Roads & Gate Closure Status Information Resource

PROJECT IN-PROGRESS: Roads & Gate Closure Status Information Resource

PROBLEM/CONDITION TO BE SOLVED/IMPROVED:

Difficult to find out the latest status on roads and gate closures within our area: Ventura to Monterey, Pacific to Sierra Mountains.  An online resource needs to be created and posted on our websites that facilitates easy and effective user interface to find accurate current information on mechanized access onto unpaved Forest and Off Highway Vehicle Roads in our area.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE SITUATION:

• US Forest Service has created a system of maps that help to facilitate Motor Vehicle Use of forest and OHV roads in the Los Padres National Forest.
• They have a Motor Vehicle Opportunity Map with the accompanying Motor Vehicle Use Map https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/lpnf/maps-pubs/?cid=FSM9_034094 for each Ranger District in our area: Ojai, Santa Barbara, Mt. Pinos, Santa Lucia, Monterey US Forest Service Ranger Districts. These publications show the seasonal schedule of gate/road opening and closures in the Los Padres NF.
• USFS maintains the Los Padres National Forest website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf that shows updates regarding opening and closures of Trails, Roads, OHV and Campground Information for each Ranger District, that supersedes the information on the above-mentioned maps.
• Los Padres Forest Association maintains a website: http://www.hikelospadres.com/index.html that is a marvelous crowd-sourced website listing the status and condition of all the different Forest and OHV roads in the Los Padres National Forest.
• For the most up-to-date status on road openings and closures, a phone call to the relevant US Ranger District is most effective.
• Ojai Motorcycle and 4WD Clubs are constantly riding/driving in the area and can provide ongoing wheels on the ground updates, input directly to the Hike Los Padres website, maintained by Los Padres Forest Association.

PROPOSED HANDLING:

• By integrating and combining the above-mentioned resources into a table, displayed on the Adventure and Motorcycle Club websites, we can create a valuable resource that can be referenced by any user.
• This resource can be made available to the many apps that currently exist for the purpose of listing and cataloging all the various official Forest and OHV roads in the Los Padres National Forest. For example: https://www.riderplanet-usa.com/
• The table can note the latest available status and conditions, as well as contain hyperlinks to the relevant webpages from which the information is drawn.
• The table can also provide a hyperlink to the Hike Los Padres webpage for each particular road that can be updated by each user who has new and more current information to add to the existing road status.
• This information table can be utilized as part of specific PROJECTS related to drawing attention to and opening roads and gates currently closed due to factors other than the normal Seasonal Schedule.

RESULT: To Be Determined (TBD)