US Forest Service - Angeles National Forest (CA)
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| US Forests in California: | |||||
| Angeles | Inyo | Lassen | Modoc | Sequoia | Six Rivers |
| Cleveland | Klamath | Los Padres | Plumas | Shasta-Trinity | Stanislaus |
| Eldorado | Lake Tahoe BMU | Mendocino | San Bernardino | Sierra | Tahoe |
Contents
Angeles National Forest (ANF - Forest #01) "Angeles" KME 2-2
The Angeles National Forest is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County in southern California. It was established on July 1, 1908, incorporating portions of the San Bernardino National Forest and parts of the former Santa Barbara (now Los Padres) and San Gabriel National Forests. It covers 655,387 acres and is located just north of the densely inhabited metropolitan area of Los Angeles and adjacent cities.
The Angeles National Forest manages the habitats, flora and fauna ecosystems, and watersheds of the largest open space in Los Angeles County. Some of the rivers with watersheds within its boundaries provide valuable groundwater recharge water for Southern California. The existing protected and restored native vegetation absorb and slow surface runoff of rainwater to minimize severe floods and landslides in adjacent communities. Most of the forest is covered with dense chaparral, which changes to pine and fir covered slopes on the peaks of the higher elevations. The land within the Forest is diverse, both in appearance and terrain. Elevations range from 1,200 to 10,064 feet.
The forest contains some 29,000 acres of old growth, consisting of Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), White Fir (Abies concolor), and Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta).
The residents of Los Angeles County, which number 10 million, are located within a two hour drive of the forest. The 18.6 million residents of the five county southern California metro area are within a half day drive of the Angeles. It is likely that the largest frequent gathering and concentration of people on any area of National Forest land in the U.S. occurs in San Gabriel Canyon. The number of traffic accidents on the Angeles Crest Highway, human caused fires, law enforcement incidents and search/rescue operations is much higher than that of any other National Forest. This close proximity to such a large urban area often leads to crimes being committed on the forest. An oft repeated joke about this forest is that if every dead body on the Angeles got up and started walking, the population of L.A. County would increase by 10%! This is an extraordinarily difficult forest to manage. The Angeles is divided into two ranger districts, the first is the Los Angeles Gateway Ranger District (District #1), with the district ranger station at the Little Tujunga complex. It administers all the Angeles National Forest land not included in the National Monument. The second ranger district administers all of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (District #2), with the district ranger station in Glendora. The Forest Supervisor's Office in Arcadia. The National Monument was established in 2014, necessitating a change in ranger district boundaries.
The Fire Management function is divided into 3 divisions, Division 1 headquartered at the Little Tujunga Ranger Station, Division 2 headquartered at the Glendora Ranger Station and Division 3 headquartered at the Acton Work Center. The boundaries of Division 1 coincide with the non National Monument lands on the forest. Division 2 covers all of the National Monument south of the crest of the San Gabriel Mountain range. Division 3 covers the northern portion of the National Monument and north of the crest of the San Gabriel Mountain range.
Note: This map is out of date. It does not reflect there only being two ranger districts now and the existence of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. The new Acton Work Center is being used as fire management's Division 3 headquarters. The Texas Canyon Ranger Station (Saugus) was replaced by the facility in Acton in 2011. When a new ranger district map becomes available it will be posted here.
This is a map of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, not shown is the fire management division boundaries. It will be inserted as soon as the writer figures out how to do this.
