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Comments on closure of the Dry Canyon and Dome Springs Campground are due by April 1. Double click on the image to see it full size.
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Comments on closure of the Dry Canyon and Dome Springs Campground are due by April 1. Double click on the image to see it full size.
Kenny Caverhill, president of the Frazier Park 4×4 Club, came by The Mountain Enterprise office March 19 to sound the alert that Los Padres National Forest is fast-tracking a proposal to close the Dry Canyon area, and will accept public comment only until April 1.
The area to be closed includes Dome Springs Campground and Road; Dry Canyon Trails; and 4×4 trail BC109 near the Chumash Wilderness.
The reason given is “to provide for public safety and protect natural resources.”
The notification letter says the area was used for artillery training in the 1940s; that a 2015 investigation found munitions, “explosives of concern,” large amounts of munitions debris, unexploded ordnance; and that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will conduct a cleanup of the area.
“I think it is stupid,” Caverhill said. “If we have had no injuries since 1940 and none since ordnance was found in 2015, why can’t they go in and [use metal detectors or whatever] without shutting this down?”
He said the April 1 deadline for comments is very quick. Caverhill also notified Scouts West and Trail Crew, two other 4-wheel-drive clubs.
See the closure area in the map at right (image #3–double click to see full size). Send your comments to: inoell@fs.fed.us.
Call 661.245.3731 x7232; Fax: 661.245.1526 or bring them M-F 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. to 34580 Lockwood Valley Road, Frazier Park.
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Members of the Frazier Mountain 4×4 Club enjoy Dry Canyon trails
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This is part of the March 22, 2019 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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