Forest Service closes campgrounds, day-use areas at Lake Tahoe

All campgrounds and day use areas on all forest service land in the basin closed Monday evening, including Eldorado National Forest, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Lassen National Forest, Plumas National Forest and Tahoe National Forest.

“These are extreme circumstances,” said Eldorado National Forest Supervisor Jeff Marsolais in a press release. “We have a Red Flag wind event in the forecast with vegetation conditions that are as flammable as they were during the 2014 King Fire. That fire ran 15 miles and burned over 50 thousand acres in a single day. Resources will be scarce with so many other large wildfires in California right now.”

The closure includes beaches of forest service land such as Kiva, Baldwin, Pope, Tallac Historic Site and Taylor Creek Visitor’s Center in South Lake Tahoe. These areas should not be accessed via bike or by walking.

Officials say the ban will be re-evaluated as it is scheduled to end.

Trailheads can still be accessed according to the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Regional Order. People with permits may access roads, trails or areas restricted by the order.

“The wildfire situation throughout California is dangerous and must be taken seriously,” said Randy Moore, regional forester for the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region.” Existing fires are displaying extreme fire behavior, new fire starts are likely, weather conditions are worsening, and we simply do not have enough resources to fully fight and contain every fire. We are bringing every resource to bear nationally and internationally to fight these fires, but until conditions improve, and we are confident that forest visitors can recreate safely, the priority is always to protect the public and our firefighters. With these extreme conditions, these temporary actions will help us do both.”