| Division 1 - Little Tujunga | Division 2 - Glendora | Division 3 - Acton |
|---|---|---|
| Station 10 - Little Tujunga (District Ranger Station) | Station 20 - Forest Supervisor's Office | |
| Station 11 - Angeles Crest | Station 21 - Dalton | Station 31 - Mill Creek |
| Station 12 - Oak Flat | Station 22 - Rincon | Station 32 - Monte Cristo |
| Station 13 - Big Tujunga | Station 23 - Rincon | Station 33 - Acton |
| Station 14 - Los Alamos | Station 34 - Clear Creek | |
| Station 15 - Green Valley | Station 25 - Lower San Antonio | Station 35 - Chilao |
| Station 16 - San Francisquito | Station 36 - Chilao | |
| Station 17 - Texas Canyon | Station 27 - San Dimas | Station 37 - Valyermo |
| Station 38 - Big Pines | ||
| Station 19 - Bear Divide | Station 39- Acton |
RADIO SYSTEM
Most radios on the forest have 12 frequencies in common: ANF Channels 1 and 2 (Forest Net), ANF Channels 3 and 4 (Admin Net), ANF Channels 5 and 6 (Service Net) two National Air to Ground frequencies and the 4 Region 5 Tactical frequencies. Each division and crews within them, may have different channel lineups, but they will usually have these 12 in common. The variations between divisions and crews involve frequencies belonging to other agencies such as Los Angeles County Fire, San Bernardino County Fire, Cal Fire, and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as frequencies of adjacent National Forests. The agencies and areas that each division interacts with for mutual aid are vary.
ANF Channels 1 and 2 are called the "Forest Net" and are used primarily for fire and emergency traffic. ANF Channels 3 and 4 are called the "Admin Net." Admin is used by all non-fire personnel, including law enforcement. ANF Channels 5 and 6 are called the "Service Net." The service net is used as an alternate command net and communications net for all functions. As shown in the channel table below, there are only four service net repeaters. Channels 1, 3 and 5 are simplex frequencies and channels 2, 4 and 6 are repeated.
Simplex communications with a one of the forest's six remote base is possible on Channels 1 and 3 using tone 8 (103.5) and on Channel 5 using tone 5 (146.2). These remote bases are linked to dispatch's remote base located at Fox Field near Lancaster and the Forest Supervisor's Office remote base in Arcadia. The other four remote bases are co-located with repeaters as shown below. When someone communicates on simplex on these channels it is not picked up by a repeater and the user must be close enough to one of the remote bases to for their signal to be received. On the other hand, if users transmit on channels 2, 4 and 6, the tone in use must match a repeater within range or their transmission will not be heard. The Angeles National Forest radio system is comprised of 15 repeater sites situated on various mountain peaks in and around the forest which are linked to the dispatch center at Fox Field near Lancaster. Each repeater site functions as both a repeater and as a receiving antenna for dispatch.
The 6 remote bases are located at: Fox Field (dispatch office), Arcadia (Forest Supervisor's Office), Frazier Peak, Magic Mountain, Mt. Lukens and Johnstone Peak. Those remote bases that are not co-located with a repeater are: Fox Field and Arcadia.
Other
The unit identifiers follow the function name, district, position number system. Common function names include resources, timber, recreation, wilderness, OHV (Off Highway Vehicle management) lands, special uses, range, wildlife, watershed, soils, fisheries, engineer, engineering, roads, O & M (Operations and Maintenance), ecology and possible additional. Not every forest uses all of these and some ID the same unit with a different name, example some forests call their O & M and roads units "engineering." The Angeles Interagency Dispatch Center is a 24 hour operation. Its identifier is "Angeles." It is believed that "Angeles" still provides dispatching for the National Park Service - SAMO (Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area)
