By Marcy Axness and Patric Hedlund, TME

A 1,600-acre “forest thinning idea” was floated before the public by a young interim district ranger on a snowy November 23, 2019 morning near the top of Mount Pinos.

Los Padres National Forest (LPNF) officials were startled to see 40 concerned Mountain Community residents arrive before 10 a.m. to stand for four (4) cold hours in the Chula Vista Nordic Base parking lot on Mt. Pinos to ask detailed questions about interim District Ranger Adam Bromley’s idea.

Residents here consider Mount Pinos—known to the Chumash as “The Center of the World”— as part of their home. Further dialogue was promised. But the pandemic ended that.

On April 8, 2021, the U.S. Forest Service quietly trotted out this “idea” to add to a list of fast-track logging and thinning plans for…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

A view near the top of Mount Pinos where a ‘thinning’ project is now planned

A crowd of about 40 mountain residents surprised Forest Service officials with dedication and smarts as they shivered in the Chula Vista parking lot on Mount Pinos November 23, 2019, asking questions of Interim District Ranger Adam Bromley (in green) and LPNF vegetation and fuels programs manager Brandon Stephens (red shirt). They did not expect so many to show up on that cold morning with informed concern about the forest.

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This is part of the April 16, 2021 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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