The closures went into place at 5 p.m. Monday, and they affect campgrounds, day-use sites and recreation areas.
In a statement explaining the decision, the U.S. Forest Service pointed to a combination of extreme heat, significant wind events, dry conditions and firefighting resources that are stretched to the limit as reasons it needed to shut down eight national forest sites in the state.
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I've seen this once before, back in the mid to late 1980s. You could drive up the highways to the high Sierras, but all the dirt Forestry Service and logging roads were barricaded so you couldn't enter the woods.
They even had aircraft patrolling the skies looking for people that managed to sneak in and God help you if you got caught.
