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The identifier system for non-fire personnel is unknown.  People assigned to the Forest Supervisor's Office have a "5" in their identifier, example Battalion 51 does not work on a ranger district, but in the Supervisor's Office. Dispatching is done by the Stanislaus National Forest Emergency Command Center located in the Forest Supervisor's Office on Greenley Road in Sonora.  This center is not co-located and is not an interagency center.  It does not provide a logistics order point/channel for any other agency either.  There are only two such centers of this type in R5, this and the Plumas National Forest Emergency Communications Center.  The Stanislaus Center identifies as "Stanislaus."   
 
The identifier system for non-fire personnel is unknown.  People assigned to the Forest Supervisor's Office have a "5" in their identifier, example Battalion 51 does not work on a ranger district, but in the Supervisor's Office. Dispatching is done by the Stanislaus National Forest Emergency Command Center located in the Forest Supervisor's Office on Greenley Road in Sonora.  This center is not co-located and is not an interagency center.  It does not provide a logistics order point/channel for any other agency either.  There are only two such centers of this type in R5, this and the Plumas National Forest Emergency Communications Center.  The Stanislaus Center identifies as "Stanislaus."   
  
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'''Channel Plan'''
 
'''Channel Plan'''
 
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Revision as of 23:05, 5 September 2014

U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region (R5) Description and Radio Systems Information

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGION

The Pacific Southwest Region covers most of California with the following exceptions: the California portions of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, on the Carson and Bridgeport Ranger Districts located in the Intermountain Region (R4) at the eastern boundary of California and two small portions of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in the Pacific Northwest Region (R6) at the northern boundary of California north of the Klamath River. A portion of the Klamath National Forest (Region 5) extends into Oregon in one location west of Interstate 5, southwest of Grants Pass, Oregon. R5 extends into Nevada in two places, first the Nevada portion of the Inyo National Forest north of Bishop and the eastern portion of the Lake Tahoe Basin on the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit west of Carson City and Reno Nevada.

The Pacific Southwest Region of the US Forest Service manages 20 million acres of National Forest land in California and assists the State and Private forest landowners in California, Hawaii and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands. Eighteen national forests are located in this region, in the North Coast, Cascade, and Sierra Nevada ranges and from Big Sur to the Mexican border in the south Coast range.

Fire Management

The workload of Region 5 is heavy and complex. Its fire management program is well known, with approximately 50% of the U.S. Forest Service budget for fire management being spent in the region. The total budget for wildland fire management by all fire agencies in California is more than the rest of the United States combined. Southern California has the most wildland-urban interface land area of any locality in the U.S. and California has more wildland-urban interface than any other state. The interrelationship and juxtaposition of direct protection areas for the federal, state, county and municipal fire agencies is exceedingly complex in California, not because of land ownership patterns alone, but because of the presence of some of the most volatile vegetation in the world. National Forests contain 6 million of the total 9 million acres of highly volatile brushland in California found mainly in the foothill country where urban expansion is increasing and many developments lack adequate protection against wildfire. Large areas of the state is covered with heavy chaparral, which includes drought resistant, evergreen bush species that contain an oil like sap that is explosive. It is prone to "area ignition," where large areas of fuel ignite like a pool of gasoline. The climate is a huge factor and the lower elevation of California is characterized as a "Mediterranean Climate," with relatively mild winters with hot, dry and long summers.

Forest conditions, especially in Southern California and the Sierra Nevada, are of particular concern in Region 5. Dense and overgrown areas combined with the influx of people into California’s wildlands have created the potential for disastrous wildfires. Emphasis is being placed on actively managing forests by reducing dangerous accumulations of hazardous fuels to protect people, watersheds, and habitat

California has the highest population for a state in the U.S., estimated to be 38 million people in 2014. More money is spent on tourism in California than any other state. Public land recreation use is very heavy, the most for any state in the western U.S. This results in the most human caused wildland fires for any state. The state has the most homes, over 3.8 million, in wildland-urban interface areas than any other state. From the standpoint of property damage the most destructive in U.S. history occurred in California in 1991, the Oakland Hills fire only burned 1,520 acres, but destroyed 3,354 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium buildings. Casualties included 25 fatalities and 150 injuries. The economic loss has been estimated at $1.5 billion (2.5 billion in 2012 dollars). In terms of economic loss, 7 of the top 10 fires in U.S. history have occurred in California. Unfortunately, 31% (330) of the wildland firefighter fatalities (1075) in modern U.S. history (1911 to present) have occurred in California, the most of any state. The state has the most human caused fires of any in the country, averaging close to 7,400 per year. There are 10 Geographical Area Coordination Centers (GACCs) in the U.S. and the workload in California is great enough that two of them exist, Operations Northern California and Operations Southern California.

Recreation

Fire management is not alone in the region's heavy workload. The other functions of the agency face heavy pressure as well. California is the nation's most populous state and outdoor, public land based, recreation is heavy. Of he Forest Service's 9 regions 25% of the recreation on National Forest land in the U.S. occurs in R5 and about half of the public wildland recreation in the state. National Parks and other federal, state, county and private lands provide the remainder. This volume of visitor use necessitates a large law enforcement program, with more Forest Service law enforcement officers per National Forest than any region. In addition to fire management, recreation and law enforcement, National Forests manage timber, grazing, watershed (protection and use), wildlife (includes fisheries), soils, roads and trails, facilities (ranger stations, fire stations, lookouts and communication sites), minerals (exploration and extraction) as well as land use (exchanges, purchases and special uses). The workload and complexity of managing these varies by National Forest due to differences in location, topography, vegetation, precipitation, proximity to urban areas, etc. In California management of watersheds, roads and trails, facilities and land use management have the highest or close to the highest workload of any Forest Service region.

Watershed

Watershed management on National Forest land is extraordinarily important to the economy of the state and to food supply in the U.S. and abroad. California produces more than 400 crops. Of those, the following are commercially produced only in California: almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, raisins, kiwifruit, olives, clingstone peaches, pistachios, dried plums, pomegranates, sweet rice, ladino clover seed, and walnuts. California grows nearly half of the nation’s fruits, vegetables and nuts. California is the nation’s top agricultural state, and has been for more than 50 years. Agriculture generates approximately $37.5 billion a year, more than any other state. Surface water run-off in California averages 71 million acre-feet per year. Annual water use is about 37 million acre-feet, of which 80 percent is used to irrigate crops. National forests supply 50 percent of the water in California, include the watersheds of most major aqueducts and more than 2,400 of the reservoirs throughout the state. Managing watershed to insure high quality water is a major focus of the U.S. Forest Service and saves billions of dollars in potential construction and maintenance costs for water treatment plants. Contributing half of the water for agricultural production in California is a major benefit of watershed management on National Forest land.

Other Resource Management Programs

Special Uses: the large population and National Forests in proximity of urban areas creates a heavy demand for a variety of uses of these federal lands. These are the uses that don't fit into the major uses of National Forest land, those being timber, range, watershed, recreation and wildlife. Often these diverse needs require specific approval. /Special uses are diverse and are too numerous to list here. Examples are water storage, water transmission, powerlines, outfitting and guiding, recreation; special events such as foot and bicycle races, and large gatherings of people such as weddings, social gatherings of reunions, religious groups, or large youth encampments, such as Boy and Girl Scouts; organizational camps, ski areas, telecommunications (including electronic sites), research including permanent facilities such as the Barcroft Lab in the White Mountains on the Inyo National Forest, photography, video productions, the filming of major movies, gathering forest products such as mistletoe and pine cones (large quantities not for personal use) and granting road and utility rights-of-ways.

Lands & Real Estate: with the high demand for recreation, existence of some special areas in private ownership within National Forest boundaries and other resources on National Forest land the region has a very active Lands & Real Estate. This program is tasked with the following: purchasing land to protect critical resource areas and provide increased public recreation opportunities, exchanging and conveying lands to achieve a desired national forest landownership pattern that supports forest land and resource goals and objectives, conveying administrative sites to allow the agency to realign and enhance its asset portfolio, surveying national forest boundaries to identify and protect private and public lands, determining the market value of lands purchased, exchanged, or conveyed, accepting donations of land to protect archeological or historical sites; maintaining records of national forest land areas, land transactions, land status, permitted uses, and easements; and securing public road and trail access to existing national forest system lands.

Wildlife & Plants: more than 600 of the 800 species of fish and wildlife in California inhabit the national forests, making the Forest Service the single largest habitat manager in the state. National forests are also home to nearly 4,000 of the 6,500 native plants in California. National Forest land comprises the bulk of wildlife habitat in many states, especially for large mammals and threatened and endangered species. A high population has led to the loss of habitat in much of the state, putting additional pressure on the habitat of public land. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has jurisdiction of the animal and the hunting or fishing of it. The U.S. Forest Service has jurisdiction of the habitat or homes of the animal. This requires close cooperation between these agencies.

Range: the United States has about 770 million acres of rangelands. Private individuals own more than half of the Nation's rangelands. The federal government manages 43 percent of the rangelands. State and local governments manage the remainder. The Forest Service administers approximately 191 million acres of National Forest Systems lands. About half of this acreage, 96 million acres, is rangelands. The Forest Service has undergone many changes in its management of rangelands. In the early 1800s, free forage on unclaimed public domain lands allowed the building of cattle and sheep empires. The ranges soon became over-grazed, overstocked, and overcrowded. Congress stepped in the early 1900s and designated the Forest Service as the pioneer grazing control agency. By 1906 to 1907, the Forest Service had established its system of range regulation. This includes permits, limits on herd size, grazing seasons, allotments, and rental fees. Heavy recreation use results in conflicts between grazing permittees and visitors, an issue that is not as prominent in other regions.

Forest Management: the overriding objective of the Forest Service's forest management program is to ensure that the National Forests are managed in an ecologically sustainable manner. The National Forests were originally envisioned as working forests with multiple objectives: to improve and protect the forest, to secure favorable watershed conditions, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use of citizens of the United States. Forest management objectives have since expanded and evolved to include ecological restoration and protection, research and product development, fire hazard reduction, and the maintenance of healthy forests. Guided by law, regulation, and agency policy, Forest Service forest managers use timber sales, as well as other vegetation management techniques such as prescribed fire, to achieve these objectives. These activities have captured substantial public attention, and in some cases, become hotly debated issues. There is a great deal of pressure on this management function as recreation, wildlife, open space and scenic resources are especially valuable in California.


RADIO SYSTEMS

This complexity, size and pressure on all the management functions on the National Forests in Region 5 have resulted in complex radio systems. Each National Forest has a "forest net" and an "administrative net," both utilizing repeaters. The forest net is usually the main communication channel for a National Forest, although on some forests fire and law enforcement use forest net and all other functions use the admin net. Some forests have a separate "fire net." Most forests have a "service net," which is used for communications between the incident command post and forest dispatcher with most of that being logistical in nature. Cell phones have replaced this net where coverage is available, but service net is still used in cell phone dead zones. The service nets are also available as a command for initial attack of large incidents or for portions of National Forests during multiple fire starts on a forest. Two National Forests, the Klamath and Shasta-Trinity, have management unit or ranger district nets. Some forests link repeaters and remote bases with UHF radio (406-420 MHz) only or microwave only and some use a combination of both. Region 5, like most regions, has a dedicated project net (168.6625 MHz), which is one simplex channel for the entire region. This frequency can be used for both fire and non-fire day to day uses. The region is also building a state wide Forest Service law enforcement repeater network as well, that at this time will use a single frequency pair. Some forests already have multiple repeaters on this net and more will be built to provide nearly the same coverage that the forest and admin nets provide now. The buildout of this system could take decades given the budget climate of the federal government.

FREQUENCY USE

The region has been assigned 3 unique tactical frequencies. These have been used as supplements on extended attack and large, national, incidents since they were assigned to the region and NIFC Tacs 1-3, especially Tac 2, have been used for initial attack for as long they have existed. The federal wildland fire and land management agencies (National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) are beginning to phase out the use of the NIFC tacticals for initial attack. Region 5 does not appear to have started this effort yet. The BLM and U.S. Forest Service are getting frequency allocations so that each Forest Service region and each BLM State Office have a least three unique tactical frequencies separate from the 6 NIFC tacticals. The future use of the NIFC frequencies will be reserved for use on "National Fires" only. These are fires where a national Type I or Type II incident management team is in command. Less complex and smaller incidents are managed by Type III, IV, and V command organizations and use locally available communications systems. Type III teams can request use of NIFC frequencies and equipment if needed. In Region 5 the complexity and number of simultaneously occurring large incidents in proximity to each other creates a high potential of interference on tactical frequencies. The 6 NIFC and 3 regional tacticals are sometimes insufficient to provide clear and effective communications for all incidents. Unlike other regions that now have regional tactical frequencies the predominate use of R5's tacticals has been to supplement the NIFC system on large incidents. With the advent of high channel capacity radios in the last 10-15 years a few forests now use them as additional tacticals, but the demand for these continues to be for large "national incidents." At some point in the future additional tactical frequency assignments may be in the picture for R5.

NIFC has a goal to provide 2 air to ground frequencies for each of the 105 interagency dispatch centers in the country and in the west has met this goal everywhere except California.. California has been assigned 7 air to ground frequencies to provide 2 for each of 4 zones configured from north to south. These frequencies are for use by all of the federal land management agencies in those zones. These 7 frequencies have been assigned from the list of 73 national air to ground frequencies. All other Geographical Area Coordination Centers use the 5 original air to air FM tactics. In California each National Forest has been assigned 2 unique air-air FM tactics frequencies. It is not confirmed, but it is believed that these frequencies can be used by the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well.

Intra-crew communications in the Pacific Southwest Region take place on the region's project net or on one of the 4 frequencies on the National Intra-crew Communications Plan. The Primary, Secondary and Tertiary crew net frequencies are restricted to use at incident scenes and National Crew net can be used on the crews home unit. Intra-crew communications must be logistical and not tactical in nature. The 6 NIFC and 3 regional tactical frequencies may not be used for intra-crew communications.

