Thank you for closing the Carson

Iwant to express my respect and thanks to Carson National Forest for its choice to close the forest. I have been alarmed by the fire activity and dryness of timber (I spend lots of time recreating in the forest). I also know that May is the month when we start to see quite a few out-of-state visitors. In my personal experience, these are also folks who use the forests and can tend to engage in practices that can be fire hazardous (campfires, off-highway vehicle use), and can be ignorant or dismissive of regulations. I think it is a good idea to be closing the forests in advance of this uptick in visitation.

I know it can be a difficult decision to close the forests, with significant pushback from locals and visitors, and a hit to our local economy. I think everyone needs to consider the potential of another fire like the Hermits Peak Fire, and how its consequences could impart long-term damage on both vital resources and recreation.

So, please receive my words of agreement with this policy choice.

In addition, I ask the Carson to be vigilant about patrolling for people trespassing against the order, and fining for such activity (especially when flagrant). The last time we had Stage 3 in effect, I personally witnessed people violating the order and even burning campfires. Considering the extreme fire danger, I also encourage the USFS to promote some sort of “neighborhood watch” system where it is encouraged for people to notify the USFS if a burning campfire is seen. This would also mean having an on-call member of Carson staff to monitor for calls, and I do appreciate that this is an added expense, but please consider the risk versus reward. It only takes one fire to burn up hundreds of thousands of acres, as we’ve seen this spring.

In gratitude for your hard work.