Channel Plan
| Channel | Tone(s) | Rx | Tx | Alpha Tag | Description |
| 1 | 8 | 172.3750 | 172.3750 | ANF 1 Frst Dir | Forest Net Direct (Use Tone 8) |
| 2 | 1-14 | 172.3750 | 164.9375 | ANF 2 Frst Rpt | Forest Net Repeat |
| 3 | 8 | 173.7750 | 173.7750 | ANF 3 Adm Dir | Admin Direct (Use Tone 8) |
| 4 | 1-15 | 173.7750 | 164.8750 | ANF 4 Adm Rpt | Admin Repeat |
| 5 | 171.5000 | 171.5000 | ANF 5 Serv Direct | Service Net Direct (Use Tone 5) | |
| 6 | 2-3, 5, 14 | 171.5000 | 164.8250 | ANF 6 Serv Rept | Service Net Repeat |
| 7 | 169.1125 | 169.1125 | ANF 7 Air-Grnd 59 | Air to Ground 59 Primary | |
| 8 | 168.4875 | 168.4875 | ANF 8 Air-Grnd 53 | Air to Ground 53 Secondary | |
| 9 | 166.5500 | 166.5500 | ANF 9 R5 Tac 4 | R5 Tactical 4 | |
| 10 | 167.1125 | 167.1125 | ANF 10 R5 Tac 5 | R5 Tactical 5 | |
| 11 | 168.2375 | 168.2375 | ANF 11 R5 Tac 6 | R5 Tactical 6 | |
| 12 | 167.9625 | 167.9625 | ANF 12 R5 Tac 7 | R5 Tactical 7 |
ANF Channel 1 & 3, Simplex Direct (Car to Car Only), Use Transmit Tone 8
ANF Channel 5, Simplex Direct (Car to Car Only) Use Transmit Tone 5
ANF Repeater Access (Use with ANF Ch. 2, 4, 6)
Service Net repeaters are located at Santiago Peak, Mt. Hawkins, Table Mtn. and Grass Mtn.
NOTE: This channel lineup varies by ranger district and by function (fire vs. non-fire). Some recreation/admin radios use a group that has 155.1600 (National Search and Rescue) in Channel 16
Revised 6-9-24
Tones
All repeater sites carry both the forest and admin nets. Service net is included at four repeater sites and shown below.
| Tone | Location | CTCSS Tone | Area of Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mt. Waterman | 110.9 | Crest of Forest/Wilderness-Highway 2 |
| 2 | Santiago Peak (also Service) | 123.0 | I-5 & I-210/Front Country |
| 3 | Mt. Hawkins (also Service) | 131.8 | San Gabriel Wilderness |
| 4 | Frost Peak | 136.5 | West of I-15/Cajon Pass/Highway 138 |
| 5 | Table Mountain (also Service) | 146.2 | Northeast of Highway 2/Wrightwood |
| 6 | Oat Mountain | 156.7 | West of I-5/Santa Clarita |
| 7 | Josephine Peak | 167.9 | Lower Highway 2/Angeles Forest Highway |
| 8 | Frazier Mountain (also microwave linked remote base) | 103.5 | West of I-5/Gorman |
| 9 | Pine Mountain | 100.0 | Lower to Mid San Gabriel Canyon |
| 10 | Burnt Peak | 107.2 | East of I-5/Old Ridge Route |
| 11 | Magic Mountain (also a microwave linked remote base) | 114.8 | East of Highway 14/Santa Clarita |
| 12 | Mt. Lukens (also microwave linked remote base) | 127.3 | Above La Canada/Flint Ridge |
| 13 | Johnstone Peak (also a microwave linked remote base) | 141.3 | Above San Dimas/Glendora |
| 14 | Grass Mountain (also Service) | 151.4 | Green Valley/Elizabeth Lake Area |
| 15 | Warm Springs | 162.2 | Northeast I-5/Castaic |
All repeaters transmit Tone 8 - 103.5 on the output frequency.
Note: only the Angeles and Klamath National Forests provide area of use descriptions for each repeater.
Related Links
- National Incident Radio Support Cache - These frequencies are used for large incidents, usually when a Type I or Type II Incident Management Team is assigned. This cache is used for fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, visits of high ranking officials, such the U.S. President and the presidents of other countries, large law enforcement incidents, special events and other incidents where the federal government is utilizing the Incident Command System.
Return to DB page: United States Forest Service (CA)
| US Forests in California: | |||||
| Angeles | Inyo | Lassen | Modoc | Sequoia | Six Rivers |
| Cleveland | Klamath | Los Padres | Plumas | Shasta-Trinity | Stanislaus |
| Eldorado | Lake Tahoe BMU | Mendocino | San Bernardino | Sierra | Tahoe |