RADIO OPERATION

The brand of handheld radio used by the U.S. Forest Service (and most wildland fire agencies as well) is Bendix King. The model of BK radios most commonly used have a capacity of 16 groups of 16 channels each. "Command" models with greater capacity are available as well. These radios allow the user to select a CTCSS tone independently for each channel by selecting a number on the radio's keypad. In Region 5, for the purposes of brevity and efficient use of repeater nets the name of the repeater is not voiced, rather the CTCSS tone number is announced (e.g., "Tone 9" instead of "Pine Mountain"). Cal Fire uses the same procedure. Other federal agencies in the state and other areas of the country use the name of the repeater in most cases, although the announcement of the tone only is beginning to catch on in other areas.

UNIT IDENTIFIERS (aka "Call Signs")

Unit identifiers in R5 use two systems, the function name, district number, position number, system (e.g "Recreation 21" and "Wildlife 32"); and the district number, function number and position number - system (e.g. "261" and "631"). Function numbers vary from forest to forest. A directive was issued for all forests to use the first system, but some forests did not follow this direction and are using the second system. Fire management on all National Forests use the first system with Chief, Division, Battalion, Superintendent, Captain, Engineer, Fuels, Engine, Patrol, Water Tender (large water trucks) Prevention, Dozer, Crew, Boat (patrol boat), Lead (plane - 5 plus pilot number), Air Attack (plus National Forest number), Recon (air patrol plane - each forest issued a series of numbers), Tanker (aircraft that dump retardant), Jumper (5 plus number assigned to aircraft) and Helicopter (500 series numbered north to south). Dispatch centers identify by the National Forest name (e.g. "Plumas") when the center is not co-located with Cal Fire, with the exception of the Sierra National Forest. Those co-located with Cal Fire identify with the city the center is located in (e.g. "Redding"). Call signs are the FCC license format (even though the federal government is not issued licenses by the FCC), example: "KMB670" for the Inyo National Forest communications center.

RADIO PROCEDURES

All functions use "clear text" and not the 10 codes ("10-4") except law enforcement officers who use the ten code, eleven code and the California Penal and Vehicle codes. This allows them to interface with state/local officers.

U.S. Forest Service voice procedure is to pronounce the unit being called first, followed by the unit that is calling. The net name or channel is then given and finally the repeater tone being used if applicable. The unit called will then answer the call with its identifier only. When the conversation ends each unit signs off with their unit identifier. Example: "Wildlife 2, Recreation 21 (usually abbreviated as Rec 21), North, Tone 3" - "Wildlife 2" - "be advised I heard a spotted owl call near Inyo Craters last night" - "Copy, I will send Wildlife 23 and 24 there tonight" - "Copy, Rec 21", "Thanks Wildlife 2." The channel is not considered clear for someone else to use until both units clear by announcing their unit identifier. Dispatcher centers will announce the time and use the assigned call sign to clear, example "1536, KMB660."

This background information should allow the reader to understand the systems of each National Forest as listed below.

Angeles National Forest (ANF - Forest #01) 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. Many people do not realize the ruggedness of the San Gabriel Mountains and its dangers due to its proximity to the huge southern California metro area. Often, people who have lived in southern California for decades, have never visited this National Forest, When they do they are quite surprised at the relative solitude available in some of the more remote areas it contains.

The residents of Los Angeles County are located within a two hour drive of the forest and the 16 million residents of the five county southern California metro area are within a half day drive of the Angeles. It is likely that the frequent largest gathering and concentration of people of any area of National Forest land in the U.S occurs in San Gabriel Canyon . Traffic accidents on the Angles Crest Highway, human caused fires, law enforcement, search and rescues occur at a rate not seen on any other National Forest. The close proximity 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 the Los Angeles River (District 1), the San Gabriel River (District 2), and the Santa Clara/Mojave Rivers (District 3) Ranger District, with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Arcadia.


RADIO SYSTEM

Most radios on the forest have 9 frequencies in common: ANF Channels 1 and 2 (Forest Net), ANF Channels 3 and 4 (Admin Net), two National Air to Ground frequencies and NIFC tactical channels 1 through 3. Each ranger district and crews within each ranger district, may have different channel lineups, but they will usually have these nine in common. The variations between ranger districts 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 ranger district interact with for mutual aid are different for each district.

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." Channels 1 and 3 are simplex frequencies and channels 2 and 4 are repeated.

When users transmit on channels 1 and 3 using tone 8 (103.5 Hz) their transmission can be received by dispatch on the forest's 9 microwave linked remote bases. These remote bases are linked to dispatch located at Fox Field near Lancaster and the Forest Supervisor's Office in Arcadia. Most of these remote bases are co-located with repeaters and some are not. When someone communicates to dispatch on these channels it is not picked up by a repeater and receiving them requires being close enough to receive simplex traffic. On the other hand, if users transmit on channels 2 and 4, 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 13 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 input or repeater selection tone is not transmitted on the repeater output frequency, rather all repeaters transmit Tone 8 (103.5) on the output

The 9 remote bases are located at: Fox Field (dispatch office), Arcadia (Forest Supervisor's Office), Frazier Peak, Warm Springs, Magic Mountain, Mt. Lukens, Blue Ridge, Johnstone Peak and Santiago Peak. Those remote bases that are not co-located with a repeater are: Fox Field, Arcadia, Warm Springs and Blue Ridge.


Other

The unit identifiers follow the function name, district, and position number system. The Angeles Interagency Dispatch Center provides dispatching for the forest and the National Park Service - Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. NPS unit IDs for the NRA begin with "7." It is a 24 hour operation. Its identifier is "Angeles."


Channel Plan

Angeles National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 8 172.3750 172.3750 ANF 1 Frst Dir Forest Net Direct
2 1-14 172.3750 169.9500 ANF 2 Frst Rpt Forest Net Repeat
3 8 164.9375 164.9375 ANF 3 Adm Dir Admin Direct
4 1-14 164.9375 170.0750 ANF 4 Adm Rpt Admin Repeat
5 169.1125 169.1125 ANF 5 A/G 59 Southern California Primary Air to Ground National AG 59
6 168.4875 168.4875 ANF 6 A/G 53 Southern California Secondary Air to Ground National AG 53
7 168.0500 168.0500 ANF 7 N Tac 1 NIFC Tac 1
8 168.2000 168.2000 ANF 8 N Tac 2 NIFC Tac 2
9 168.6000 168.6000 ANF 9 N Tac 3 NIFC Tac 3


Tones

ANF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Mt. Waterman 110.9
2 Santiago Peak 123.0
3 Mt. Hawkins 131.8
4 Frost Peak 136.5
5 Not Assigned 146.2
6 Oat Mountain 156.7
7 Josephine Peak 167.9
8 Frazier Mountain 103.5
9 Pine Mountain 100.0
10 Burnt Peak 107.2
11 Magic Mountain 114.8
12 Mt. Lukens 127.3
13 Johnstone Peak 141.3
14 Grass Mountain 151.4

Cleveland National Forest (CNF - Forest #02) KME 2-3

The Cleveland National Forest is the southern-most National Forest in California. Consisting of 460,000 acres, the forest offers a wide variety of terrains and recreational opportunities. On July 1st, 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt signed a declaration that created this National Forest. Now, more than 100 years later, the Cleveland National Forest provides habitat for native wildlife, as well as a natural refuge and playground for many of the 3 million plus residents in the greater San Diego area. This forest consists of mostly of chaparral, with a few riparian areas. A warm dry Mediterranean climate prevails over the Forest. A major issue on the forest is illegal immigration in the form of abandoned campfires, trash and user built trails. The forest is divided into the Descanso (District 2), Palomar (District 3) and Trabuco (District 4) Ranger Districts with the Forest Supervisor's Office in San Diego.


RADIO SYSTEM

This forest has a forest net, admin net and service net. There are are no direct, or simplex, channels for these 3 nets. The number and location of remote bases is not known, but it would be safe to assume that there is one for each ranger district. There are 11 repeater sites on the forest, with Forest Net repeaters on all 11, Admin Net on 8 and Service Net on just 3. There is one tone dedicated to the operation of a portable repeater that is capable of operating on all three nets. The input or repeater selection tone is not transmitted on the repeater output frequency, rather all repeaters transmit Tone 8 (103.5) on the output.

Other

The unit identifiers follow the function name, district, position number system. Employees assigned to the Forest Supervisor's Office have identifiers beginning with the number 1. The Cleveland National Forest Emergency Communications Center (ECC) is co-located with Cal Fire's Monte Vista Interagency Communications Center (MVICC). The ECC also dispatches for the fire function of the USMC Camp Pendleton, the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex, the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge and the Viejas and Sycuan Indian Reservations. The San Diego Refuge units IDs start with a "5." It is a 24 hour operation. The ECC's call sign is "Monte Vista."

Channel Plan

Cleveland National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 1-12 168.7500 171.4250 CNF 1 Forest Forest Repeater Net
2 All excp. 1,6,8 168.1500 169.7250 CNF 2 Admin Admin Repeater Net
3 2,5,10 164.1250 164.8250 CNF 3 Service USFS Southern CA Service Repeater Net
4 168.6625 168.6625 CNF 4 Prjct Region 5 Project Net (Note: R5 2014 listing did not show a channel 4, this channel is assumed from past years)
5 168.2000 168.2000 CNF 5 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
6 166.5500 166.5500 CNF 6 R5 T4 R5 Tac 4 Palomar Ranger District Initial Attack
7 167.1125 167.1125 CNF 7 R5 T5 R5 Tac 5 Trabuco Ranger District Initial Attack
8 168.2375 168.2375 CNF 8 R5 T6 R5 Tac 6 Descanso Ranger District Initial Attack
9 151.1900 151.1900 CNF 9 CF Loc Cal Fire MVU Local Direct (Note: Tone 3 - 131.8 Rx Side)
10 151.3550 159.3000 CNF F10 CF C1 Cal Fire Command 1 (Note: Tone 8 - 103.5 Rx Side)
11 151.2650 159.3300 CNF 11 CF C2 Cal Fire Command 2 (Note: Tone 8 - 103.5 Rx Side)
12 151.3400 159.3450 CNF 12 CF C3 Cal Fire Command 3 (Note: Tone 8 - 103.5 Rx Side)
13 151.2500 151.2500 CNF 13 CF T5 Cal Fire Tac 5 (Note: Tone 16 - 192.8 Rx Side)
14 151.4600 151.4600 CNF 14 CF T12 Cal Fire Tac 12 (Note: Tone 16 - 192.8 Rx Side)
15 151.4750 151.4750 CNF 15 CF T13 Cal Fire Tac 13 Tone 16 Rx Side (Note: Tone 16 - 192.8 Rx Side)
16 169.1125 169.1125 A/G 59 CA4 (P) National Air-Ground 59 CA Zone 4 Primary


Tones

CNF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Sierra 110.9
2 Santiago Peak 123.0
3 Elsinore 131.8
4 High Point 136.5
5 Cuyumaca 146.2
6 Ortega 156.7
7 Los Pinos 167.9
8 Boucher 103.5
9 Lyons Peak 100.0
10 Portable Repeater 107.2
11 Black Mtn. 114.8
12 Sitton Peak 127.3

Eldorado National Forest (ENF - Forest #03) KMB 6-6-0

Established in 1910, the Eldorado National Forest encompasses 596,724 acres and is located on the west slope of the central Sierra Nevada. It ranges in elevation from 1,000 feet in the foothills to more than 10,000 feet above sea level along the Sierra crest. A complicated ownership pattern exists. The parcels of other ownership (private or other Agency land) are mostly isolated and surrounded on all sides by National Forest land. An opposite pattern occurs outside of the main forest boundary where several small scattered pieces of National Forest lands are separated from the main body and surrounded by lands of other ownership (private and other government agencies). The area within the boundary of the forest is 786,994 acres of which 190,270 acres is private or in other government agency ownership. The remaining 596,724 acres is National Forest land.

The mountainous topography is broken by the steep canyons of the Mokelumne, Cosumnes, American, and Rubicon rivers. Plateaus of generally moderate relief are located between these steep canyons. The principle vegetative types found on the forest are woodland, chaparral, mixed conifer, true fir, and subalpine. A wide variety of hardwoods, brush, grasses, and forbs are mixed in with each of these forest types. Water is a major resource of the Eldorado National Forest. The average acre on the Forest receives about 56 inches of precipitation annually. Average annual runoff is about 29 inches. This is roughly equal to a yield of 2.4 acre-feet of water per acre of land per year; therefore National Forest lands yield an estimated 1,444,000 acre-feet annually An acre foot of water is equivalent to 325,850 gallons of water, the amount consumed in one year by the average household of 4 people.

The forest is located within 3 - 4 hours driving time from the San Francisco Bay Area, a metropolitan complex of 4.5 million people. Sacramento is located within 1 - 1 1/2 hours driving time from the forest with a population of over 1,000,000 people. The forest is divided into the Placerville (District 6), Pacific (District 5), Georgetown (District 3), and Amador (District 1) Ranger Districts with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Placerville.

RADIO SYSTEM

The Eldorado National Forest has 3 nets, Forest, Admin and Service. The Eldorado National Forest uses microwave linked remote bases and has some UHF frequencies allocated to it. At one time there were remote bases on Bald Mtn. (Supervisor's Office and Georgetown RD), Big Hill (Supervisor's Office and Pacific RD), Leek Springs (Supervisor's Office and Placerville RD), Argonaut Hill (UFH linked)(Amador RD), Water Tank (Lumberyard Ranger Station) and Leek Springs used by the Amador Ranger District in the winter. The current remote base locations are unknown. There are 11 repeater sites with all three nets at each site. The Eldorado National Forest does not use channel numbers to describe the frequencies it uses, rather it describes them by name. Channel plans vary based on the ranger district and function to which they are assigned. The names are shown below under "Description" for each channel.

Direct or simplex communications are not conducted on the forest's repeater nets such as Forest Net. Tactical frequencies are used instead. Almost all handheld radios in use by the Forest Service are the Bendix-King. These radios have 16 groups and 16 channels per group with only one group can be used at a time. By eliminating the simplex operation of the 5 Forest Service repeater nets the forest uses, 5 channels are available for other frequencies. There are The repeater's input tone is transmitted on the output frequency.

