Is the Forest Service Double-Dipping on Permits?
Plus, hello heat dome, waterfall hikes, what it's like to live in a fire tower, uses for black mustard, attack of the beavers, and more!
howdy
Are private companies getting into the public land pass game these days?
That’s what it seems like, according to a video from Cris Hazzard, a YouTube hiking and outdoor figure based in Southern California who’s been sharing trail news and gear reviews since 2014.
My reader (and paid subscriber, thanks!) Sharon M. shared his most recent video with me in the comments of last week’s newsletter (another nice paid subscriber perk, just saying), and at first I wasn’t quite sure what the big deal was. The National Forests around Southern California have had a program called the Adventure Pass for many years, and while its requirements were severely cut back after lawsuits in 2012, there are still a number of popular, developed trailheads and sites that require the pass (or an Interagency Visitor Pass or similar pass) … but that’s not what this recent development seems to be …
According to Hazzard’s video, it seems that the Mountain High Ski Resort, which operates within National Forest land on a special use permit, has introduced its own parking pass “per (their) Concessionaire Campground and Day Use permit)” to “implement (their) own parking.” Their new pass is called the Big Pines Parking Pass, and they claim it is required at a number of picnic areas, campgrounds, fishing sites, and trailheads.
The price for the Big Pines Parking Pass is the same as the Adventure Pass (with the exception of Jackson Lake, which is more expensive), and the Mountain High website notes “The Big Pine Parking Pass now replaces the Forest Service Adventure Pass at all of our campgrounds, day-use sites, and trailheads.”
It is worth noting that the Forest Service website on pass requirements in the Big Pines Recreation Area still says that the Adventure Pass is good at these sites, but I would absolutely not be shocked if the Forest Service was behind on their web maintenance.
There’s a lot going on here—although many people would prefer the Forest Service not issue permits for ANY access, we unfortunately do not live in a timeline where the American public values public lands or wants to fund them adequately. The permits do provide a reliable source of funding for the Forest Service, they can help control overcrowding in high-use areas, and at least where the Adventure Pass is needed, the Forest Service is legally mandated to provide fee-free access within a half mile of places where you’d have to hang the passes from your rearview mirror.
But this case appears to be different, because it seems like Mountain High—a private company—has carved out its own little area where (again, they seem to say) your existing Adventure Pass or Interagency Pass is no-good. And that is not only counter to the spirit of the existing passes, but it’s also just an extremely messy way to operate from a visitor’s perspective. Is my existing pass good? Who knows! Will there be other concessionaires who decide to take over permit areas for themselves, too? Who knows! Will I need to have a little booklet of mini-passes that all cost the same as the regional pass used to cost? Who knows!
Cris hasn’t heard back from either the Forest Service or Mountain High yet, and it doesn’t seem like local media has picked up on this story quite yet. Someone in the comments on his video said they saw a sign warning about the permit change a few years ago, but this is a very big change in permit policy that absolutely should have been communicated better to the public, who also should have had a chance to tell the Forest Service was a bad idea it was.
I’ll keep an eye on this one for now.
The Big Story
Something to talk about
Hello, Heat Dome
You know it’s summer when you start to hear about heat domes.
That’s right—that special meteorological phenomena I didn’t know existed until it was baking me alive in Portland in 2021 is back! As you read this email, it’s settling over a huge chunk of the Western U.S., with forecasters predicting “life-threatening” temperatures across California, Nevada, and Arizona. Death Valley is forecast to hit 124 by the end of the week, with Phoenix and Las Vegas potentially topping out at 111. All this as the first major wildfire in California kicked off near Tracy.
The excessive heat warnings are already in effect for much of the Western U.S., and it looks like the Mojave Desert and Central Valley in California are really due to heat up the worst, so keep an eye out for your local cooling centers, avoid outdoor activity (especially during the mid-day), be sure you’re drinking plenty of water, and check-in on friends and relatives. For coastal Southern California, y’all can be SUPER thankful for the June Gloom right now.
USA Today has a helpful guide on the warning signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (and the differences between the two!)
And just for fun, here’s a pic of my husband and my sister on our porch enjoying “F This” drinks in 124 degree heat during the 2021 Heat Dome:
Your Parks
Your Places
Walk the Waterfall Corridor
While Southern California is enjoying its June Gloom (and, if you’re not, here are some hikes to help!), up in the Northwest we are in the time of the year when summer is wrestling with winter to try to take control, meaning I’m still switching from shorts and tank tops to sweaters and rain layers. The good news about that? Waterfalls!
The Oregonian has compiled a comprehensive guide to the Columbia River Gorge’s Waterfall Corridor—an 8.5 mile stretch home to more than a dozen waterfalls. Start seeing them now, before the summer crowds (and permit requirements) make it a little more complicated!
