MENDOCINO Co., 8/19/20 — Numerous wildfires have exploded significantly over the last several days, including a series of lightning fires that are burning in Lake and Napa counties. The Bureau of Land Management has ordered a temporary closure of portions of public lands near and within the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, which can be found on their website, and the announcement below.
BLM is not currently providing any time for re-opening, which will likely be dependent on the status of the wildfires.
The United States National Forest Service has also closed roads within the Mendocino National Forest due to different wildfires — you can find information about those closures on their Facebook page.
Here’s the announcement from the Ukiah BLM office:
Ukiah, Calif. – The Bureau of Land Management Ukiah Field Office has issued a temporary emergency closure for some of the BLM-managed public lands within and adjacent to the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Lake and Napa counties due to wildland fire danger. The closure is effective immediately and remains in effect until further notice.
The 15-10, Gamble, Green, Hennessey, Markey, Morgan and Spanish fires have burned more than 46,000 acres, are 0 percent contained, and are being managed by a CalFire Type 1 team as the Lake Napa Unit (LNU) Lightning Complex. The latest information, including road closures and evacuation orders and warnings, is available at https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/.
The public lands encompassed by this emergency closure include: Berryessa Management Area; Cache Creek Management Area, which contains the Blue Ridge Trail, Buck Island Rafting Area, Cache Creek Ridge Trail, Cache Creek Wilderness, Cowboy Camp and the associated equestrian area; Frog Pond Trail; Highbridge Trailhead and Perkins Creek Ridge Trail. Also closed are: Cedar Roughs Wilderness; Knoxville Management Area, including the Knoxville Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area, Hunting Creek Campground and North Staging Area; parcels within the Stebbins Cold Canyon; as well scattered tracts in Napa, Solano and Yolo counties. BLM public lands along the Redbud and Judge Davis trails are also closed. The closure order is available online.
This closure is necessary to protect public land users from risks associated with active wildland fire, protect wildland fire fighters from recreational activities, including hunting of wild game; off-highway vehicle use; suppression repair; emergency stabilization; burned area rehabilitation and damage to recreational and natural resources.
The BLM is committed to keeping the public safe, while protecting natural resources. For more information, please call the Ukiah Field Office at 707-468-4000.