Other

The unit identifier system is unknown. At one time it used the district number, function number and position number system. The functions were numbered as follows: 1 District Ranger, 3 Resources, 4 Recreation, 5 Fuels Management and 7 Timber Management. The Eldorado National Forest Dispatch Center is co-located with Cal Fire's Camino Interagency Dispatch Center. It also dispatches for the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. It is a 24 hour operation. The Center's call sign is "Camino."


Channel Plan

Eldorado National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
*** 1-11 171.5250 169.9500 ENF Forest Forest Net
*** 1-11 172.3250 173.7625 ENF Admin Admin Net
*** 1-11 164.1250 164.8250 ENF Service Service Net
*** 1,2,3 172.3750 164.9625 TMU Fire Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Fire Net (Commonly referred to as "Basin Fire")
*** 1,2,3 171.5750 165.4125 TMU Admin Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Admin Net (Commonly referred to as "Basin Admin")
*** 1-8 151.1900 159.2250 AEU Local Cal Fire Amador-Eldorado Local Net Tone 5 (145.2) Rx Side
*** 1-16 155.9025 159.2275 Eldr Cmd Eldorado County Command
*** 2,4 153.9350 158.880 Amdr Cmd Amador County Command (Note: Tone 2 - 123.0 Rx Side)
*** 168.0500 168.0500 NIFC T1 NIFC Tac 1
*** 168.2000 168.2000 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
*** 168.6000 168.6000 NIFC T3 NIFC Tac 3
*** 166.5500 168.5500 R5 T4 R5 Tac 4
*** 167.1125 167.1125 R5 T5 R5 Tac 5
*** 168.2375 168.2375 R5 T6 R5 Tac 6
*** 168.6625 168.6625 R5 Project R5 Project Net
*** 151.1600 151.1600 CF T2 Cal Fire Tac 2 (Note: Tone 16 - 192.8 Rx Side)
*** 151.3700 151.3700 CF T8 Cal Fire Tac 8 (Note: Tone 16 - 192.8 Rx Side)
*** 151.3850 151.3850 CF T9 Cal Fire Tac 9 (Note: Tone 16 - 192.8 Rx Side)
*** 151.2200 151.2200 CF A/G Cal Fire Air to Ground
*** 167.5000 167.5000 CA 2 A/G 14 (P) National Air Ground 14 - CA Zone 2 Primary
*** 169.1125 169.1125 CA 2 A/G 59 (S) National Air Ground 59 - CA Zone 2 Secondary


Tones

ENF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Alder Ridge 110.9
2 Leek Springs Hill 123.0
3 Bald Mtn. 131.8
4 Big Hill 136.5
5 Pine Hill 146.2
6 Echo Summit 156.7
7 Mt. Reba 167.9
8 Bunker Hill 103.5
9 Hawkins Peak 100.0
10 Walker Ridge 107.2
11 Sourdough Hill 114.8

Inyo National Forest (INF - Forest #04) KMB 6-7-0

Established by proclamation on May 25, 1907 by President Teddy Roosevelt covering 221,324 acres located at the bottom of the Owens Valley. First established to secure the water interests of the City of Los Angeles, the Inyo National Forest has been expanded and contracted at least four times since its creation. Most of the original lands designated as the Inyo National Forest - bottomlands along the Owens River - are no longer part of the Forest. The purpose of this first designation as a National Forest was to protect the river in anticipation of the construction of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Owens Valley Aqueduct. These lands were later returned to the public domain and portions of the Sierra National Forest, east of the Sierra crest as well as the White-Inyo Mountains, were designated as the Inyo National Forest. The forest now covers 2 million acres. The forest has over 10,500 feet of elevation difference, from 3,900 feet near Owens Lake to 14,494 on the peak of Mt. Whitney, highest peak in the continental United States. At over 4,700 years of age the Methuselah is the world's oldest tree. Methuselah, is a Bristlecone Pine growing in the Inyo National Forest’s Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest atop the White Mountains. Located in California's beautiful Eastern Sierra, the Inyo National Forest offers clean air, crystal blue skies, mountain lakes and streams, challenging trails, high mountain peaks and beautiful views. The Inyo National Forest extends 165 miles from Conway Summit in the north and to the Kern Plateau in the south. The Forest includes the Mono Lake National Forest Scenic Area, Boundary Peak - the highest peak in the State of Nevada at 13,140 feet, the world's largest Jeffrey Pine Forest located east of Mammoth Lakes and south of Mono Lake, 2 Wild & Scenic Rivers, 5 Visitor Centers, 3 Scenic Byways, 2 Alpine Ski Areas and 1 Nordic Ski Center. The Inyo has 9 Congressionally designated Wilderness Areas covering more than 800,000 acres. Among them is the John Muir Wilderness, which receives the most visitor use per acre per year of any wilderness area in the western United States. The Mt. Whitney trail corridor is the most challenging trail to manage in the National Forest System and has the only day use quota and permit requirement on any National Forest. This land, where the desert meets the mountains, was first reserved for its timber, water and forage. Thanks to decades of public management, the lands of the Inyo National Forest continue to supply clean water to over 3.8 million people, renewable forests, homes for wildlife from Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep to the Golden Trout, and the peace of the out of doors for nearly four million people annually, the most for a National Forest in California.. The Inyo consistently ranks in the top 5 National Forests in the U.S. in recreation use and its developed recreation sites (campgrounds, picnic areas, nature trails interpretive and historical sites, visitor centers, etc) receive the most use of any one National Forest in the country, approximately twice that of the number 2 National Forest in this category. The forest is divided into the Mono Lake (District 1), Mammoth (District 2), White Mountain (District 3) and Mt. Whitney (District 4) Ranger Districts with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Bishop.


RADIO SYSTEM

The Inyo National Forest has 3 nets, Forest Net - North, Forest Net - South and Service Net. The Mono Lake and Mammoth Ranger Districts are on the North Net. The White Mountain Ranger District uses the North Net for those areas north of the bottom of the Sherwin Grade on U.S. 395 (McGee and Rock Creek Canyons and the Casa Diablo areas east of Crowley Lake) and the South Net south of that point (Buttermilk Country, Bishop Creek and Big Pine Creek to Division Creek as well as the White Mountains (Westguard Pass north). The Mt. Whitney District uses the South Net only (from Division Creek south to the Kern Plateau and the Inyo Mountains - south of Westguard Pass). Some areas of Bishop Creek and the north end of the White Mountains are covered by Glass Mountain only (Tone 3) and are exceptions to this North Net/South Net configuration. Silver Peak, northeast of Bishop in the White Mountains is the only electronic site with repeaters on both nets and is the location of the North Net remote base. The South Net remote base is on Mazourka Peak northeast of Independence. The links for the remote bases utilize UHF only. The Inyo National Forest does not have direct, or simplex channels provided for its 3 Nets.

Other

The fire organizations of the Inyo National Forest and Bishop Field Office of the BLM's Central California District are integrated, with an Inyo National Forest Fire Management Officer (Chief 1) managing the combined organization. The Assistant Forest Fire Management Officer (Chief 2) is a BLM employee. Both work from the jointly located Forest Supervisor's Office/Field Office in Bishop, California. The Mono Basin Interagency Fire Station located west of Mono Lake, houses Type III engines from each agency and a USFS patrol unit. The Topaz Interagency Fire Station, located on U.S. 395 near the Nevada state line, at the north end of the Bishop Field Office jurisdiction, houses one Type III BLM engine and a Type 4 engine and patrol unit (Type VI engine) from the Toiyabe National Forest. The BLM units at both stations as well as the Inyo National Forest units on the Mono Lake Ranger District are supervised by a USFS division chief and BLM battalion chief. This organization uses the two Inyo National Forest nets for its primary nets. The BLM net is used as an alternate dispatch or command net when multiple fire starts/large incidents occur.

The wildland fire State Responsibility Area (SRA) inside the Inyo National Forest is in the direct protection area of the Inyo National Forest and the SRA outside the National Forest boundaries in Mono County is in the direct protection area of the BLM. In exchange the BLM land in Inyo County is in the direct protection area of Cal Fire's San Bernardino Unit, Owens Valley Division.

The unit identifiers follow the function name, district, position number system. Employees working in or out of the Supervisor's Office use identifiers have a "5" following the function name. The Owens Valley Interagency Dispatch Center is located in the joint Inyo National Forest-BLM Bishop Field Office facility in Bishop. It also provides dispatch for the BLM Central California District - Bishop Field Office with 1700 series identifiers, 1700 is the field office manager, 1710 is real estate, 1720 is the assistant field officer manager, 1730 is resource management, 1740 is recreation, 1750 is range management, 1760 is minerals management, 1760 is archaeology. Law enforcement officers identify with the field office number, followed by "R" for ranger and then by the officer number. example "17R1." It provides fire function dispatching for two National Park Service units: Devils Postpile National Monument and the Manzanar National Historic Site. Law enforcement dispatching for Devils Postpile is provided by Yosemite National Park using a link to its law enforcement net located on Mammoth Mountain. This center is not a 24 hour operation, but is open 7 days per week, year long. When the Owens Valley Center is shut down the San Bernardino Federal Interagency Communications Center ("San Bernardino") provides dispatching as it is able to control the entire Inyo/BLM radio system. The center's identifier is "Inyo."


Channel Lineup

Inyo National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 1-3, 8-9, 10 168.1250 173.8000 INF1 Frst N North Forest Repeater Net
2 168.2000 168.2000 INF2 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
3 4-8 168.7250 173.8375 INF3 Frst S South Forest Repeater Net
4 3-4, 8 171.5000 172.4000 INF4 Serv Service Repeater Net
5 167.4750 167.4750 INF5 A/G41 CA3 P National Air to Ground 41 - California Zone 3 Primary
6 168.6625 168.6625 INF6 R5 Proj Region 5 Project/Fire Net
7 4, 5, 8, 10 169.7125 163.1250 INF7 BLM Bshp FO BLM Bishop Field Office Net


Tones

INF North Forest Net Tones
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Mt. Warren 110.9
2 Mammoth Mtn. 123.0
3 Glass Mtn. 131.8
8 Silver Peak 103.5
9 June Mtn. 100.0
10 Sweetwater* 107.2
  • Located on the Toiyabe NF near the U.S. 395/California State Route 108 junction. It provides radio coverage for the northern portion of the Bishop Field Office jurisdiction.


INF South Forest Net Tones
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
4 Mazourka Peak 136.5
5 Cerro Gordo Peak 146.2
6 Olancha Peak 156.7
7 Piper Peak 167.9
8 Silver Peak 103.5


INF Service Net Tones
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
3 Glass Mtn. 131.8
4 Mazourka Peak 136.5
8 Silver Peak 103.5


BLM Bishop Field Office Net Tones
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
4 Potato Peak 136.5
5 Cerro Gordo Peak 146.2
8 Silver Peak 103.5
10 Sweetwater 107.2

Klamath National Forest (KNF - Forest #05) KMB 6-8-0

The Klamath National Forest encompasses nearly 1.7 million acres of land straddling the California and Oregon border with the majority in California and a small portion in Oregon. The Forest is divided into two sections separated by the Shasta Valley and the I-5 corridor. In the mountains to the west, the terrain is steep and rugged and is arguably the most rugged in the Pacific Southwest Region. The east-side has the relatively gentler, rolling terrain of volcanic origin. Here the Goosenest Ranger District also administers the Butte Valley National Grassland, the only National Grassland in Region 5. With elevations ranging from 450 to 8,900 feet above sea level, the Klamath National Forest is one of America’s most biologically diverse regions. It is situated in a transitional region between the hotter and drier areas to the south and the colder, wetter climate to the north. At the northern boundary of the Klamath National Forest extends into Oregon and the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest extends into California in two places. The two forests are in two different Forest Service Regions, the Pacific Southwest and the Pacific Northwest and Forest Service Regions normally follow state lines with some exceptions. In this case the boundary is following the divide between the Klamath River and the Rogue River. When Regional, National Forest and Ranger District boundaries are drawn an attempt to follow drainage or hydrological boundaries so that one unit is not managing one portion of a watershed and another managing another portion. The desired outcome is to have boundaries don't follow arbitrary political lines, but those related to topographical, river and ecological boundaries. These areas contain the upper reaches of tributaries of both rivers.

The forest includes 5 Congressionally designated wilderness areas, Marble Mountain, Russian, Trinity Alps, Red Buttes and Siskiyou. In the lower elevations, you'll find park-like stands of Ponderosa Pines, while in the higher elevations, the Douglas fir, sub-alpine fir and mixed conifer stands beg to be explored. There are 200 miles of river system for rafting and 152 miles of wild and scenic rivers on the forest. The Forest also helps to meet local and national needs for timber, gold, and other natural resources. The forest is divided into the Oak Knoll (District 1), Happy Camp (District 2), Salmon River (District 4), Scott River (District 5) and Goosenest (District 7) Ranger Districts, with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Yreka.

RADIO SYSTEM

The Klamath National Forest's radio system is unique in two ways. First it has one mountain top remote base and base stations located at Ranger Stations, work centers, fire stations and such. s. The mountaintop base is at the Gunsight Peak Communications Site west of Yreka. The best information at this time suggests that this one remote base controls all the repeaters on the forest. The bases stations are located at: Oak Knoll Work Center, Happy Camp Ranger Station, Seiad Station, Happy Camp Helibase, Sawyers Bar Work Center, Scott River Ranger Station, Salmon River Ranger Station, and the Goosenest Ranger Station. There is other information that seems to indicate that Yreka Dispatch remote controls one base station at each ranger station, and the work centers at Seiad, Oak Knoll and Sawyers Bar. These are likely linked via phone lines or by VoIP. The second theory is more realistic as the rugged nature of the forest likely prevents one remote base being able to cover the entire forest.

Second, the Klamath National Forest has a separate repeater net for each of the 5 ranger districts on the forest. The Black Net covers the Oak Knoll Ranger District, the Orange Net is provided for the Happy Camp Ranger District, the Salmon Net is used on the Salmon River Ranger District,, the Sage Net is assigned to Goosenest Ranger District and finally the River Net is for the Scott River Ranger District. A simplex channel is included for each net. The R5 project/fire net is not used on this forest due to conflicts with frequency use in the Pacific Northwest Region (R6 - Oregon and Washington).

