alex Padilla, D-Calif. propose an expansion that would grow the monument by one-third.
Damage saps fun from Angeles forest. Angeles National Forest's Chantry Flat Road remains closed after suffering damage from the 2020 Bobcat fire and subsequent fires. Storms and fires force closure of trails, roads and campgrounds, some for years. The forest's second-most visited area, Chantry Flat, in the section north of Arcadia, Monrovia and Sierra Madre, has been closed since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. A sign in Arcadia (photo) advises motorists of the Chantry Flat Road closure.
Nearly all of region's national forest areas, including the Angeles, Los Padres, San Bernardino and Cleveland national forests, reopened yesterday, one week after the expiration of the California regional closure. The forests also lowered their fire danger level from critical to extreme, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The closure order was issued August 31 in response to statewide wildfires. Although the majority of the Angeles National Forest will reopen, a significant part will remain closed due to the 2020 Bobcat fire. The closure order for Angeles National Forest has been in place since September 2020 and remains in effect until April, to allow for affected areas to recover from the 100,000-plus-acre Bobcat Fire. Still closed are Chantry Flat Picnic Area and Buckhorn Campground.