Ca- spi preemptively closing forest lands

SouthPaw

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Apr 10, 2014
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Northern CA
SPI used to wait for the fire season to be in full swing, now its preventative closures well beforehand. The new normal, it wont go back. USFS will likely follow when the first big fires start, although I really hope it doesn't become the annual norm for the USFS to shut down 10+ CA national forests with only a couple active fires.

That said, every canyon in this state needs to burn to get rid of the decades of undergrowth created by the decades of fire suppression.
 
Joined
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Incorrect it opens the second Saturday in those x zones. A week before the end of deer season.
Also it opens concurrently in 5 x zones.

I wouldn't have minded hound hunters hunting opening day. They typically drive roads and having dogs out treeing bears surely would have moved some deer around



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I don't think I've ever in my life been more confident about something where apparently I'm wrong. I swear to god this was a 2020 change. I didn't even buy a bear tag with my x1 tag last year (I turned the tag in after the Tenant fire anyway). Now I have to find whatever confused me to understand how I could have got switched up.
 
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Incorrect it opens the second Saturday in those x zones. A week before the end of deer season.
Also it opens concurrently in 5 x zones.

I wouldn't have minded hound hunters hunting opening day. They typically drive roads and having dogs out treeing bears surely would have moved some deer around



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I knew I took a screen shot of this last year because I couldn't believe it after I drew x1. Found it, shows October 19th which is the day after X season ended last year.

That same website today, showing last years information has been changed. to read October 9th. The traditional second saturday. --
 

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Joined
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Had to be a typo. My screen shot is from August 2nd and the data is wrong. I used the way back Machine and looked at hisotry of the site. They have snap shots from June 23, 2021 and it still has 2020 data. On August 23,2021 it is an accurate date (what is shown today). There are no snapshots between there. So it got fixed sometime between 8/2 and 8/23/21

Really happy that didn't cost me a bear
 
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amassi

amassi

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Had to be a typo. My screen shot is from August 2nd and the data is wrong. I used the way back Machine and looked at hisotry of the site. They have snap shots from June 23, 2021 and it still has 2020 data. On August 23,2021 it is an accurate date (what is shown today). There are no snapshots between there. So it got fixed sometime between 8/2 and 8/23/21

Really happy that didn't cost me a bear
Yep
For as long as I can remember it's opened the second Saturday in those zones. Cost us many bears when we used to hunt x6b regularly.

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Yep
For as long as I can remember it's opened the second Saturday in those zones. Cost us many bears when we used to hunt x6b regularly.

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The 1 week BS has cost me 2 good bears in years past.

I can't believe the regulations were actually wrong for a month last year. I'd be irate right now if the error had cost me a bear last year. I wonder how many people it did cost bears. -- I know of atleast half a dozen folks that were also under the impression they couldn't shoot bears during X zone at all last year because of that error.
 

Calbuck

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Shasta County, Norcal
I was out scouting around recently around SPI replants and discovered they had thinned the replanted pines over the winter. Problem is, those little dead pines are left laying there, dry as a bone and waiting for lightning or a cigarette butt or whatever form of ignition. Not wise management if you ask me. They'll gladly allow millions of taxpayer dollars to fight fires on their property too. Landowners that large (I work for a similar one) have a duty to provide at a minimum access to the public lands interspersed with theirs. My company is forced by the government as part of their license to operate to provide recreational improvements and access to public resources.
 

Azone

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That said, every canyon in this state needs to burn to get rid of the decades of undergrowth created by the decades of fire suppression.
That would be awesome! Sadly, we all know it’s only gonna be a matter of time till a big one lights off and we are all SOL again. The new CA norm.
 

SArnold30

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May 27, 2021
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I understand the need to close forests with active burns, and as resources get stretched thinner when it’s deeper into fire season it makes sense as to why they want to close all the forests.

That said, it seems like the FS also makes no effort to perform risk mitigation, nor a true risk analysis other than spouting off the same crap: “there’s a drought, it’s hot, and there’s lots of fuel”. We know, you say that every year, but what have you done about it? Their solution to everything is to deny access. There’s no shortage of locked gates and closed roads around me (the Los Padres) that have remained that way for years and years.

This past year has been especially infuriating. The A Zone lost almost the entire general season to mass forest closures when there wasn’t an active fire within a 100 mile radius of the majority of the South section forests. There was no attempt to even slightly extend the season, nor refund tags even though the revenue on A Zone tags alone was roughly $920,000 last year. They just took the money and ran.

Not to mention, two weeks before the general season last year we lost access to a wilderness area so they could put in bridges to support steelhead trout habitat (I’m all for the conservation, but I also know full well that riverbed sits dry 8-9 months of the year). To do so, they closed off the roads over 5 miles out from the actual construction sites, which is absurd considering the bridges were being constructed near where the road terminates anyway. Then when they finally reopened it this spring, I couldn’t believe they’d closed off such a large section of road for nearly 9 months, and not one single pothole was filled.

I don’t know if we can classify this whole thing as a management issue, or simply mismanagement.
 
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Jimmy

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Apr 18, 2016
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California
Be nice if a hunting license would let you gain access to sci land. Like a pass. Hunters aren't the ones starting fires anyways. More responsible than anyone else using the lands.
 

CL&RR

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Nov 9, 2017
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California
I just wonder why they always announce this pre draw in California. It's been dry all year but close the forest after tags are sold, humm...
 
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amassi

amassi

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Be nice if a hunting license would let you gain access to sci land. Like a pass. Hunters aren't the ones starting fires anyways. More responsible than anyone else using the lands.
To be fair SPI has always allowed hunters, hikers et el to access their property by foot to recreate.

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Does anyone remember the date they reopened spi land last season? I want to say it was the Monday after the opening weekend of xzone but can't remember.
 

Western_hunter87

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Feb 18, 2020
Messages
108
Sierra Pacific Industry is preemptively closing access to their timber leases even to walk ins. No date set for re opening
cb0e0eb6b8a6ffc5b9fc6ecf6e9b2da8.jpg


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Looks like I won’t have any hunting pressure 😄
 
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