Other

The unit identifier system for non fire personnel is unknown, but is likely to be the district number, function number and position number system. District Rangers identify with the forest number (5) followed by district number. The Yreka Interagency Dispatch Center provides dispatching services for the Klamath National Forest is co-located with Cal Fire's Siskiyou Unit dispatch center located in the Cal Fire Siskiyou Unit headquarters. It is a 24 hour operation. The center's identifier is "Yreka".


Klamath National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 7 164.175 164.175 KNF1 Frst Dir Forest Net Direct
2 1-12 164.175 164.975 KNF2 Frst Rpt Forest Repeater Net
3 168.2000 168.2000 KNF3 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
4 167.6000 167.6000 KNF4 A/G43 CA1 P National Air-Ground 43 CA Zone 1 Primary
5 166.8750 166.8750 KNF5 A/G08 CA1 S National Air-Ground 08 CA Zone 1 Secondary
6 7 168.1750 168.1750 KNF6 BlkNet Dir Black Net Direct - Oak Knoll RD
7 1,2,10 168.1750 171.5250 KNF7 BlkNet Rpt Black Net Repeater - Oak Knoll RD
8 7 168.7750 168.7750 KNF8 OrngNet Dir Orange Net Direct - Happy Camp RD
9 2,4,11 168.7750 170.5750 KNF9 OrngNet Rpt Orange Net Repeater - Happy Camp RD
10 7 171.5000 171.5000 KNF10 SlmNet Dir Salmon Net Direct - Salmon River RD
11 5,6 171.5000 172.4000 KNF11 SlmNet Rpt Salmon Net Repeater - Salmon River RD
12 7 172.3250 172.3250 KNF12 SageNet Dir Sage Net Direct - Goosenest RD
13 8,9 172.3250 173.3625 KNF13 SageNet Rpt Sage Net Repeater - Goosenest RD
14 7 172.2500 172.2500 KNF14 RvrNet Dir River Net Direct - Scott River RD
15 2,7,10 172.250 171.5500 KNF15 RvrNet Rpt River Net Repeater - Scott River RD
KNF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Oak Knoll 110.9
2 Lake Mtn. 123.0
3 Baldy Lookout 131.8
4 Ukonom 136.5
5 Orleans 146.2
6 Orleans 156.7
7 Bolivar 167.9
8 Ball Mtn. 103.8
9 Orr Mtn. 100.0
10 Collins Baldy 107.2
11 Slater 114.8
12 Paradise Craggy 127.3

Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (TMU - Forest #19) KMB 6-6-4

Forest Reserve establishment began with the passage of the Forest Reserve Act of 1891, which allowed the President to establish Forest Reserves by executive order. In the last year of the 19th century, President McKinley created the "Lake Tahoe Forest Reserve" to conserve the remaining 37,000 acres of forests of the basin following the decades of logging for the Comstock mining boom. None of this acreage included any of the shoreline. The lands in the Lake Tahoe basin were split up between three national forests established about 8 years later.

Nearly 70 years of National Forest management resulted in the acquisition of a significant amount of land added to the public ownership. Acquisition of environmentally sensitive lands is one important way to protect the lake. By the early 1970s the acreage of publically owned land in the basin had increased from 37,000 acres to 154,000 acres, some of which is located on the lake's shoreline. This additional land was acquired through land exchanges and purchases funded by the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965.

In 1973, this most unique area of America's National Forest System was established. The establishment of the LTBMU was not really the creation of a "new" National Forest, but rather an administrative re-organization of National Forest lands that had already existed in the Tahoe Basin since 1899. The National Forest lands of the basin were consolidated into the new Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU). This new and unusual sort of forest area would be small, just 154,000 acres, but the issues and public use of these lands is large. Up until the unit was created the management of National Forest lands was split up between 3 ranger districts, on 3 National Forests, the Tahoe, Eldorado and Toiyabe National Forests in 2 different Forest Service regions, the Pacific Southwest Region (R5) headquartered in Vallejo and the Intermountain Region (R4) headquartered in Ogden, Utah. As the pressures of growth and addressing water quality degradation in the basin created significant issues that made coordination between the 3 units difficult, if not impossible, and certainly inefficient. The National Forest lands in the basin needed one voice. A decision was made by the Forest Service to administratively place the basin portion of these 3 units under a Forest Supervisor and call this consolidated organization the "Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit." Several attempts have been made since to establish the "Lake Tahoe National Forest," but a bill doing such has never passed. The boundaries of this unit follow the watershed boundaries of the upper Truckee River and Lake Tahoe, which is the crests of the ridge around the lake, with a gap where the Truckee River flows down canyon from the lake.

The purchase of sensitive parcels of private land for public ownership is more important than ever. In December of 1980 the Santini-Burton Act passed, which places the revenue from the sale of federal land in the Las Vegas Valley into a fund for land purchases and watershed restoration in the Lake Tahoe basin. Land in individual urban lots began to be purchased and to date, over 3,500 parcels (or Urban Lots) totaling 13,000 acres valued at $105 million have been acquired. As of 2014 National Forest land ownership has increased to 160,000 acres with 18% of the 72 miles of shoreline now part of the LTBMU.

There are no ranger districts dividing this "forest," the LTBMU is headed by a Forest Supervisor, with the Forest Supervisor's Office in South Lake Tahoe.


RADIO SYSTEM

The LTBMU has a Fire Net and Admin Net. There are channels provided enabling direct or simplex communication on each net. The location and number of remote bases is unknown or how the dispatch center in Camino controls the two nets. The input tone of each repeater is transmitted on the output frequency.

Other

The unit identifier system for non fire personnel is unknown. As there are not any ranger districts on this "forest" many identifiers, for an unknown reason, begin with the number 4. There are 3 fire stations on the LTBMU, Meyers, William Kent and Spooner Summit. In the last 10 years the the LTBMU has been dispatched by the interagency dispatch center in Minden and the Tahoe National Forest-Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit Emergency Command Center at Grass Valley. The LTBMU is now dispatched by the Cal Fire - Eldorado NF co-located communications center in Camino, just east of Placerville. The center's identifier is "Camino."


CHANNEL PLAN

Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 172.3750 172.3750 TMU1 Fire Dir Basin Fire Net Direct
2 1-3 172.3750 164.9625 TMU2 Fire Rpt Basin Fire Net Repeater
3 171.5750 171.5750 TMU3 Adm Dir Basin Admin Net Direct
4 1-3 171.5750 165.4125 TMU4 Adm Rpt Basin Admin Net Repeater
5 168.6625 168.6625 TMU5 R5 Proj R5 Project Net
6 168.2000 168.2000 TMU6 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
7 6 154.2650 154.2650 TMU7 V Fire 22 V Fire 22 (Note: Tone 6 - 156.7 Tx & Rx)
8 6 154.2950 154.2950 TMU8 V Fire 23 V Fire 23 (Note: Tone 6 - 156.7 Tx & Rx)
9 6 154.3025 154.3025 TMU9 V Fire 26 V Fire 26 (Note: Tone 6 - 156.7 Tx & Rx)
10 9 153.9500 154.4450 TMU10 SLT FD South Lake Tahoe FD (Use Tone 9 - 100.0)
11 4,9 154.3400 153.8900 TMU11 Lk Vlly Cmd Lake Valley FD Command (Use Tone 4 - 136.5 or Tone 9 - 100.0)
12 8,9,11,13 154.1300 159.495 TMU12 CF NEU East Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer East (Use Tone 3 - 131.8 Rx Side)
13 154.2350 154.2350 TMU13 N Lk Tahoe FPD North Lake Tahoe FPD - Incline
14 7 155.0250 158.7750 TMU14 TahDoug FD Tahoe Douglas FD (Use Tone 7 - 167.9)
15 1-11 171.5250 169.9500 TMU15 ENF ForNetRpt Eldorado NF Forest Net Repeater*
16 162.5500 TMU16 NWS WX National Weather Service
17 167.5000 167.5000 TMU17 A/G 14 CA2 P National Air Ground 14 - CA 2 Primary
18 169.1125 169.1125 TMU18 A/G 59 CA2 S National Air Ground 59 - CA 2 Secondary
  • See the Eldorado NF listing for repeater tones.

Tones

TMU Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Snow Valley 110.9
2 East Peak 123.0
3 Scout Peak 131.8


Cal Fire NEU East Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
8 Mt. Rose 103.5
9 Snow Valley 100.0
11 Mt. Pluto 114.8
13 Northstar 141.3

Lassen National Forest (LNF - Forest #06) KMB 6-9-0

The forest was formed in 1905 when it was named one of the National Forest Reserves, which evolved into the National Forest system. It is named after pioneer Peter Lassen, who mined, ranched and promoted the area to emigrant parties in the 1850s. The Lassen National Forest is a total of 1.2 million acres or 1,875 square miles. The Forest lies at the heart of one of the most fascinating areas of California, called the Crossroads. Here the granite of the Sierra Nevada, the lava of the Cascades and the Modoc Plateau, and the sagebrush of the Great Basin meet and blend. It is an area of great variety, greeting visitors and residents alike with a wide array of recreational opportunities and adventures. Fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, bicycling, boating, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and just exploring and learning about nature are among the many popular pastimes.

Within the Lassen National Forest you can explore a lava tube or the land of Ishi, the last survivor of the Yahi Yana Native American tribe; watch pronghorn antelope glide across sage flats or an osprey snatch fish from lake waters; drive four-wheel trails into high granite country appointed with sapphire lakes or discover spring wildflowers on foot. The Forest is divided into the Almanor (District 1), Hat Creek (District 3) and Eagle Lake (District 8) Ranger Districts, with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Susanville.


RADIO SYSTEM

The Lassen National Forest has a Forest Net with 8 repeaters and an Admin Net with 4 repeaters. Channels allowing direct (simplex) communications on each net are provided. There are channels for the fire net of the BLM Northern California District and the local net for the Lassen-Modoc Unit of Cal Fire. The first 11 channels listed are common to all the radios of the Forest, regardless of function or location.

Other

The unit identifier system for non-fire personnel used on the Lassen National Forest is unknown. The Susanville Interagency Fire Center provides dispatching for the Lassen National Forest, the Northern California District of the BLM, the Lassen-Modoc-Plumas Unit of Cal Fire, and the fire function of Lassen National Park. Law enforcement service for Lassen National Park is provided by the dispatch center at Yosemite National Park. The unit identifier for this center is "Susanville."


Channel Plan


Lassen National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 172.2250 172.2250 LNF1 Frst Dir Forest Net Direct
2 1-8 172.2250 171.4750 LNF2 Frst Rpt Forest Net Repeater
3 7 169.9500 169.9500 LNF3 Admin Dir Admin Net Direct
4 2-5 169.9500 164.9125 LNF4 Admin Rpt Admin Net Repeater
5 4 171.6250 171.6250 LNF5 BLM NOD Fire BLM Northern California District Fire Net Direct
6 168.6625 168.6625 LNF6 R5 ProjNet R5 Project Net
7 168.2000 168.2000 LNF7 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
8 167.6000 167.6000 LNF8 A/G 43 CA1 P National Air to Ground 43 CA1 Zone 1
9 151.2200 151.2200 LNF9 CF A/G Cal Fire Air to Ground
10 151.2500 151.2500 LNF10 CF LMU LocDir Cal Fire Lake-Modoc-Plumas Unit, Local Net Direct
11 1-7 151.2500 159.4050 LNF11 CF LMU LocRpt Cal Fire Lake-Modoc-Plumas Unit, Local Net Repeater

Tones


LNF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Dyer Mtn. 110.9
2 Widow Mtn 123.0
3 West Prospect 131.8
4 Antelope Mtn. 136.5
5 Turner Mtn. 146.2
6 Bald Mtn. 156.7
7 Little Antelope 167.9
8 Lassen Peak 103.5


The Forest Net (Channel 2) works on all of these repeaters. The Fire Net (Channel 4) is installed at 4 of these repeater sites as listed in the channel line up table above.


Cal Fire Tones

LMU Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Beckworth 110.9
2 Dyer Mtn. 123.0
3 Likely 131.8
4 Fredonyer 136.5
5 Widow Mtn. 146.2
6 Happy Camp 156.7
7 Roop 167.9

Los Padres National Forest (LPF - Forest #07) KME 2-1

The Los Padres ("the Fathers") National Forest encompasses approximately 1.762,400 acres of central California's scenic Coast and Transverse Ranges. The forest stretches across almost 220 miles from north to south and is divided between two noncontiguous areas. The northern portion, on the Monterey Ranger District, includes the beautiful Big Sur Coast and scenic interior areas. It contains the Ventana Wilderness, a home to the California Condor. The southern portion of the forest contains several mountain ranges including the Santa Lucia Mountains, La Panza Range, Caliente Range (a small part), Sierra Madre Mountains, San Rafael Mountains, Santa Ynez Mountains, and Topatopa Mountains; the highest parts of the forest are not within named mountain ranges, but are adjacent to the western San Emigdio Mountains and include Mount Pinos, Cerro Noroeste, and Reyes Peak. The forest is also adjacent to the Angeles National Forest and is nearby Carrizo Plain National Monument, on the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Los Padres holds the distinction of being the only National Forest whose boundary reaches an ocean. Many rivers in southern and central California have their points of origin within the Los Padres National Forest, including the Carmel, Salinas, Cuyama, Sisquoc, Santa Ynez, Sespe, Ventura, and Piru. These rivers supply a substantial portion of the water needs of several downstream communities. There are 10 wilderness areas on the Los Padres covering 48% of the forest. The Los Padres serves an enormous population base including the San Francisco Bay Area, the greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area, the southern San Joaquin Valley and the many communities along the south and central coast. The Forest provides the scenic backdrop for many communities and plays a significant role in the quality of life in this area.

