SUSANVILLE, Calif. – The Bureau of Land Management has announced opening of the North Eagle Lake and Pit River campgrounds and the Hobo Camp Day Use area in northeast California for the warm weather recreation season. The campgrounds open Wednesday, May 1; Hobo Camp opens Wednesday, May 17.

The North Eagle Lake Campground northwest of Susanville has 20 developed campsites available on a first-come, first-served basis. The campground has potable water and sites that can accommodate RVs up to 35 feet long. The fee is $8 per night. A camp host is on site.

Also at the north shore of Eagle Lake, the BLM offers Eagle Lake shoreline camping at the undeveloped Rocky Point East and Rocky Point West areas. There are no facilities or services, and the sites are best for fully self-contained camping. There are no fees, but donations are accepted. The sites are open all year, weather permitting. There are information boards and vault toilets at Rocky Point East.

The Pit River Campground, near the community of Fall River Mills in eastern Shasta County, offers eight campsites, a group campsite, a kayak launch facility and a fishing pier for those with disabilities. The fee is $8 nightly and $12 per night for the group campsite. A camp host is on site.

At Hobo Camp, the main vehicle gate off South Street on Hobo Camp Road at the west edge of Susanville will be open daily from 8 a.m. to a half-hour after sunset through the season. Exceptions are Saturday, May 17, and Saturday, May 24, when the gate will open at 5 a.m. to allow early fishing access for the Lassen County Junior Fishing Derby and for the opening day of the California stream fishing season, respectively.

Hobo Camp is also accessible to walkers, bicyclists and horseback riders using the Bizz Johnson Trail from the Susanville Railroad Depot Visitor Center and trailheads on Lassen Street and Miller Road in Susanville. It offers picnic tables, grilling grates and fire rings, open space for outdoor games, toilets and parking areas in a pine grove setting. There is parking for large vehicles and trailers, including horse trailers. A host is on site. There are no fees.

PALMS SPRINGS, Calif. — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is looking for a volunteer to serve as a campground host at Coon Hollow campground in Mule Mountain Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA).

Located in eastern Riverside County, the campground is nestled in the lower Colorado Desert adjacent to desert riparian wash habitat. As a camp host, you’ll play a vital role enhancing visitor experiences, while enjoying a remote camping location. This is a fantastic opportunity for those who enjoy the outdoors and interacting with people.

Volunteers will assist the BLM by making visitor contacts, restocking restrooms, recording LTVA permits and reporting incidents, among other tasks.

The area is known for its unique geology and offers ample opportunities for recreation. The historic Bradshaw Trail National Scenic Byway provides four-wheel access to a variety of hiking trails and historic mining areas.

Camp hosts must carry in all supplies, including drinking water, as well as provide their own self-contained trailer or camper. Services are located thirty miles northeast in Blythe. Camp hosts will receive a stipend of $10 for each day worked and the LTVA permit fee of $180 will be waived.

Volunteer hours are flexible, with preferred working hours between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. and on weekends. The camp host is not expected to work during this entire period.

Applicants must be at least 21 years of age. For those interested in the volunteer opportunity, please contact the Palm Springs – South Coast Field Office, 760-833-7100, or email Noel Mollinedo at nmollinedo@blm.gov or Caroline Gish at cgish@blm.gov.

Get more information or directions to the campground by visiting the website online. Learn more about other campgrounds in the area at blm.gov/visit.
 

EL CENTRO, Calif. – The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public input on a proposal to adjust recreation permit fees at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA) to continue to provide essential services, increase customer service, and enhance recreation opportunities and experiences for public land visitors.

Recreation permit fees are an important revenue source for Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area’s continued operation, management and maintenance.

“Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area is one of the busiest recreation areas in the state and these proposed fees will help the BLM continue to provide safe and enjoyable recreation opportunities and experiences for visitors,” said Matt Lohr, El Centro Field Manager. “The fee structure for ISDRA permits has not been adjusted to cover increasing operating and maintenance costs and reflect market conditions since 2013.”

The proposal considers increasing recreation permit fees for primary vehicles – the street-legal vehicles used for transportation to ISDRA. The need for the proposed fees were determined through fair market analysis, historical revenue, and operating costs. The proposed recreation permit fees would be $55 for off-site weekly permits, $70 for on-site weekly permits, and $185 for season permits, effective Oct. 1, 2025. 