Tech Talk
Gadgets, Technology, and Hype
Life Inside a Fire Tower
Since we’re into the Fire Season now, you might be surprised to know that despite all our advances in technology, the best way to spot wildfires is by using very analog technology and good-old-fashioned human eyes positioned in a fire tower. As of right now, humans can still spot, triangulate, and accurately describe smoke conditions and behavior to firefighting dispatchers significantly faster and better than automated tech can—and when a fire can grow from 10 to 500 acres in an hour (or less), time is of the essence.
The excellent California Sun newsletter dug up this super in-depth look at what it’s like to live and work in a fire tower in the Klamath National Forest, and it’s a fascinating read.
RELATED: Some active fire towers are open to the public and can be visited during fire season when volunteers or staff are fire spotting. Sometimes you can even sleep in them! Some include:
Vetter Mountain in the San Gabriel Mountains
Strawberry Peak in the San Bernardino Mountains (where you can also join a unique secret society)
Black Mountain near Mount San Jacinto
Wildlife Crossing
Wildlife and the Outdoors
Beaver Blackout
In late May, more than 33,000 people in the Portland, Oregon metro area were left without power when a beaver in Northeast Portland chewed its way through a tree and knocked it into a transmission line. The power was eventually restored, but some of the folks on the Portland subreddit had a fun day with this news, noting that Oregon is indeed, the Beaver State, and should have probably seen this coming. People also wrote new lyrics to a Primus song and even penned an epic poem about the beaver in question, who, as far as anyone knows, remains on the loose.
Biodiversity Good News, Bad News
I’m sure a lot of people don’t think of L.A. as an especially wild area, but the nation’s second largest city sits in a Mediterranean Climate (NOT A DESERT) and is generally considered a biodiversity hotspot—along with the rest of the California Floristic Province. And the term “hotspot” there means it’s an area of “significant biodiversity” that is unfortunately threatened by human habitation and development.
A recent research study at UCLA found that the Los Angeles metro area has some surprisingly robust pockets of biodiversity deep within its urban sprawl—including (and honestly I am shocked at this), the mostly-concrete Pershing Square Park in downtown and the parking lot at Dodger Stadium, which is a ridiculously large slab of asphalt that I seethe at every time I fly back into the city.
The study was done to establish a baseline for L.A.’s Green New Deal goal of net zero native biodiversity loss by 2050, and partially utilized community science observations made by the public on iNaturalist. Read more about the study here, and find ways you can help boost biodiversity in your city here (the advice is specific to Los Angeles but mostly applicable to anywhere, as long as you use your own region’s native plants).
Leafing Out
Plants!
Death to Black Mustard
Pretty much anywhere you live up and down the West Coast, you are likely to encounter the large leaves and spindly yellow blooms of black mustard. At first glance, they can seem lovely—I mean who wouldn’t love a huge hillside covered in bright yellow flowers, right? It certainly shows up a lot on social media. But once you learn about how invasive these plants are, you really just start to see them as weeds.
But there’s good news! The entire plant—from root to flower—is edible! Black mustard is considered invasive in California, and the fine folks at TreePeople have put together a fun Instagram post about five different ways to utilize the plant, from salads to bouquets to actual mustard. There are a few caveats in the comments, like making sure to pull the entire root out and how you should proooooooobably wash stuff before you ingest or cook with it. You may also want to check with some park officials or rangers just to make sure it’s OK (and to let them know that you know what you’re doing), but yes … death to black mustard!
One More Thing
Oh yeah, before I go …
I’m a writer, but I’ve written almost exclusively for visual media. I also went to school to study film and television and love seeing and discussing movies from a storytelling and production standpoint (fair warning to anyone who I invite to go see a movie), so I found this New York Times Style Magazine roundup of 25 photos that defined the modern age super fascinating (UNLOCKED!).
Now, it’s a list, so it’s designed to foster argument and discussion—and I feel like there are definitely some inclusions that are, let’s say questionable—but each image is presented in historical context with some good commentary alongside it, and the photos range from candid to staged to art projects and archival images. Fair warning: a number of these images do feature or allude to scenes of violence, exploitation, and other rough stuff—but it’s great cultural writing.
OK!
Until next time, stay cool and
Happy Trails,
Thanks, Casey. This is already buzzing around in Sierra Club outings circles. I’m part of the Hundred Peaks Section, and we hike from these trailheads a lot. We’re not going to be idle or complacent about this.
I was inducted into the Order on Tahquitz peak many years ago. One may also join at Black Mountain or Butler Peak. Due to a road washout, getting one from Butler at this time would truly be a quest (and also unlikely since a pries—uh, volunteer must be present!). 😎