Riverside County supervisors approve fire chief's request to close hiking trails during wildfire season
The Riverside Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to approve a request from the county fire chief to close a number of outdoor recreational locations and hiking trails for the duration of the looming wildfire season.
Since 2007, the Riverside County Fire Department has sought to receive authorization from officials to close designated grounds in the central and southwest regions in the county from June to November to minimize public safety risk.
"Due to the potential for large damaging human-caused fires, the county fire chief has determined these areas should be closed, except on public roadways and on inhabited areas of private property within the closure area," said a statement from the department. "The potential for large damaging fires this year may be enhanced by the extreme vegetation growth experienced throughout Riverside County."
Fire Chief Bill Weiser plans to implement the closures beginning on June 15.
Even with lower precipitation levels from the average last winter, much of Southern California experienced exponential growth after multiple storms in late-March and April. That vegetation has since turned brown, especially with warmer weather settling in over recent weeks.
Because of this, officials say that several locations are now set to close due to the difficulty in managing the vegetation, the rough terrain and their remoteness, fire officials said.
Those locations include:
Bautista Canyon, located southeast of Hemet near the Anza Valley and San Jacinto Valley,
Eagle Canyon, near Lake Matthews and the county landfill north of Cajalco Road,
Indian Canyon and North Mountain near San Jacinto,
Ramona Bowl south of Hemet,
Steele Peak, located between Meadowbrook and Good Hope north of Lake Elsinore,
and Whitewater Canyon near Cabazon.
Officials say that the Ramona Bowl will remain accessible between sunrise and noon daily, but that it will be off-limits afterwards.By limiting foot traffic and off-road vehicles in those areas, firefighters believe the chance of a significant wildfire breaking out are much slimmer.
Crews will place closure signs at entry points at each of the locations, warning violators of potential fines and other penalties, but residents will be allowed to travel through the areas as always.
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