ALLEJO, Calif. — June 30, 2021. From the recent enactment of Juneteenth as a federal holiday to the upcoming Fourth of July weekend, Americans have long visited their local national forest to celebrate significant U.S. milestones.
Holiday weekends can be an active time for fire starts, and it goes without saying that fireworks are prohibited on public lands – every forest, every campsite, every day.
“We anticipate this holiday weekend to be busy across all 18 of California’s national forests and want to remind visitors they play an active role in minimizing fire starts,” said Nancy Parachini, deputy director of Public Services, USFS Pacific Southwest Region. “Given the drought conditions across the state, we want to ensure visitors are mindful of local fire restrictions so everyone can have a safe, holiday weekend.”
Check in in advance with your local national forest, by visiting the forest’s website, social media accounts, or by calling their local offices. You can view a GIS web map with the status of forest recreation area openings and closures here: https://go.usa.gov/xwurX.
As always, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region reminds all peoples to plan ahead before visiting their local national forest and to recreate responsibly, including packing out your trash, use good social distancing in crowded areas, and only park in designated areas.
Additionally, excellent tools and resources are available on the Recreate Responsibly website, which can be found at https://www.recreateresponsibly.org.
We appreciate your cooperation in keeping our national forests safe and healthy for everyone’s use.