The Los Padres National Forest is a key area that is essential in the recovery efforts for the endangered California condor. The Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, a 2,471-acre refuge was established in 1974, is surrounded by the Los Padres. The Forest manages two condor sanctuaries, the 1200-acre Sisquoc Condor Sanctuary in the San Rafael Wilderness and the 53,000-acre Sespe Condor Sanctuary, north of the Hopper Mountain refuge..To protect the condor these sanctuaries are closed to the public

There is a considerable risk of wildfire in Los Padres National Forest resulting from a combination of weather, vegetation, terrain and human use. Intense wildfires, fed by accumulation of dead vegetation, cause substantial resource damage and are difficult and expensive to suppress. Wildfire burned over 2.3 million acres in Los Padres National Forest since 1912, for a historic average of 25,000 acres per year. Most wildfires in the forest are human-caused, the balance are lightning-caused. The average annual wildfire occurrence has increased steadily over the last 60 years. This increase is attributed to urban encroachment, expanded recreational use of the forest, and old-age chaparral. Chaparral accounts for over 95 percent of the acres burned annually by wildfire.

The forest is divided into five ranger districts, Monterey (District 1), Santa Lucia Ranger (District 3), Santa Barbara (District 4), Ojai (District 5) and Mount Pinos (District 7) Ranger Districts, with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Goleta.

RADIO SYSTEM

The Los Padres National Forest has two repeater nets, Forest Net and Admin. For tactical communication two frequencies are utilized that are not assigned for tactical purposes anywhere else, . The two were frequencies originally assigned to the Los Padres for an admin net. The Forest gained two tactical frequencies, but was left without an admin net. The Forest is using its assigned Service Net frequency pair as an Admin net. The Los Padres has provided channels to enable direct or simplex communications on each repeater net. There are 16 repeaters on the Los Padres, numerous due to the distances involved and ruggedness of the terrain. One of the repeaters is located offshore on Santa Cruz island, the only repeater of this type in the Forest Service. There is one remote base, on Santa Ynez peak. The two Los Padres tactical channels, Channel 3 (170.475 MHz) and Channel 4 (172.350 MHz) can be configured for use in a portable command repeater with (Tone 15 - 162.2). When units arrive on the scene of an incident they are instructed to switch to Channel 3. If simultaneous incidents occur in proximity of each other the Communications Center will assign tactical frequencies to each incident, which may involve use of Channel 4.

Other

The Los Padres Communications Center provides All-Risk Dispatching services to the Los Padres National Forest, the Hopper Mountain and Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuges, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians, and initial attack and expanded dispatch services for "fire related" incidents occurring on Channel Islands National Park (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, San Nicholas, and Santa Barbara Islands), Bureau of Reclamation managed reservoirs Lake Casitas and Lake Cachuma, Vandenberg Air Force Base and Fort Hunter Ligget Army Training Base. This communications center is located in Santa Maria. Its identifier is "Los Padres."


Channel Plan

Los Padres National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 170.4625 170.4625 LPF1 FrstDir Los Padres N.F. - Forest Net Direct
2 1-15 170.4625 164.9125 LPF2 FrstRpt Los Padres N.F. - Forest Net Repeater
3 170.4750 170.4750 LPF3 T3 Los Padres N.F. - Tac 3
4 172.3500 172.3500 LPF4 T4 Los Padres N.'F. - Tac 4
5 168.2000 168.2000 LPF5 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
6 167.4750 167.4750 LPF6 A/G 41 CA03 P National Air-Ground 41 - CA03 Zone Primary
7 171.5500 171.5500 LPF7 ServDir Los Padres NF - Admin Net Direct
8 All but 7 171.5500 164.1500 LPF8 ServRpt Los Padres NF - Admin Net Repeater


Tones

LPF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Frazier 110.9
2 Sisar Peak 123.0
3 La Cumbre 131.8
4 Alder Peak 136.5 Note: replaces Calandra (Williams Hill) in 2014
5 Black Mtn. 146.2
6 Torrey Hill 156.7
7 Mt. Pinos 167.9 Note: replaces Mt. Abel (Cerro Noroeste) in 2014
8 Cone Peak 103.5
8 Santa Ynez Peak 103.5 (1)
9 Tassajera Peak 100.0
10 Chews Ridge 107.2
11 Plowshare Peak 114.8
12 Tepusquet Peak 127.3
13 Anderson Peak 141.3
14 Figueroa Mtn. 151.4
15 Piedras Blancas 162.2 Note: will be placed in service in 2014
16 Santa Cruz Island 192.8 Note: will be placed in service in 2014

(1) This is a remote base and not a repeater. Use Channels 1 (Forest Net) or 7 (Admin Net), both simplex, and this tone to contact dispatch.

Mendocino National Forest (MNF - Forest #08) KMB 7-1-0

The 913,306 acre Mendocino National Forest straddles the eastern spur of the Coastal Mountain Range in northwestern California, just a three hour drive north of San Francisco and Sacramento. It is 65 miles long, 35 miles across and is 913,306 acres in size. First set aside as a "forest reserve" by President Roosevelt on February 6,1907, it was originally named the Stony Creek Forest Reserve and later the California National Forest on July 1, 1908. This designation proved to be confusing with relation to the state itself, and President Herbert Hoover renamed it the Mendocino National Forest on July 12, 1932. This National Forest takes its name from Mendocino County which was named for Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County. In 1542 explorer Roderiques de Cabrillo named the cape in honor of Don Antonio de Mendoza, first viceroy of New Spain.

The Mendocino National Forest is the only one of California's 18 National Forests not crossed by a paved road or highway. Elevations in the Forest range from 750 feet in the Grindstone Creek Canyon in the Sacramento Valley foothills on the Forest's eastern edge to the 8092 feet of South Yolla Bolly Mountain in the northern part of the Forest. The average elevation is about 4000 feet.

The Mendocino National Forest is divided into the Grindstone (District 3), the Upper Lake (District 4) and the Covelo (District 5) Ranger Districts, with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Willows. The Grindstone Ranger District shares the Willows facility with the Forest Supervisor's Office.

RADIO SYSTEM

The forest has three repeater nets, Forest Net, Fire Net and Service Net. There are 8 repeater sites. All the nets have a channel for direct communication. The Forest Net has repeaters at all of the sites, the Fire Net has repeaters on all but one of the sites and the Service Net has repeaters at 6 of the sites. At one time the Service Net was used by the engineering and maintenance organization. They had to move off of this net when a fire necessitated its use. The radios of all the management functions share the first 9 channels.

Other

The Forest uses the function number identifier system. Identifiers of employees assigned to the Supervisor's Office begin with the number 1. The Mendocino Interagency Dispatch Center is located in the Forest Supervisor's Office. It dispatches for the Mendocino and the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The Refuge Complex uses unit identifiers in the 8400 number series. The center serves as a channel or ordering point for logistics coordination with the Operations Northern California Geographical Area Coordination Center. It serves in this capacity for the Forest and Refuge Complex and for the following units it does not provide radio dispatch for: Point Reyes National Seashore, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the Round Valley Indian Reservation. The center uses the identifier of "Mendocino.".


Channel Plan

Mendocino National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
169.1750 169.1750 MNF1 Frst Dir Forest Net Direct
2 1-7,9 169.175 169.9750 MNF2 Frst Rpt Forest Net Repeater
3 171.5500 171.5500 MNF3 Fire Dir Fire Net Direct
4 1,2,5-7,9 171.5500 164.5000 MNF4 Fire Rpt Fire Net Repeater
5 171.7000 171.7000 MNF5 Serv Dir Service Net Direct
6 1,2,4-6,9 171.7000 172.4000 MNF6 Serv Rpt Service Net Repeater
7 168.2000 168.2000 MNF7 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
8 168.0500 168.0500 MNF8 NIFC T1 NIFC Tac 1
9 168.6000 168.6000 MNF9 NIFC T3 NIFC Tac 3

Repeater Tones


MNF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 St. John Mt. (E) 110.9
2 Anthony Peak (W) 123.0
3 Round Mtn. (E) 131.8
4 Sanhedrin Mt. (W) 136.5
5 Tomhead (E) 146.2
6 Goat Mtn. (E) 156.7
7 Mt. Konocti (W) 167.9
8 Not Assigned 103.5
9 Alder Springs (E) 100.0

The forest lists those repeaters to be used depending on what side of the mountain range crest the radio user is on.

Modoc National Forest (MDF - Forest #09) KMB 700

“The Smiles of Gods” is what the Native Americans, who first settled this land, called it. The forest is named for the county in which the greater part of the forest is situated. The county, in turn, is named after the Native American tribe, the Modocs. The history of the Modoc National Forest begins with the setting aside of the forest reserves by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 at the request of the local ranchers. The forest covers 1,654,392 acres and is located on the on the huge Modoc Plateau where vegetation tends to be sparse. Recreation use is low as compared to the other 17 National Forests in California with approximately 175,000 visits. There are single developed recreation sites on National Forest land in California that have more visits.

Separated from the more heavily populated and intensively used areas of the Sacramento Valley by the main Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, the Modoc lies in the extreme northeast corner of California. The topography is diverse, ranging from the forested Warner Mountain range in the east, to the high plateaus dominated by sage steppe and ancient lava flows around Alturas, and culminating at the Medicine Highlands (the largest shield volcano in North America) in the west. The high desert climate in the valley areas consists of four distinct seasons and an average precipitation of 13 inches, a large part of which comes in the form of snow during the winter months of December to March. Elevation levels in the Modoc range from 9,906 feet at Eagle Peak in the South Warner Wilderness, to 4,000 feet in the valleys.

The Modoc National Forest is divided into the Warner Mtn. (District 3), Big Valley (District 4), Devil's Garden (District 5) and Doublehead Ranger Districts, with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Alturas. The Devil's Garden Ranger District is located in the Forest Supervisor's Office.

RADIO SYSTEM

The Modoc has a Forest Net, Admin Net and Service Net with only 6 repeater sites, the fewest of any National Forest in Region 5. The is a repeater for each net at each electronic site. The Modoc's gentle terrain is such that higher points, a few of which have electronic sites on them, sites can "see" a great deal of land. At least some of the sites are linked by microwave, but not much is known by hobbyists about the location of remote base stations and other design features of the system.

Other

The Modoc National Forest averages 103 wildland fires per year. The Lower Klamath Basin and Modoc National Wildlife Refuges average 8.6 fires per year. The Lava Beds National Monument averages 3.8 fires per year.

The unit identifier system for non-fire management is unknown. The Modoc Interagency Communications Center coordinates and dispatches resources to respond to wildland fires and all risk incidents within the Modoc National Forest, Lava Beds National Monument and the Lower Klamath Basin and Modoc National Wildlife Refuges. Ranger District identifiers use the numbers 3, 4, 5 and 6. Lava Beds National Monument use the number 7 and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uses the number 8. It is unknown what number the identifiers of non-fire employees of the Supervisor's Office are based on. The identifier of the Communications Center is "Modoc."


Channel Plan


Modoc National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 1 168.7500 168.7500 MDF1 FrstNet Dir Modoc NF Forest Net Direct
2 1-8 168.7500 170.1750 MDF2 FrstNet Rpt Modoc NF Forest Net Repeater
3 1 173.7875 173.7875 MDF3 Adm Dir Modoc NF Admin Net Direct
4 1-8 173.7875 162.4875 MDF4 Adm Rpt Modoc NF Admin Net Repeater
5 1-8 164.1000 164.8000 MDF5 Serv Rpt Modoc NF Service Net Repeater
6 168.0500 168.0500 MDF6 NIFC T1 NIFC Tac 1
7 168.2000 168.2000 MDF7 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
8 168.6000 168.6000 MDF8 NIFC T3 NIFC Tac 3
9 167.6000 167.6000 MDF9 AG43 P National Air to Ground 43 CA Zone 01 Primary\
10 168.6625 168.6625 MDF10 R5 Proj Region 5 Project/Fire Net
11 4 171.6250 171.6250 MDF11 NODFireD BLM Northern California District Fire Net Direct
12 1-8 171.6250 164.2500 MDF12 NODFireR BLM Northern California District Fire Net Repeater
13 151.2500 151.2500 MDF13 LMU Dir Cal Fire Lassen-Modoc-Plumas Local Direct
14 xx 151.2500 159.405 MDF14 LMU Rpt Cal Fire Lassen-Modoc-Plumas Local Repeater

On Channels 1 & 3 Tone 1 (110.9) must be used to contact dispatch or a Ranger District office.


Tones

MDF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Channels 1&3 110.9
2 Sugar Hill 123.0
3 Likely Mtn. 131.8
4 49 Mtn. 136.5
5 Grouse Mtn. 146.2
6 Fire Repeater 156.7
7 Red Shale Butte 167.9
8 Widow Mtn. 103.5

Plumas National Forest (PNF - Forest #11) KMD 7-8-0

The Plumas National Forest occupies 1,146,000 acres of scenic mountain lands in the northern Sierra Nevada. Management of the Plumas National Forest has been the responsibility of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, since the Forest was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. Situated in the Sierra Nevada, just south of the Cascade Range, the Plumas is versatile in its land features, uncrowded, and enhanced by a pleasant climate. Outdoor enthusiasts are attracted year round to its many streams and lakes, beautiful deep canyons, rich mountain valleys, meadows, and lofty peaks. Beginning in the foothill country near Lake Oroville, the Plumas extends through heavily timbered slopes and into the rugged high country near U.S. Highway 395. State Highway 70 between Oroville and U.S. Highway 395 provide year round access, and State Highway 89 provides convenient connections through Tahoe.

The Plumas National Forest is divided into the Beckworth (District 1), Mt. Hough ("Huff") (District 2) and Feather River (District 3) Ranger Districts with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Quincy.


RADIO SYSTEM

The Forest has a Forest Net, an Admin Net, and a Service Net. It is possible to use a direct (simplex) channel on the Service Net, but not on the other two repeater networks. The Plumas used to link their repeaters with microwave and perhaps it is still in place, however,contacting the Ranger District offices and the dispatcher was possible on the simplex channel of each net. The user selected the simplex net and the tone for the repeater site they were in range of allowing direct communications with all the offices and the Emergency Communications Center. The radios could also switch to the repeater channel and use the same tone to key up the repeater. Direct or simplex calling of the dispatcher and ranger stations is no longer available.

