Sections of Angeles National Forest to Close to Vehicles

CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story said the meeting is on Monday. It is on Tuesday, March 26.

The Angeles National Forest Service headquarters in Arcadia will host a meeting to discuss plans for the service to declare about 380,000 acres of wilderness areas in four Southern California national forests off-limits to vehicles.

Large sections of the Santa Ana Mountains, between Irvine and Lake Elsinore, would be affected, as well as areas near Lytle Creek, near Cherry Valley and south of Palm Springs. The largest new proposed wilderness area is adjacent to the Sespe Creek wilderness areas north of Ojai.

The new wilderness areas are one of several options being considered by the U.S. Forest Service, which is under court order to follow Congressional directives to declare part of the local mountains wilderness.

Wilderness plans put forth during the early Bush administration had exempted most of the lands from wilderness consideration, but several environmental groups sued and won a settlement after the Obama administration was inaugurated, in 2011.

The Forest Service plan would prohibit road building and some commercial
uses in 380,000 acres of forested mountains in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. About 80,000 acres of that would face tighter restrictions, including a ban on cross country bicycle use.

The Forest Service plan is not as restrictive as hoped for by the environmental groups who won the suit. Sierra Club members said the federal plan does not adequately protect biodiversity in some "hot spots" where unique animals and plants are threatened.

Mountain bike enthusiasts are unhappy with some proposed closures. But
some off-road vehicle clubs in the Big Bear area have said they have already won areas for their use.

The meeting is scheduled for 4-7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Angeles National Forest headquarters, 701 N. Santa Anita Ave.