The plan would fundamentally alter the landscape across the forest for generations and cause irreparable damage. Here’s what’s at stake.
The Forest Service will use heavy industrial equipment to log trees and remove chaparral and other native vegetation across more than 235,000 acres of Los Padres National Forest—an area 8 times the size of the city of San Francisco. Living, healthy trees of all ages and sizes would be cut, and fuelbreaks thousands of feet wide and miles long would be carved across even the most remote parts of the forest, far from communities at risk.
This extreme plan has no basis in science, which has proven time and again that the best way to protect our communities is by focusing on the home and areas immediately surrounding structures, not in remote areas far from where people live.
104,361 acres of wild, roadless areas.
The plan clears vegetation across some of the last wild, undeveloped areas in our region. It specifically targets 34 areas that are supposed to be protected under the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It will substantially alter the character of these lands with a devastating network of fuel breaks and roads thousands of feet wide and miles long, scarring the landscape for generations.
27,780 acres of proposed wilderness.
The plan could disqualify lands proposed for permanent protection under the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act. This bill is current pending in Congress and is part of a ten-year community driven effort to expand existing wilderness areas and establish new ones using our country’s most powerful tool for land conservation.
238 miles of trails.
Some of the most popular trails used by hikers, mountain bikers, trail runners, and equestrians will be stripped of plants and shade. The plan also targets 48 miles of the proposed Condor National Scenic Trail, a route that traverses the entire forest from Big Sur to Los Angeles county. It would make trails hotter, more exposed, and susceptible to erosion, diminishing the outdoor experience for everyone.
1,035 tribal sacred sites.
The plan would affect 1,035 sites and landscapes that are spiritually and culturally important to Native American groups and Tribes, including the Chumash, Salinan, Esselen, and Tataviam people. These sacred places hold deep significance to indigenous people throughout the region for ceremony, gathering, and storytelling. Indigenous voices and traditional knowledge must help guide the future of these lands.
24 campgrounds and 49 primitive backcountry camps.
The camping experience for thousands of families will be diminished. The plan calls for clearing shade trees, protective shrubs, and scenic habitat around 24 campgrounds, including popular spots like Plaskett Creek and Nira. It will also strip and expose day use recreation sites near the Santa Ynez River, Figueroa Mountain, Mt. Pinos, and Big Sur. Additionally, vegetation will be removed around 49 primitive campsites used for overnight exploration and adventure in the backcountry.
1,000+ California condor roosting sites.
Condors - the most endangered bird in North America - require places to rest during long flights across the landscape. Large, old-growth trees are their preferred roosting locations. Based on official tracking data, this plan would clear hundreds of active roosting sites, placing these endangered birds in harm’s way and interfering with their flight patterns.
56,250 acres of critical habitat.
Federal biologists have identified “critical habitat” that is essential to the survival of endangered and threatened species. The project would eviscerate this habitat, destroying a safety net for imperiled wildlife like California red-legged frogs, arroyo toads, southwestern willow flycatchers, and a rare plant called the Camatta Canyon amole that’s found nowhere else on Earth.
41 miles of steelhead streams.
Streams are the lifeblood of the forest, providing havens for wildlife in an increasingly arid climate. Many of these waterways provide spawning grounds for steelhead, a unique species of fish that lives part of its life in fresh water and part in the ocean, returning to its native stream to spawn and start the cycle anew. The plan would pollute their habitat with sediment and erosion. Miles of the Santa Ynez River and Piru Creek are targeted, along with segments of many other waterways.
500+ rare plant locations.
More than 500 locations of 80 rare, threatened, or endangered plant species are found in the project footprint. These plants are included in the California Rare Plant Inventory, indicating that they are globally rare. More than 20% of all known locations of 35 of these plants are within the project footprint, and more than half of all known locations of an additional 12 plants are found in the project area.