Other

The unit identifier system for non-fire personnel on the Plumas is the function name, district number, position number system. The Plumas National Forest Emergency Communications Center provides service to the Plumas NF only. It is only one of two such federal centers in California that do not provide service to other federal agencies or co-located with a Cal Fire ECC. The other dispatch center similar is the Stanislaus National Forest Dispatch Center. The identifier used by the center is "Plumas."


Channel Plan

Plumas National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 1-14 170.5500 169.9000 PNF1 FrstRep Plumas NF Forest Net Repeater
2 1-14 171.4250 172.3500 PNF2 AdmRpt Plumas NF Admin Net Repeater
3 1-14 164.1250 164.8250 PNF3 Serv Rpt Plumas NF Service Net Repeater
4 164.1250 164.1250 PNF4 Serv Dir Plumas NF Service Net Direct
5 168.2000 168.2000 PNF5 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
6 167.5000 167.5000 PNF6 A/G14 CA2 P National Air-Ground 14 CA2 Zone Primary
7 168.0500 168.0500 PNF7 NIFC T1 NIFC Tac 1
8 168.6000 168.6000 PNF8 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 3
9 168.6625 168.6625 PNF9 R5 Proj Region 5 Project


Repeaters

Plumas NF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Black Mtn. 110.9
2 Sage Mtn. 123.0
3 Thompson Peak 131.8
4 Mills Peak 136.5
5 Kettle Rock 146.2
6 Mt. Hough 156.7
7 Dixie Mtn. 167.9
8 Claremont 103.5
9 Bloomer 100.0
10 Big Bar 107.2
11 Sunset 114.8
12 Pike Country 127.3
13 Lexington 141.3
14 Red Hill 151.4

San Bernardino National Forest (BDF - Forest #12) KME 2-0

The Forest Reserve Act was passed in 1891, giving the president authority to "set apart and reserve, in any state or territory having public land bearing forests . . ..as public reservations." From this act was born the San Bernardino Forest Reserve, which became the San Bernardino National Forest in 1907. The San Bernardino National Forest as public land was set aside for the conservation of natural resources such as trees, water, minerals, livestock range, recreation, or wildlife.

The San Bernardino National Forest encompasses 677,982 acres and is made up of two main divisions, the San Bernardino Mountains on the easternmost of the Transverse Ranges, and the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains on the northernmost of the Peninsular Ranges. Elevations range from 2,000 to 11,499 feet (600 to 3505 m). The forest includes five wilderness areas: San Gorgonio, Cucamonga, San Jacinto, Santa Rosa and Bighorn Mountain.

The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is located on the southern portion of the Forest. The National Monument’s boundary encompasses about 280,000 acres, including 67,000 acres within the San Jacinto Ranger District of the San Bernardino National Forest, and 97,000 acres within the Bureau of Land Management’s California Desert Conservation Area. The National Monument includes two federal wilderness areas-- the Santa Rosa Wilderness and the San Jacinto Wilderness--as well as lands owned and administered by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, municipalities of the Coachella Valley and private landowners.

The Forest is divided into the Frontcountry (District 1), Mountain Top (District 3) and San Jacinto (District 5) Ranger Districts. A consolidation reduced the number of districts from 5 to 3 in 1996. The Frontcountry District (Lytle Creek Ranger Station) is a combination of the former Cajon (D3 - Lytle Creek) and San Gorgonio (D4 - Mill Creek Ranger Station) districts. The Mill Creek ranger station is still being maintained and used for public information and as a work center. The Mountain Top District (Fawnskin Ranger Station) is a combination of the former Arrowhead (D1 - Skyforest Ranger Station) and the Big Bear District (D2 - Fawnskin) districts. The Skyforest Ranger Station is still being maintained as a fire station. The Forest Supervisor's Office is located in San Bernardino just west of the airport.

RADIO SYSTEM

Most of the radios on the forest have the first 11 frequencies in common. Each ranger district works with different state and local agencies so their channel lineups will be different. For example the Frontcountry Ranger District borders the direct protection area of the Cal Fire San Bernardino Unit and the San Jacinto Ranger District borders the direct protection of the Cal Fire Riverside Unit. Many fires start out in a local jurisdiction, move uphill into Cal Fire protected land and eventually to the National Forest. This forest has Forest, Admin and Service Nets, the latter being shared between the Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland National Forests. The Forest Net is the only net with the capability for direct or simplex communication. Two channels allow repeater communication with the Angeles and Cleveland National Forests.

Other

The San Bernardino National Forest is dispatched by the San Bernardino Federal Interagency Communications Center located in the Forest Supervisor's Office. This is the most active federal land management dispatch facility in the U.S. It provides all risk, 24 hour per day, 365 day dispatching for the San Bernardino National Forest, the BLM California Desert District, Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve, and Death Valley National Park each of which host heavy recreation use, not only in the summer, but in the winter as well; and the BIA Southern California Agency, a group of small Indian Reservations. It also provides night coverage for the Inyo National Forest. The area served by the FICC covers approximately 30 million acres in five separate counties, reaching to the Arizona, Nevada and Mexico borders. These are the resources the center dispatches 100 + Law Enforcement Officers, 7 Special Agents, 35 Fire Stations, 7 Active Fire Lookouts, 20 Fire Prevention Units, 6 Hand Crews, 1 Fuels Crew, 3 Helicopters, 2 Air Tankers, 1 Helitanker, 1 Air Attack, 1 LE Patrol Plane, 1 Dozer and 1 Air Tanker Base. Law enforcement activities tend to be busiest in the winter and spring, and fire activities are busiest in the summer and fall months. The identifier for the federal center is "San Bernardino."


Channel Plan


San Bernardino National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 171.4750 171.4750 BDF1 FrstDir San Bernardino NF Forest Net Direct
2 2-9,11-14 171.4750 169.8750 BDF2 FrstRpt San Bernardino NF Forest Net Repeater
3 2-9,11-14 172.2250 169.9250 BDF3 AdmRpt San Bernardino NF Admin Net Repeater
4 2,3,6 164.1250 164.8250 BDF4 ServRpt San Bernardino NF Service Net Repeater
5 167.6625 168.6625 BDF5 R5 Prjct Region 5 Project Net
6 169.1125 169.1125 A/G 59 CA4 P National Air-Ground CA Zone 4 Primary
7 168.0500 168.0500 NIFC T1 NIFC Tac 1
8 168.2000 168.2000 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
9 168.6000 168.6000 NIFC T3 NIFC Tac 3
10 ANF 1-4, 6-14 172.3750 169.9500 ANF Frst Rpt Angeles NF Forest Net Repeater
11 CNF 1-12 168.7500 171.4250 CNF Frst Rpt Cleveland NF Forest Net Repeater


Repeaters

BDF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Not Assigned 110.9
2 Cajon 123.0
3 Strawberry 131.8
4 Keller 136.5
5 Bertha 146.2
6 Onyx 146.7
7 Santa Rosa 167.9
8 Black 103.5
9 San Sevaine 100.0
10 Not Assigned 107.2
11 Tahquitz 114.8
12 Rodman 127.3
13 Santiago 141.3
14 Pine Cove 151.4

Sequoia National Forest (SQF - Forest #13) KMB 7-4-0

On July 1, 1908 Theodore Roosevelt established the Sequoia National Forest from a portion of Sierra Forest Reserve by Presidential Proclamation. Because the Sierra Forest at that time was over six million acres, the Sequoia was administered as a separate unit known then as the Sierra South Reserve. In 1910 President Taft cut off the southern half of the Sierra and proclaimed it the Kern National Forest. Five years later President Woodrow Wilson abolished the Kern Forest, drastically reduced its lands and designated what remained the Sequoia National Forest.and now the Forest covers 1,193,315 acres. On April 15, 2000 Bill Clinton, by Presidential Proclamation, created the Giant Sequoia National Monument on two portions of the Sequoia National Forest, totaling 328,000 acres to be administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Forest.

The Sequoia is one of 18 National Forests in California. It takes its name from the giant sequoia, the world's largest tree, which grows in more than 30 groves in the forest's lower elevation slopes. The Sequoia's landscape is as spectacular as its trees. Soaring granite monoliths, glacier-carved canyons, roaring whitewater, and more await your discovery at the Sierra Nevada's southern end. Elevations range from 1,000 feet in the foothill region to peaks over 12,000 feet in the rugged high country, providing visitors with some of the most spectacular views of mountainous landscape in the entire west. It takes its name from the giant sequoia, the world's largest tree, which grows in more than 30 groves in the forest's lower elevation slopes. The greatest concentration of giant sequoia groves in the world. . Protected within the Giant Sequoia National Monument, these groves and the areas around them are managed by the U.S. Forest Service for today and for future generations. The Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) groves are part of this National Forest's 196,000 acres of old growth forests. The Sequoia's landscape is as spectacular as its trees. Soaring granite monoliths, glacier-carved canyons, roaring whitewater, and more await your discovery at the Sierra Nevada's southern end. Elevations range from 1,000 feet in the foothill region to peaks over 12,000 feet in the rugged high country, providing visitors with some of the most spectacular views of mountainous landscape in the entire west.

The names Sequoia National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument, and Sequoia - Kings Canyon National Parks are confusing to the people. The National Monument is split in two by Sequoia National Park, the northern portion located on the Hume Lake Ranger District of the Forest, which nearly encloses the Grant Grove Village area of Kings Canyon National Park. The southern portion of the monument is located on the western boundary of the forest just east of the small foothill community of Springville. Who manages which and where, the folks in the grey shirts (NPS) or the people in the khaki shirts (USFS)? Many people don't know of the difference between the two agencies or that they are actually separate agencies. There is also the conception that all National Monuments are managed by the National Park Service. Giant Sequoia National Monument is a monument within a forest and administered by the men and women with the khaki shirts. With all that your scanner hobby has allowed you to be well informed, better than most and certainly not confused.

The Forest is divided into the Western Divide (District 2), the Hume Lake (District 3) and the Kern River Ranger Districts with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Porterville, on the east side of the Porterville Airport.


RADIO SYSTEM

The Sequoia NF has microwave linked remote base stations at Parkridge Lookout, Jordan Peak Lookout, Sherman Peak, Tobias Peak and Breckenridge Mountain. All of these sites have repeaters as well. The forest has a few UHF frequencies assigned to it, but it is not known how they are used. It has 3 nets, the Emergency Net, the Fire Net and the Admin Net. There are no repeaters on the Admin Net, units use simplex to reach the nearest remote base radio to speak to the Communications Center or a District Ranger Station. The Emergency and Fire Nets can be used in a direct or simplex mode and can be used to reach the Comm Center or a Ranger District Station. Each of these nets have 13 repeaters. It is unknown how radio traffic is categorized and assigned to each of the repeater nets.

Other

The unit identifier system for non-fire personnel on the Sequoia National Forest is unknown. Before the function name, district number, position number system was prescribed the function numbering was as follows: 1 District Ranger and various positions such as assistant District Ranger, PIO and planning, 3 Recreation, 4 Maintenance, 5 Timber Management, 6 Resources, 7 Timber Pre-Sale, 8 Range and Wildlife, and 9 Administrative. The Central California Communications Center in Porterville, located on the west side of the Porterville Airport, provides dispatch services for the Sequoia National Forest; the Bakersfield, Hollister and Mother Lode Field Offices of the Central California District of the BLM; and the Tule Indian Reservation Fire Department. BLM units have a 4 digit identifier that begins with a 3 (California), followed by a 1 (Central California District), followed by the type of apparatus or person; 0 for chiefs, division chiefs, 1 for battalion chiefs, 3 for Type III engines, 4 for Type VI engines, 5 for prevention and misc., 8 for dozers and 9 for water tenders. Tule Indian Reservation Fire Department units have a 2 digit format with the first digit being 9, except for a Type III engine, Engine 392. The identifier for the Center is "Porterville."


Channel Plan

Sequoia National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 8 168.6750 168.6750 SQF F1 Emergency Net Direct
2 1-14 167.67500 170.5750 SQF F2 Emergency Repeater Net
3 8 168.7750 168.7750 SQF F3 Fire Net Direct
4 1-14 168.7750 170.6000 SQF F4 Fire Repeater Net
5 8 168.1750 168.1750 SQF F5 Admin Net Direct
6 169.7250 169.7250 SQF F6 BLM Central CA DIstrict Admin Net Direct
7 4,5,8 169.7250 165.450 SQF F7 BLM Central CA District Admin Repeater
8 169.7750 169.7750 SQF F8 BLM Central CA District Fire Net Direct
9 2-8 169.7750 163.0250 SQF F9 BLM Central CA District Fire Repeater Net


Tones

SQF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Delilah Lookout 110.9
2 Buckrock Lookout 123.0
3 Mule Peak Lookout 131.8
4 Baker Point 136.5
5 Oakflat 146.2
6 Piute BM 156.7
7 Chimney Peak 167.9
8 Jordan Peak Lookout 103.5
9 Sherman Peak 100.0
10 Tobias Peak 107.2
11 Breckenridge 114.8
12 Parkridge 127.3
13 Converse 141.3
14 Olancha 151.4

Shasta-Trinity National Forests (SHF - Forest #14) KME 2-5

The Shasta-Trinity National Forest, the largest of the 18 National Forests in California, was established by President Theodore Roosevelt’s proclamation of 1905. Initially, there were two forests; the Trinity National Forest (headquartered in Weaverville) and the Shasta National Forest (headquartered in Mt. Shasta City). The two forests were administratively combined into one in 1954. Forest Service employees, both on this forest and from National Forests all over the west, refer to the Shasta-Trinity National Forest as "the Shasta-T"

The more westerly section of the forest (formerly the Trinity National Forest) is located in the eastern portions of the California Coast Ranges, with an area of 1,043,677 acres. The more easterly part of the forest (formerly the Shasta National Forest) section is located between California's Central Valley and the Shasta Valley to the north, with an area of 1,166,155 acres. This is a total of 2.1 million acres with over 6,278 miles of streams and rivers ad well as hundreds of lakes. It ranges from 1,000 in elevation (Shasta Lake and its general area) to the spectacular Mt. Shasta with its impressive elevation of 14,162 feet. The Shasta–Trinity NF lies at the intersection of the eastern Klamath Mountains and the southern Cascades and is largely forested, though at low elevations there are areas of chaparral, woodland, and grassland. At high elevations in the Trinity Alps, Eddys, and Mt. Shasta, forest gives way once again to montane chaparral, subalpine woodlands, and ultimately to alpine rock and scree.The SHF includes portions of five designated Wilderness Areas: Castle Crags, Chanchellulla, Mount Shasta, Trinity Alps and Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel. The main branch of the Trinity River is a designated Wild and Scenic River which runs through the forest. Shasta Lake's 365 miles of shoreline made-up of many arms and inlets make it a paradise for explorers and boaters alike. The four major arms of the lake, Sacramento, McCloud, Squaw Creek and Pit offer spectacular scenery as well as unusual geologic and historic areas of interest. Lewiston Lake lies just downstream from the Trinity Dam and just north of the town of Lewiston. It lies within the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area, with an area of 246,807 acres.

