Forest Services Lifts Wildfire Danger Order For Stanislaus National Forest

Sonora, CA – The Stanislaus National Forest is reopening again to public access after the Pacific Southwest Region rescinded its regional closure order due to wildfire risk and limited firefighting resources.

On Tuesday, forest officials had extended the order to last through the weekend, as reported here. That decision also impacted the opening of deer hunting season today, as detailed here. With the order rescinded at 8 a.m. this morning, those restrictions no longer apply.

Today, Forest Supervisor Jason Kuiken signed an additional temporary camping, occupancy and use restrictions order that prohibits recreational target shooting and dispersed camping in the moderate and high fire hazard areas in the forest. Also, campfires, camp stoves, and smoking materials are not authorized anywhere in the forest. The order is in effect through Oct. 15th.

Open are day-use areas between sunrise and sunset and camping in some developed campgrounds in the low and moderate fire restriction zones. Additionally, hunters with valid California Fish & Wildlife permits and tags are allowed to hunt in permitted zones.

Forest officials provide this guide of the three fire hazard zones:

High Fire Hazard Area (Zone A, generally lower elevation; red areas on map) prohibits:

• No camping in any areas, including dispersed and developed campgrounds
• No overnight stays
• No campfires, propane or gel fuel camp stoves, no smoking materials
• No target shooting
• Visits to day-use areas from dawn to dusk are authorized.

Moderate Fire Hazard Area (Zone B, generally mid-elevation zone; beige areas on map) prohibits:

• No dispersed camping in all areas
• No campfires, propane or gel fuel camp stoves, no smoking materials
• No target shooting
• Visits to day-use areas from dawn to dusk are authorized.
• Camping is authorized in developed campgrounds only. For a list of open campgrounds visit the Stanislaus National Forest web page at https://www.fs.usda.gov/stanislaus.

Low Fire Hazard Area (Zone C, generally high elevations; green areas on map)

• No campfires, propane or gel fuel camp stoves, no smoking materials
• No target shooting
• Visits to day-use areas from dawn to dusk are authorized.
• Developed and dispersed camping is authorized