OAKHURST – The devastation of last year’s Railroad Fire has forced the closure of a popular hiking trail in the Nelder Grove area. The Shadow of the Giants National Recreation Trail will be closed until further notice. The Railroad Fire started Aug. 29, 2017, in the Sierra National Forest (SNF) south of Yosemite National Park, along Highway 41 near Sugar ...

OAKHURST – Sierra National Forest (SNF) officials continue their spring prescribed burning program within the Bass Lake Ranger District. Using the advantage of favorable weather conditions, extra fire personnel and equipment will be committed to the project until the treatments are extinguished, as burn days permit. Projects will include understory burning in the months of May and early June. According ...

Written by Randy Moore, Regional Forester, USDA CALIFORNIA —  Last year, more than 1,500 wildfires burned over 640,000 acres on National Forest System lands in California, including the Thomas Fire, the largest fire in California’s recorded history. The surrounding communities are still dealing with damage from debris flows caused by a charred and barren landscape that no longer has the ...

OAKHURST — Fire steals, even from those who fight it. It robs creatures of habitat, takes possessions, property, land, and sometimes, life. Fire also gives back: flames can be restorative, over time, for overgrown forests filled with beetle-infested, drought-plagued timber. Fire makes way for fledgling trees and new families of fauna to thrive on once-sterile ground. And fire can remind ...

STANISLAUS NATIONAL FOREST — With the extreme fire danger as evidenced by the Detwiler Fire burning in Mariposa County and fire hazard indices, the U.S. Forest Service, Stanislaus National Forest, has issued an order restricting the use of fire on the Forest. Effective July 20, 2017, restrictions are put on campfires, smoking, and the use of any open flame. The ...