Congress established the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity NRA November 8, 1965. Each of the units encompasses a large reservoir (man-made lake) and its surrounding natural features, habitats, and terrain. Whiskeytown NRA, managed by the National Park Service, is comprised of 42,503 acres including the 6,209-foot Shasta Bally. The U.S. Forest Service manages the Shasta-Trinity units. Trinity Lake area can be divided into four subunits: Lewiston lake, Trinity Dam, Stuart Fork, and North Lake areas. The Shasta Lake area includes three arms: Sacramento, McCloud, and Squaw / Pit. Each is a wonderland of scenic beauty and phenomenal outdoor recreation. This NRA was established to manage the recreation use the lakes attract. The dams forming these lakes are a part of the greater Central Valley Project, built to provide irrigation water for both the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys.

The forest is divided into management units and Ranger Districts, those being: the South Fork Management Unit consisting of the Yolla Bolla (District 1) and Hayfork (District 2) Ranger Districts; the Trinity River Management Unit consisting of the Big Bar (District 3) and Weaverville (District 4) Ranger Districts; Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity Management Unit consisting of the Shasta Lake (District 5) Ranger District; and the Shasta-McCloud Management Unit consisting of the Mt. Shasta (District 6) and McCloud (District 7) Ranger Districts. The Forest Supervisor's Office is located in Redding.


RADIO SYSTEM

The Shasta-Trinity National Forest radio system is not like any other in Region 5. There are two net with repeaters, the Forest Net and the Service Net. The Forest does not have a net called "admin." However, there are 4 management area nets. Local reports are needed to understand how the management area nets are used. For example, is there ever any fire traffic on the management unit nets? How do field units communicate with each other when they are unable to do so on a management unit net, if at the same time, the Forest Net is saturated with fire traffic? How is the Service Net used? Other features of the forest's radio system are needed as well. Are repeaters and/or remote bases linked with microwave, UHF or some combination of such? It is also not known how many remote bases exist on the Forest and where they are located.

Other

Non fire personnel are assigned identifiers using the district number, function number and position number system. Redding Interagency Command Center provides dispatch services for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area and CAL FIRE Shasta-Trinity Unit. It is located the the Cal Fire unit headquarters in Redding.


Channel Plan

Shasta-Trinity National Forests Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 171.5750 171.5750 SHF1 Frst Dir Shasta-Trinity NF Forest Net Direct
2 1-15 171.5750 169.1000 SHF2 Frst Rpt Shasta-Trinity NF Forest Net Repeater
3 7 170.4875 170.4875 SHF3 S Fork Shasta-Trinity NF - South Fork Management Unit
4 7 172.2750 172.2750 SHF4 T Riv Shasta-Trinity NF - Trinity River Management Unit
5 7 172.3750 172.3750 SHF5 ShstMcC Shasta-Trinity NF - Shasta McLoud Management Unit
6 7 169.8750 169.8750 SHF6 NRA Shasta-Trinity NF - National Recreation Area
7 1 154.3400 154.3400 SHF7 Med-A Med-Alph (Old Medical Net)
8 6 156.0750 156.0750 SHF8 Clcd Calcord Tone 6 Rx and Tx Sides
9 164.1250 164.1250 SHF9 Svc Dir Shasta-Trinity NF Service Net Direct
10 1,4,6,12 164.1250 164.8250 SHF10 Svc Rpt Shasta-Trinity NF Service Net Repeater
11 168.0500 168.050 SHF11 NIFC T1 NIFC Tac 1
12 168.2000 168.2000 SHF12 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
13 168.6000 168.6000 SHF13 NIFC T3 NIFC Tac 3
14 167.6000 167.6000 A/G43 CA1 P National Air-Ground 43 CA Zone 1 Primary

Tone 7 must be used on Channels 3-6 to transmit to any District Office on these frequencies.


Tones

SHF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
Bonanza King 110.9
2 Hogback 123.0
3 Grizzly Peak 131.8
4 Hayfork Bally 136.5
5 Ironsides 146.2
6 Grey Butte 156.7
7 Bully Choop 167.9
8 Pickett Peak 103.5
9 Oregon Mtn. 100.0
10 Sugarloaf 107.2
11 Plummer Peak 114.8
12 McFarland 127.3
13 Bass 141.3
14 Tomhead 151.4
15 Antelope 162.2

Sierra National Forest (SNF - Forest #15) KME 2-6

National Forests were called "Forest Reserves" when they were first established by Presidential Proclamation under the Forest Reserve Act of 1891. The U.S. Forest Service was established in 1905 and in 1907, the "Forest Reserves" were all renamed "National Forests." The Sierra Forest Reserve was established in 1993 and was 6 million acres in size. It covered lands that are now part of Yosemite National Park, Kings Canyon National Park: and the Stanislaus, Toiyabe, Inyo and Sequoia National Forest. The large size of this reserve was too large to manage and the "Sierra South Forest Reserve" was established in 1910, covering the land south of the Kings River. Other portions of this original forest reserve were eventually split up between the Sierra, Toiyabe, Inyo and Sequoia National Forests. The remaining National Forest land became the present Sierra National Forest. Located on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada, it is known for its spectacular mountain scenery and abundant natural resources. The Sierra National Forest encompasses more than 1.3 million acres between 900 and 13,986 feet in elevation. The terrain includes rolling, oak-covered foothills, heavily forested middle elevation slopes and the starkly beautiful alpine landscape of the High Sierra. Abundant fish and wildlife, varied mountain flora and fauna and numerous recreational opportunities make the Sierra National Forest an outdoor lover's paradise. The Forest's many rugged wilderness areas makes it one of the most popular National Forests in the United States.

Approximately 383,000 acres of the forest are old growth, containing Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta), Red Fir (Abies magnifica). The Sierra National Forest has two Giant Sequoia groves, the Nelder Grove and the McKinley Grove.

The Sierra National Forest is divided into the Bass Lake (north of the San Joaquin River) and High Sierra (south of the River) Ranger Districts. The Forest Supervisor's Office is in Clovis. The district numbers are to be determined, but it is believed that the Bass Lake District is District 2 and the High Sierra District is District 3.


RADIO SYSTEM

The Sierra National Forest has an "Emergency Net" and an "Admin Net." The emergency net is used by fire management and law enforcement. The admin net is for all other functions. It is likely that a repeater or more of the regional law enforcement net has been installed on this forest. Channels have been provided to enable direct or simplex communications on each net. The installation of 5 of 11 of the NIFC command frequencies in the primary group of channel assignments is unusual. Another unusual feature of the forest's radio system is that the repeater input or access tone is not transmitted on the output frequency, instead a different set of tones is transmitted on the output. For example, the input tone for the Shuteye Peak repeater is Tone 5 - 146.2, but the tone transmitted on the output frequency is 82.5. The assignment of the output tones of the remaining repeaters has not been determined. They are all in the lower frequency range of CTCSS tones, such as 71.9 and 77.0. The linking system the forest uses is to be determined. The system's hub remote base is likely on Musick Mountain or Mt. Givens.

Other

The Sierra uses the district number, function number, position number identifier system for non fire management personnel. A consolidation of the Mariposa Ranger District and the Minarets Ranger District into what is now called the "Bass Lake Ranger District); and the consolidation of the Pineridge Ranger District and Kings River Ranger District into what is now called the "High Sierra Ranger District" occurred in the late 1990s. The fire management function is organized into battalions based on the old ranger districts. Battalion 1 (the old Mariposa RD) is used for the Jerseydale, Midpines, Westfall and Batterson stations. Battalion 3 (old Pineridge RD) is used for the Mountain Rest and Big Creek stations. Battalion 4 (old Kings River RD) is used for the Trimmer, Blue Canyon and Dinkey stations. Finally, Battalion 5 (old Minarets RD) is used for the North Fork, Clearwater and Minarets stations. It is believed that non fire employees are assigned identifiers with the first number of 1 if they work on the Bass Lake RD and the number 3 if they work on the High Sierra District. San Luis National Refuge personnel identify in the 8100 series. 3 of their engines are assigned number in the 3100 series and one in the 8100 series.

The Sierra National Forest Emergency Command Center provides service to the Sierra National Forest and the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex located adjacent to the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. The San Luis NWR Complex includes the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), the Merced NWR, San Joaquin River NWR, and Grasslands Wildlife Management Area. The Complex office is in Los Banos. The Command Center is located at the Fresno Air Attack Base, an interagency Forest Service - Cal Fire facility at the Fresno Airport. The center is co located with Cal Fire's Fresno-Kings Unit Emergency Command Center. The two agencies have automatic initial attack dispatch areas in each jurisdiction. The Forest Service dispatchers use the identifier of "Sierra."



Channel Plan

Sierra National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
171.4750 171.4750 SNF1 Adm Dir Sierra NF - Admin Net Direct
2 1-9,12 171..4750 169.8750 SNF2 Adm Rpt Sierra NF - Admin Net Repeater
3 172.2250 172.2250 SNF3 Emer Dir Sierra NF - Emergency Net Direct
4 1-9 172.2250 169.9250 SNF4 Emer Rpt Sierra NF - Emergency Net Repeater
5 168.6625 168.6625 SNF5 R5 Proj R5 Project
6 168.0500 168.0500 NIFC T1 NIFC Tac 1
7 168.2000 168.2000 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
8 168.6000 168.6000 NIFC T3 NIFC Tac 3
9 167.4750 167.4750 A/G 41 CA3 P National Air-Ground 41 CA Zone 3 Primary
10 168.6375 168.6375 A/G 24 CA3 S National Air-Ground 24 CA Zone 3 Secondary
11 1-4 168.7000 170.9750 NIFC C1 Rpt NIFC Command 1 Repeater
12 1-4 168.1000 170.4500 NIFC C2 Rpt NIFC Command 2 Repeater
13 1-4 168.0750 170.4250 NIFC C3 Rpt NIFC Command 3 Repeater
14 1-4 166.6125 168.4000 NIFC C4 Rpt NIFC Command 4 Repeater
15 1-4 167.1000 169.7500 NIFC C5 Rpt NIFC Command 5 Repeater
16 1 168.6250 168.6250 Natl Air Grd National Air Guard - Tone 1 Rx & Tx Side

Note: Tones for channels 11-15, NIFC Commands 1-5, are for NIFC portable command repeaters used on large or "national" incidents. The tones are used if adjacent incidents are causing interference.


Tones

SNF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Mt. Bullion 110.9
2 Signal Peak 123.0
3 Musick Mtn. 131.8
4 Patterson Mtn. 136.5
5 Shuteye Peak 146.2
6 Black Mtn. 156.7
7 Mt. Tom 167.9
8 Delilah 103.5
9 Mt. Givens 100.0 - for use on Channel 2, Admin Net
9 Whitebark Vista 100.0 - for use on Channel 4, Emergency Net
10 Not Assigned 107.2
11 Not Assigned 114.8
12 Fence Meadow 127.3 - for use on Channel 2, Admin Net ONLY

Six Rivers National Forest (SRF - Forest #10) KMB 7-5-5

The Six Rivers National Forest was established on June 3, 1947 by U.S. President Harry S. Truman from portions of Klamath, Siskiyou and Trinity National Forests.The Six Rivers National Forest includes 957,590 acres of mountainous land that stretches from the Oregon border south for approximately 140 miles. The Six Rivers also manages the Klamath National Forest's Ukonom Ranger District, bringing the total land under Six Rivers' management to 1,080,000 acres. The designation of the forest had been discussed for 20 years or more before action was finally taken 2 years after the end of World War II. One issue that delayed it for some years was what to name it. 25 names were suggested by various local governments, public interest groups and Forest Service employees, some who had worked on the concept of this new National Forest for many years, and consensus was not being reached. It was found that the name "Six Rivers" was the least objectionable. A name had to be included in the Presidential Proclamation or it would be further delayed and could not be signed. The name "Six Rivers" was inserted and intended to be temporary until all those interested could reach consensus on a better name. Now 67 years later (2014), the forest has the same name. Forest Service employees often shorten the name to the "6 Cricks."

The Six Rivers National Forest is named for the six major rivers that run within its boundaries: the Smith, Klamath, Trinity, Mad, Van Duzen, and Eel. The Smith, Klamath, Trinity, and Eel Rivers comprise over 365 miles of designated Wild and Scenic River. (The Salmon River in the Ukonom Ranger District is also a Wild and Scenic River.) The Smith River is the only major undammed, naturally flowing river remaining in California. The Six Rivers also has more than 1,500 miles of streams, constituting 9 percent of California's total freshwater runoff. The federally designated Smith River National Recreation Area consists of 307,973 acres of the northernmost section of the Forest.

Elevations across the Forest range from nearly sea-level to approximately 7,000 feet. As a result, the Six Rivers supports diverse ecosystems and landscapes. The Forest is composed of extensive stands of coniferous forest, with moderate amounts of oak woodland and grassland in the southern part of the Forest. These ecosystems provide habitat for eight federally classified threatened and endangered species, including the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon. In addition, 32 plant, 2 bird, 1 fish, and 2 mammal species found in the Six Rivers are designated as Forest Service sensitive species.

The Six Rivers National Forest contains 137,000 acres of old-growth forests that include these species: Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), Tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), and White Fir (Abies concolor).