Revenue from recreation fees support off-highway vehicle grants for Emergency Medical Services, Search and Rescue, law enforcement; trash collection and removal; facilities maintenance of ranger stations; vault toilets; sand removal from access roads; camping pads; and other services. All recreation fees collected at sites are reinvested directly back into the local recreation program to expand and improve recreational opportunities as authorized by the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004.

The proposed El Centro Draft Recreation Site Business Plan outlining existing and proposed recreation permit fee changes and operation and maintenance costs, is available for public comment for 30 days. Submit public comments by Nov. 25, via mail to the BLM El Centro Field Office, 1661 S. 4th Street, El Centro, CA 92243 or via email at BLM_CA_web_EC@blm.gov.

The Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area is one of the most popular off-highway vehicle areas in the United States, attracting the highest concentration of visitors of any BLM recreation area nationwide with more than 1.2 million visitors each year.

EL CENTRO, Calif. — The Bureau of Land Management is looking for enthusiastic individuals to reside and work as volunteer campground hosts at two locations in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA).

Join our team as a volunteer camp host and make a positive impact on the community, while immersing yourself in one of California’s most extraordinary landscapes. In this role, you will engage with visitors from all walks of life and help support the BLM’s multiple-use mission.

Located in the eastern Imperial Valley, ISDRA is accessible from Highway 78 in the Glamis area and off Interstate 8 at the Grays Well Road exit. On average, ISDRA receives approximately 1.2 million visitors each year with the majority of visitation occurring between mid October and mid April, which is considered the high use season. ISDRA campground hosts will stay on site during the high use season to serve as public contacts. They also provide assistance when the ranger stations are closed.

The BLM needs a camp host at Glamis on Gecko Road Pad 1, where they can dry camp without hookups for water or electricity. Another available camp host site is adjacent to Buttercup Ranger Station, which offers full hookups for water, electricity, and sewer dump. Inside Buttercup Ranger Station there is a washer and dryer available for use by the camp host.

Interested individuals can fill one of the volunteer camp host positions during the high use season, starting in mid October and lasting through mid April. At both locations the hosts live on site in their self-contained recreational vehicles. The BLM provides camp hosts with a minimum monthly reimbursement of $250 to cover living expenses. The hosts greet visitors and provide information on recreation in ISDRA, including where to purchase permits and rules and regulations for the area. Camp hosts also complete light maintenance at campgrounds and day use areas. Your local knowledge will help visitors navigate the area, recreate safely and enjoy their adventures.

Those interested in the volunteer campground host position should contact the BLM El Centro Field Office, 760-337-4400, or email Roger Rubio at r1rubio@blm.gov.

Learn more about Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area including rules and regulations for the area.

SUSANVILLE, Calif. – The Bureau of Land Management has announced plans to gather and remove excess wild horses from public rangelands in the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area to prevent impacts to rangeland health in Lassen County, Calif., and Washoe County, Nev. Gather operations will begin Tuesday, Oct. 1, and could continue for 15 days or longer.

The BLM plans to gather about 940 wild horses and remove about 870 of those from the rangeland along the California-Nevada border northeast of Susanville. Animals removed will be prepared for placement in private ownership through adoption or sale. Some animals, including mares treated with fertility control, would be returned to the range to maintain herd viability.

Operations will focus on wild horse home ranges in the northern and southern areas of the Twin Peaks HMA. In addition to managing populations within the herd management area, the operation will remove horses that are roaming outside of the HMA boundaries.

“While our gather in 2022 reduced populations, additional removals are needed to bring the population down to the appropriate management level of 448 to 758 wild horses,” said BLM Eagle Lake Field Manager Emily Ryan. “These high populations are causing rangeland degradation in the herd management area, with wild horses using more than their allocated forage and damaging riparian areas, wetlands and cultural resource sites.

Members of the public will be welcome to observe gather operations each day. They must reserve space by calling the gather information line at 530-252-5332 at least a day before they plan to visit. Information on the meeting location and time will be provided on the information line. Observation groups will be limited to 10 persons per day due to limited space for people and vehicles.

