As wildfires burn through woodland across the state, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Services has announced a closure of all 20 of California's national forests to public access for two weeks beginning at noon Tuesday.
The closure will include Labor Day Weekend and extend through at least Sept. 17.
“I have made the difficult decision to temporarily close all [California] national forests in order to better provide public and firefighter safety due to extreme fire conditions throughout the state, and strained firefighting resources throughout the country,” California’s regional forester, Jennifer M. Eberlien, said in a notice to employees obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
The closure order only applies to national forests—those administered by the USDA Forest Service. State and national parks abide by their own wildfire closure rules.
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It means, of course, that some visitors locally -- and nationally -- will have to rethink their Labor Day holiday plans.