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Tag: Forest Service
Last week, I logged my last Fisheries Resources Volunteer Corps mission. About a dozen of us began at 7 a.m. and completed the Total Maximum Daily Load measurements at four different spots by 2:30. We skipped lunch because we all wanted to “get ‘er done” and the temperature was hot as blazes in the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. Plenty of sunscreen couldn’t hide the true grit of this group. It’s nasty, hot, brutish work.
For a TMDL survey FVRC volunteers record all the garbage by category and by pound within a 100-foot stretch of what should be pristine water flowing from Mount Baldy into the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. A TMDL was my first patrol last year and I couldn’t believe how positive these folks were about a dire situation. After all, who can say that they actually had fun cleaning up human waste, plastic bags, dozens of straws, discarded socks, kids pool toys, cigarette butts, beer bottles galore, in other words all the leftovers from those who visit our Monument and should know better than to leave it all behind.
Each time we go out, we dutifully bag several hundred pounds of consumer society’s discards, lug them uphill from the stream, weigh each bag, then drive the bags to the dump. I joked with Craig, a dedicated volunteer, about what a good time we had doing this and he said,
“Yup, my friends ask me if I’ve done something wrong? If that’s why I’m out here collecting garbage.”
If you knew Craig and his daughter, Haley, you’d realize all they seem to do is what’s right.
Each year, FRVC forwards the survey of how many pounds of soft plastics, hard plastics, threats to human health and all the other TMDL categories to the Forest Service. I think this is the second year of of three year study, but don’t quote me. At the end of the study, the powers-that-be will be able to ascertain what anyone on one of these patrols–as well as anyone visiting the East Fork during summer– already knows: we are overrun with garbage, graffiti, illegal stream dams, fire rings, illegal parking and all the rest of it.
That’s why I was particularly heartened to hear from a Forest Service employee who also volunteered that day; there are plans by the FS to actually take action. One idea is to designate parking spaces that would be accessed by a reservation system. Your car would get a numbered parking spot for the day that was just for you and nobody else.
Sounds familiar, right? Parks and camping areas all over California use the same fee-based system. Then—very important—there would be enforcement from the Sheriff’s Department or the California Highway Patrol. In all the years I’ve fished the Sab Gabes, I’ve never seen a cop give anyone a ticket for anything.
Another idea is to create a kiosk and gate where visitors would stop and pay a fee for the day at the nearly invisible Visitors’ Center at the start of the canyon on Hwy. 39. Again, this is a system anyone who visits our state parks is familiar with: You pay a fee, get a map and speak with the rangers to get oriented.
Or both might be implemented.
The point is that even though implementation will require wading through layers and layers of bureaucracy and a public review before we all see any changes, it seems the FS is finally taking notice that the status quo can’t continue.
As a concrete example, expect to see a net stretched downslope of the bridge before the East Fork parking area in the near future. That’s a direct result of the monthly TMDL studies that FRVC carries out. Who knows if it will keep the hundreds of pounds of summer trash out of the water, but trying solutions, even when they fail, can lead to more and better remedies.
See you on the river, Jim Burns
TARGET EMAIL: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=58710.
The Forest Service has released its draft Piru Creek Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP) and is inviting public comments by March 31, 2024. This plan will be the legal framework for management of Piru Creek for decades and must, by law, protect the creek’s free-flowing character and “outstandingly remarkable” values.
BACKGROUND:
Located in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, Piru Creek originates in the Sespe Wilderness on the Los Padres National Forest. The creek is a rare free-flowing waterway draining the dry mountains of southern California. The creek provides unique recreation opportunities and supports several threatened and endangered wildlife species.
For years, CalWild and many other organizations and activists have pressed the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to expand protection of Piru Creek by recognizing its many natural and cultural values as outstandingly remarkable. Unfortunately, the Forest Service has a long history of opposition to protecting the creek downstream of Pyramid Dam.
In response to continued advocacy by CalWild and others, the USFS has now determined in the draft Plan and its accompanying resources report that the creek possesses the following outstandingly remarkable values: scenery, fish, and geology.
Still, the USFS refuses to identify an outstandingly remarkable recreation value for Piru Creek, even though the stream offers a rare opportunity in southern California for class III-V whitewater kayaking and catch and release trout fishing. In addition, Frenchman’s Flat on the recreation segment of the creek is a popular low-cost swimming destination for local communities, many of which are communities of color.
To review the draft Plan and Resources Report, go to:https://usfs-public.app.box.com/v/PinyonPublic/folder/158228262975.
For a more extensive version of this alert, click here.
TAKE ACTION!
Either submit the form letter below to comment on the draft Plan by the March 31 deadline, or write your own letter using the example for talking points. Be sure to include any personal experience you may have enjoyed recreating in Piru Creek.
To submit an electronic comment by the March 31 deadline, go to: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=58710. Fill in the required contact information and cut and paste your comments in the Letter Text box provided. You can also mail a hard copy of your comments by March 31.
If you have any questions about this alert, feel free to contact Steve Evans, CalWild Rivers Director, email:sevans@calwild.org, phone: (916) 708-3155.
SAMPLE LETTER
Supervisor Roman Torres
Angeles National Forest
701 North Santa Anita Avenue
Arcadia, CA 91006
Attn: Piru Creek CRMP
Dear Supervisor Torres:
Thank you for determining in the Piru Creek Comprehensive River Management Plan that the designated segment of Piru Creek possesses outstanding scenery, fish, and geology values. However, I urge you to include the creek’s rare and unique recreational opportunities as a specific outstandingly remarkable value protected in the Plan.
Piru Creek between Pyramid Dam and Piru Reservoir provides a rare opportunity for class III-IV whitewater kayaking in a truly wild setting, all just an hour drive from Los Angeles.
In addition, the trackless Wild segment of Piru Creek offers a rare but easily accessible canyoneering experience, while Frenchman’s Flat upstream is a popular family recreation destination for local communities of color to seek respite from the summer heat. A short segment of the creek is also one of only two catch and release trout streams in southern California and is popular with anglers.
I urge you to recognize Piru Creek’s outstanding recreational value. I support the proposed and potential future management actions in the draft CRMP and urge the U.S. Forest Service to complete its visitor use capacity analysis as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
(Name, Address, Email)
lariverflyfishing 