www.montereycountyweekly.com march 9-15, 2023 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 13 The massive winter storms of January were no time for outdoor recreation—it was weather that beckons even the most intrepid outdoor adventurers to hunker down by the fireplace with a cup of tea. Amid consistent rains, high winds and widespread evacuation orders along Monterey County’s various swollen rivers, the closure of public lands was reasonable. After the worst of the weather, various agencies quickly assessed the damage and reopened parks. County parks were all closed, then reopened as officials conducted damage assessments; only Jacks Peak, where more than 30 trees came down, remains closed since Jan. 4. (They tallied some $3.7 million worth of damage.) The U.S. Forest Service took a different approach, issuing a full-on closure of the entire Los Padres National Forest— which spans multiple counties along 220 miles—for 60 days. The order, issued by Forest Supervisor Chris Stubbs on Jan. 13, meant no portion of the forest’s 1.8 million acres—land owned by the public, for the public—would be open for public access. Violators would face a $5,000 fine. “We’re taking this precautionary step to ensure visitor safety as we determine the extent of the damage,” Stubbs said in a statement at the time. “My intention is to re-open closed areas as soon as it’s safe to do so.” But as the 60-day order comes to an end on March 14, no portion of the forest has yet been reopened, even those deemed to be safe for public access. And it all begs the question—in difficult terrain and in wilderness areas (like the Ventana and Silver Peak wilderness areas of Big Sur), what is safe for public access anyway? “You assume a certain amount of personal risk and responsibility when you go into these wild areas—that’s the whole point of it,” says USFS spokesperson Andrew Madsen. “When we have sections of trail that have washed away, that’s when we close. If it’s safe to reopen, we are going to reopen.” It’s understandably impossible for USFS officials themselves to make such a determination on miles of trail. Instead, the USFS contracts with various groups, such as nonprofit Ventana Wilderness Alliance, to do that work. VWA trail crews get boots on the ground to look for damage (like slides and fallen trees) and also start clearing hazards. What they found was that the Monterey Ranger District fared surprisingly well, an opinion handed along to USFS officials. “Our opinion is that the forest can be open,” says Maria Ferdin, who leads VWA’s volunteer wilderness rangers. Of course, offering public access to these public lands can be tricky. Big Sur, as well as other portions of the Los Padres Forest, face overuse challenges, and it is difficult to enforce rules meant to curb the negative impacts of overuse (things like illegal campfires and littering are serious problems). Many trails are impassable to hikers even in non-emergency times. “The thing about the Ventana is the forest itself is highly productive,” Ferdin says. “What we cut in one year grows back very fast the following year. It takes a lot of people and time to get trail cleared. Then when it’s done, you have to go back and maintain it.” But emergency closures that encompass the entire forest and last for months on end seem to be the new normal. Such orders are issued after wildfires in summer, and slides in winter; bad roads in Santa Barbara County might be keeping Big Sur trails closed. Forest closure orders require a sunset date, hence the 60-day mark. Stubbs expects to issue a superseding order before March 14 that will reopen what is accessible and safe. “I don’t take closing the forest lightly,” Stubbs says. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my 30-year land management career, damage this extensive and widespread.” A preliminary estimate shows $100 million worth of damage to Los Padres National Forest, much of it to roads. For an agency with multiple goals—recreation is competing with wildfire prevention and suppression— getting that massive funding is quite a long shot. Meanwhile, trails and backcountry camps that exist only on old maps continue to get overgrown and disappear. “We have a forest that can potentially be the jewel in the crown of the Forest Service, and we’re not there,” Ferdin says. “It’s unfortunate.” Meanwhile, lands that belong to the public remain closed. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com. Into the Woods The U.S. Forest Service’s approach to storm damage denies public access. By Sara Rubin Un-Pastor-ized…Squid has no sea dog in the fight over what gets built on dry land but Squid has learned that when it comes to Carmel, fighting over buildings is in the village DNA. One such fight has led to an appeal from Monaco billionaire developer Patrice Pastor, who’s crying he’s being treated unfairly. Pastor, who has snapped up a considerable number of Carmel-area properties—including the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Mrs. Clinton Walker House for $22 million—purchased the former bank building at the corner of 7th and Dolores—home to 7th & Dolores Steakhouse—plus a community room annex and another property on Dolores in hopes of constructing a multi-use building next to the restaurant. When Pastor bought the properties in 2020, the buildings were less than 50 years old and not eligible for historic designation. Nevertheless, the Historic Resources Board stood in Pastor’s way, resulting in over two years of delays. The restaurant building and annex hit the 50-year-old mark in October; in January, the board voted to add them to the historic resources list. A frustrated Pastor filed a formal appeal that will go to Carmel City Council for a hearing. Pastor called the “inexcusable delays” a convenient way for HRB to get what it wanted all along— the clock never stopped ticking conveniently forward. No Coasting…Squid is an admirer of the California coast, despite its function as a ramp that conveys human detritus straight into Squid’s backyard. Still, Squid understands the appeal the coast holds to land-dwellers. It’s no surprise, then, that things are heating up over which public official should represent the region (Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties) on the California Coastal Commission, as witnessed at a March 3 meeting of the Monterey County Mayors’ Association. What’s usually a friendly chat over lunch between the county’s 12 mayors quickly tensed up, as members of the public turned out to protest the Board of Supervisors’ decision to nominate Supervisor Chris Lopez, and urged the mayors to not do the same. Melodie Chrislock of Public Water Now slammed Lopez for having “betrayed” coastal communities due to his vote against a public buyout of Cal Am on the Local Agency Formation Commission. The mayors representing those coastal communities seemed to agree—yet no one could agree on who else they did want to nominate. Eventually, Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado suggested the mayors use the board’s slate (which also included himself, plus Supervisor Mary Adams and Carmel Councilmember Jeff Baron) minus Lopez, plus…well, all seven coastal mayors. That’s what they recommended, by a 7-5 vote. It’s ultimately up to California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon to decide, but local mayors decided to draw a battle line in the coastal sand. the local spin SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “Our opinion is that the forest can be open.” Send Squid a tip: squid@mcweekly.com
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