Those who plan to visit should plan on spending the entire day at the observation site. There are no nearby services and there will be no cell coverage. Temperatures this time of year may be cold when operations begin at dawn, warming to the 60s and low 70s in the afternoons.

Based on aerial counts earlier this summer and subsequent population modeling, the BLM believes there are about 1,800 wild horses and 140 wild burros in the herd management area that encompasses more than 800,000 acres including approximately 656,000 acres of BLM-managed public land.

The decision to gather excess animals was analyzed in a 2019 environmental assessment covering a 10-year period. The Notice of Decision authorizing the upcoming gather, the 2019 EA, and a determination of adequacy under the National Environmental Policy Act are available online.   

The BLM is responsible under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act for protecting and managing wild horses and burros to protect resources and ensure healthy herds. The agency periodically removes animals from the range when populations exceed levels established to allow the herds to thrive in balance with other users including wildlife and permitted livestock. More information about the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program is available online.

REDDING, Calif.— The Bureau of Land Management has lifted an emergency closure order on public roads, trails and facilities in the Sacramento River Bend Outstanding Natural Area north of Red Bluff, as dangers from the Park Fire have been reduced.

The BLM has also issued a temporary restriction on target shooting in the Spring Branch area of the Bend, citing ongoing region-wide high fire danger. The order will be rescinded when fire dangers ease.

“Fire crews have done outstanding work completing containment lines on the west side of the fire that threatened the Bend Area, and we feel the closure can be lifted,” said Jennifer Mata, manager of the BLM Redding Field Office. “However, ongoing extreme fire dangers and depleted fire fighting resources in the Bend Area dictate the need for the target shooting closure. We also ask people to remember that seasonal fire restrictions are in place.”

The outstanding natural area stretches includes river frontage and oak woodlands stretching from the Jelly’s Ferry area north of Red Bluff to the Anderson Area.
 

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The Bureau of Land Management Bakersfield Field Office is issuing an emergency closure of the Case Mountain Extensive Recreation Management Area in Tulare County, due to wildland fire danger from the nearby Coffee Pot Fire. This temporary closure is effective immediately, until further notice.

The Coffee Pot Fire started Saturday, Aug. 3, and has burned more than 1,600 acres of heavy brush and ground fuels as well as burning through the giant sequoia groves near the Case Mountain Extensive Recreation Management Area and in Sequoia National Park.  

Case Mountain Extensive Recreation Management Area, which is approximately 20,000 acres of BLM-managed public land located near the town of Three Rivers, in Tulare County, contains the only Sequoia grove complex managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The complex is comprised of six distinct sequoia grove units, which total about 444 acres. The area is also part of the Milk Ranch Peak Wilderness Study Area and the nearly 20,000-acre Kaweah Area of Critical Environmental Concern, which is designated for protection of the Case Mountain giant sequoia groves, other sensitive plant and animal species, riparian areas, and cultural resources.

The area is closed to all forms of public access to provide for public and firefighter safety in relation to the Coffee Pot Fire and management of that fire. For specific questions related to the closure, please contact the Bakersfield Field Office at 661-391-6000. For information about the Coffee Pot Fire, please email 2024.coffeepot.ca@firenet.gov, or call 559-492-9988.

The Bureau of Land Management will implement a five-day temporary closure of all public use from Oct. 2 – 6, for all 40,000 acres of public lands within Stoddard Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area in San Bernardino County. The temporary closure is necessary to provide for competitor and spectator safety during the annual California 300 off-road race and to protect natural and cultural resources. Johnson Valley Off-Highway Recreation Area and nearby trails in limited use areas, will remain open to the public for recreation.  

“The safety of participants and spectators is our top concern,” said BLM Barstow Field Manager Marc Stamer.  “Please cooperate with race officials and local law enforcement officers to ensure the safety of everyone involved in this event.” 

Visitors to the event must access the approved spectator areas through designated access points provided by California 300.  

The BLM has approved a five-year public land closure for up to nine days a year through 2028. The temporary closure complies with the management plan for the area. Additional information and a map of the closure area for the 2024 race event is available online and at the BLM’s California Desert District Office and Barstow Field Office. The BLM encourages the public to Tread Lightly on public lands.