Part of Sierra Forest near Yosemite closed for repairs, debris removal. Here’s how long
The U.S. Forest Service has shut down a section of the Sierra National Forest affected by the Oak Fire and several wildfires from past years to make repairs and assessments related to safety concerns for about a month, officials said Friday.
The area north of Highway 49 and sandwiched between Highway 140 on the west and Highway 41 on the east will stay closed until Sept. 16 unless conditions change sooner, Forest Supervisor Dean Gould said in a letter posted Friday.
The Oak Fire near Yosemite National Forest has burned 19,244 acres and was 98% contained on Friday, according to Cal Fire. It has destroyed 127 homes and 66 other buildings.
The closure cuts off access to about two dozen roads, 35 recreation sites and more than 40 hiking trails, according to the notice.
The letter notes several wildfires in the region and inclement weather since 2016 that have damaged roads and left dead trees and other debris that could be potentially hazardous to visitors. Crews will go through for repairs and removal during the month.
The Creek Fire alone in 2020 burned about 380,000 acres of the Sierra National Forest including Yosemite.
Signage marking the closures will be placed in all of the areas affected, and law enforcement will monitors them, the letter says.
Some of the areas can be accessed by those with the right permits, the letter notes.
The effort was also deemed exempt from the Environmental Impact regulations by Gould, the letter says.
For a full list of closures, go to the U.S. Forest Service Facebook page or www.fs.usda.gov/sierra.
This story was originally published August 19, 2022 at 12:28 PM.