The Six Rivers National Forest is divided into the Gasquet (District 1) including the Smith River National Recreation Area, Orleans ( District 2), Lower Trinity (District 3) and Mad River (District 4) Ranger Districts,with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Eureka.


RADIO SYSTEM

The Six Rivers National Forest has a Forest Net, Admin Net and Service Net. Channels have been provided for direct or simplex communications on the Forest and Admin Nets. The Forest Net utilizes all 14 repeaters on the system, the Admin Net uses 12 and the Service net only 3. While it is not verified the forest likely uses UHF for all its linking given the types of antennas on the tower next to the Fortuna dispatch facility. Scanner listeners from the northern California coast need to report what they know.

Other

The system for identifying non-fire personnel is not known. The employees of the Forest Supervisor's Office are identified with the number 5 in the identifier. The Fortuna Interagency Command Center provides dispatching service for the Six Rivers National Forest as well as Cal Fire's Humboldt-Del Norte Unit, the fire function of Redwood National Park, the BLM Northern California District - Arcata Field Office, the Hoopa Reservation, and the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The Six Rivers National Forest, Cal Fire and Redwood National Park have an interagency agreement for automatic initial attack response with each other and with the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and the Oregon Department of Forestry. The center is located at the Cal Fire Humboldt-Del Norte Unit headquarters. The identifier for the center is "Fortuna."

Channel Plan

Six Rivers National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 168.7250 168.7250 SRF1 Frst Dir Six Rivers NF - Forest Net Direct
2 1-14 168.7250 170.1250 SRF2 Frst Rpt Six Rivers NF - Forest Net Repeater
3 168.12500 168.1250 SRF3 Adm Dir Six Rivers NF - Admin Net Direct
4 1-9,12-14 168.1250 170.4750 SR4 Adm Rpt Six Rivers NF - Admin Net Repeater
5 2,3,5,7 164.1250 164.8250 SRF5 Serv Rpt Six Rivers NF - Service Net Repeater
6 168.2000 168.2000 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
7 168.6625 168.6625 R5 Proj R5 Project
8 155.3850 155.3850 Hoopa FD Dir Hoopa Indian Reservation Fire Net Direct
9 6 154.3850 150.8050 Hoopa FD Rpt Hoopa Indian Reservation Fire Repeater
10 2 151.2500 151.2500 CF HUU Dir Cal Fire Humboldt-Del Norte Unit Local Direct - Tone 2 Rx & Tx
11 13 151.2500 159.4050 CF HUU Rpt Cal Fire Humboldt-Del Norte Unit Local Repeater - Tone 13 Tx Side
12 16 151.1750 151.1750 CF T3 Cal Fire Tac 3 - Tone 16 Rx & Tx
13 151.2200 151.2200 CF A/G Cal Fire Air-Ground
14 167.6000 167.6000 A/G 43 CA1 P National Air-Ground 43 CA Zone 1 Primary


Tones

SRF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Monkey Ridge 110.9
2 Big Hill 123.0
3 Lone Pine Ridge 131.8
4 Ship Mtn. 136.5
5 Orleans Mt. 146.2
6 Horse Ridge 156.7
7 Ukonom Mtn. 167.9
8 Eight Mile 103.5
9 Kettenpom 100.0
10 Red Mtn. 107.2 For use on Channel 2, Forest Net Repeater ONLY
11 Schoolhouse Peak 114.8 For use on Channel 2 , Forest Net Repeater ONLY
12 Gordon Mtn. 127.3
13 Horse Mtn. 141.3
14 Picket Peak 151.4

Stanislaus National Forest (STF - Forest #16) KME 2-4

The Stanislaus Forest Reserve, located in California's Central Sierra, was created by President Grover Cleveland February 22, 1897. The Stanislaus Reserve was much larger than today's forest; it contained all or portions of the present day Tahoe, El Dorado, Sierra, and Toiyabe National Forests. Presidents that followed issued proclamations to split the reserve into smaller, more manageable units. The Stanislaus National Forest has four major watersheds, all with their headwaters near the Sierra crest and all of which run in a southwest direction, through the San Joaquin Valley and eventually into the Pacific Ocean. The northern boundary of the Stanislaus is formed by the Mokelumne River, the southern boundary by the Merced, while the Stanislaus River, roughly bisects the forest from north to south, and the Tuolumne River—emanating from the Mount Lyell glacier in Yosemite National Park—runs between and generally parallels the Stanislaus and the Merced rivers. Of the four rivers, the forest's name came the Stanislaus. It encompasses 898,099 acres on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada; California’s snow capped mountain range that flanks the Great Central Valley. Located between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite, the Forest landscape is a continuum of natural and scenic beauty that defines the Sierra. Amid soaring crests, sparkling mountain lakes, towering forests, and canyons carved by cool rushing rivers, visitors discover connections with nature and the spirit of the Sierra Nevada. A mere two hour drive from the Great Central Valley and three hours from the San Francisco Bay Area, makes the Forest a very popular destination. The mountains were shaped by volcanic and glacial action, producing rugged and spectacular topography at high elevations. Each elevation, from 1,500 to over 11,000 feet above sea level, has its own unique vegetation, wildlife, and corresponding temperatures. While the lower elevations are hot and dry, the higher elevations lush meadows are cooled by melting snow. The Stanislaus contains 78 lakes, and 811 miles of rivers and streams. It has 1,100 miles of non-motorized trails, and 2,859 miles of roads, 188 of which are paved. Bald eagle, peregrine falcon and wolverine have all been reported on the Forest. Here you will find Sierra mixed conifer, true fir, lodgepole pine and subalpine vegetation. The Forest contains some 139,000 acres of old growth that includes Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta), Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi), and White Fir (Abies concolor)

The Stanislaus National Forest is divided into the Mi-Wok (District 1), Calaveras (District 2) Summit (District 3) and Groveland (District 4) Ranger Districts with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Sonora. These Ranger Districts are divided along three highway corridors: State Highway 120, also known as the Tioga Pass Road, to the south (Groveland District); State Highway 108, also known as the Sonora Pass Highway, along the middle fork of the Stanislaus River (Mi-Wok and Summit Ranger Districts); and State Highway 4, also known as the Ebbetts Pass Highway, to the north (Calaveras Ranger District).


RADIO SYSTEM

The forest has 3 nets, each of which can operate direct or simplex, as well as with repeaters. Those nets are the Emergency Net, the Admin Net and the Service Net. It is assumed that the Emergency Net is for law enforcement and fire management and the Admin Net is for all the other functions. Yosemite National Parks' Fire repeater net in provided in one channel as are the local nets of the Cal Fire units Stanislaus National Forest fire personnel work with on a frequent basis. Remote base locations and the method linking them (microwave or UHF) have not been determined. It is likely that one of the remote bases is located on Mt. Lewis.

Other

The identifier system for non-fire personnel is unknown. People assigned to the Forest Supervisor's Office have a "5" in their identifier, example Battalion 51 does not work on a ranger district, but in the Supervisor's Office. Dispatching is done by the Stanislaus National Forest Emergency Command Center located in the Forest Supervisor's Office on Greenley Road in Sonora. This center is not co-located and is not an interagency center. It does not provide a logistics order point/channel for any other agency either. There are only two such centers of this type in R5, this and the Plumas National Forest Emergency Communications Center. The Stanislaus Center identifies as "Stanislaus."


Channel Plan

Stanislaus National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 168.7500 168.7500 STF1 Emer Dir Stanislaus NF Emergency Net Direct
2 1-3,5-10 168.7500 170.5000 STF2 Emer Rpt Stanislaus NF Emergency Net Repeater
3 168.1500 168.1500 STF3 Admin Dir Stanislaus NF Admin Net Direct
4 1-12 168.1500 171.3875 STF4 Admin Rpt Stanislaus NF Admin Repeater
5 171.5000 171.5000 STF5 Serv Dir Stanislaus NF Service Net Direct
6 1,10 171.5000 172.4000 STF6 Serv Rpt Stanislaus NF Service Net Repeater
7 168.6625 168.6625 R5 Proj Region 5 Project Net
8 168.0500 168.0500 NIFC T1 NIFC Tac 1
9 168.2000 168.2000 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
10 168.6000 168.6000 NIFC T3 NIFC Tac 3
11 167.4750 167.4750 A/G 41 CA3 P National Air-Ground 41 CA Zone 3 Primary
12 7 151.1750 159.4500 CF TCU Rpt Cal Fire Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit Local Net Tone 7 - 167.9
13 5 151.4600 151.4600 CF MMU Rpt Cal Fire Mariposa-Madera-Merced Unit Local Net Tone 5 - 146.2
14 171.7750 171.8000 YNP Fire Rpt Yosemite NP Fire Net Repeater
15 6 156.075 156.075 Calcord CA OES CA Coordination Tone 6 - 156.7
16 1 168.6250 168.6250 Air Guard National Air Guard Tone 1 - 110.9 Rx & Tx Sides


STF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Mt. Lewis 110.9
2 Pilot Peak 123.0
3 Double Dome 131.8
4 Relief Peak 136.5 Channel 4 - Admin Net ONLY
5 Mt. Reba 146.2
6 North Mtn. 156.7
7 Duckwall Mtn. 167.9
8 Walker Ridge 103.5
9 Strawberry Peak 100.0
10 Yankee Hill 107.2
11 Sachese Monument 114.8 Channel 4 - Admin Net ONLY
12 Sugarloaf 127.3

Tahoe National Forest (TNF - Forest #17) KMB 7-6-0

The Tahoe National Forest was originally established as the Lake Tahoe Forest Reserve on April 13, 1899. The name was changed to Tahoe Forest Reserve on October 3, 1905 and then to the Tahoe National Forest in 1907 when all Forest Reserves were redesignated "National Forests." .The Tahoe National Forest is found in the north central Sierra Nevada. It stretches from the foothills overlooking the Sacramento Valley on the west across the Sierra crest to the state line. Of the 1,208,993 acres within the boundary, 811,740 acres, or 67%, are National Forest System lands. The other 397,253 acres are owned by private individuals, corporations, or other governmental agencies. In most cases, these lands have been privately held since before the creation of the National Forest. The landownership of the Tahoe appears as a checkerboard on maps and is a result of early railroad grants.

One of the incentives that the Federal Government gave to railroads in the 19th century to spur development and construction of rail routes was to grant land titles to the railroads of some public domain lands along the right of way. When the transcontinental railroad was built over Donner Pass in the 1860s, the Central Pacific Railroad received alternate sections of land for each mile of track laid, and much of this land is still owned by the successors in interest of the original railroad. Much of the acreage is privately managed timberland. The Tahoe has an active land exchange program. These land exchanges are generally made to consolidate ownership of watersheds or other natural areas to facilitate better integrated resource management.

The Tahoe National Forest is the home to the Placer Big Trees grove, the most northerly stand of naturally occurring Giant Sequoias, (Sequoiadendron giganteum) A 2002 report estimated nearly 84,000 acres of old growth on the Forest. The old growth includes Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), White Fir (Abies concolor), Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana), California Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii), Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta), and Red Fir (Abies magnifica).

With breathtaking mountain peaks, lush meadows filled with wildflowers, historic mining towns, destination vacation spots at Goodyears Bar, Downieville, Sierra City, Truckee, Yuba River, the Lakes Basin Area and the Jackson Meadows Region, the Tahoe National Forest is one of the most popular recreation forests in the US.

The Tahoe National Forest is divided into the Yuba River (District 3), American River (District 4), Sierraville (District 6) and Truckee (District 7) Ranger Districts with the Forest Supervisor's Office in Nevada City.


RADIO SYSTEM

The Tahoe National Forest has a Forest Net, a Fire Net and a Service Net. Radios have channels enabling direct or simplex communications the Forest Net and Fire Net, but only repeater operation on Service Net. At one time this forest used a combination of UHF and VHF - Low to link remote bases. Yes lowband for links. The remote bases were located at White Cloud, Grouse Ridge, Ruby Bluff, Sardine Peak, Verdi Peak, Squaw Peak and Duncan Peak. White Cloud was the hub of the system and it was linked to the Supervisor's Office and dispatch by phone lines. It is not known if microwave is being used now, but the use of lowband for links has probably ended. If microwave is being used it is in combination with UHF linking as several people have reported receiving UHF being used for links.


Other

The Tahoe uses the district number, function number, position number identifier system for non-fire personnel. Dispatching for the forest is co-located with Cal Fire in a building at the Grass Valley Airport air attack base. The Grass Valley Interagency Command Center provides dispatch services not only for the Tahoe National Forest and CAL FIRE Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit's 12 fire stations, but also for 26 other Fire Departments, emergency medical services and air ambulance helicopters. The center identifies as "Grass Valley."

Channel Plan

Tahoe National Forest Channel Lineup
Channel Tone(s) Rx Tx Alpha Tag Description
1 168.7750 168.7750 TNF1 Frst Dir Tahoe NF - Forest Net Direct
2 1-10 168.7750 171.5750 TNF2 Frst Rpt Tahoe NF - Forest Net Repeater
3 168.1750 168.1750 TNF3 Fire Dir Tahoe NF - Fire Net Direct
4 1-10 168.1750 170.6000 TNF4 Fire Rpt Tahoe NF - Fire Net Repeater
5 167.6000 167.6000 A/G14 CA2 P National Air-Ground 14 - CA Zone 2 Primary
6 168.0500 168.0500 NIFC T1 NIFC Tac 1
7 168.2000 168.2000 NIFC T2 NIFC Tac 2
8 168.6000 168.6000 NIFC T3 NIFC Tac 3
9 164.1375 164.1375 NIFC T4 NIFC Tac 4
10 ?? 171.5000 172.4000 TNF Serv Rpt Tahoe NF - Service Net Repeater


Tones

TNF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone
1 Mt. Rose 110.9
2 Oregon Peak 123.0
3 Sierra Buttes 131.78
4 Duncan Peak 136.5
5 Grouse Ridge 146.2
6 Babbitt Peak 156.7
7 Squaw Peak 167.9
8 Banner Mtn. 103.5
9 Ruby Bluff 100.0
10 Cal-Ida 107.2

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