US Forest Service - Los Padres National Forest (CA)
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| Cleveland | Klamath | Los Padres | Plumas | Shasta-Trinity | Stanislaus |
| Eldorado | Lake Tahoe BMU | Mendocino | San Bernardino | Sierra | Tahoe |
Contents
Los Padres National Forest (LPF - Forest #07) "Los Padres" - - - 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. This is where the captive breeding for the species is done. The Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1985, covers 14,096 acres. It borders the Forest on the north side of the Mt. Pinos Ranger District near the junction of California State Highways 33 and 166. 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 and the National Wildlife Refuges, are all closed to the public.
Old growth on the forest covers 18,900 acres. It consists of Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), Coastal Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens), Coast Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), and White fir (Abies concolor).
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 newly located in Solvang.
| Monterey Ranger District #1 | Santa Lucia Ranger District #3 | Santa Barbara Ranger District #4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Station 31 - Pozo Station | Station 41 - San Marcos | ||
| Station 42 - Los Prietos Ranger Station (Ranger District Office | |||
| Station 43 - Foothill | |||
| Station 44 - Rincon | |||
| Station 15 - Mission Creek | Station 35 - Pine Canyon | ||
| Station 16- Brazil Ranch | Station 46 - Gibraltar | ||
| Station 17 - Pacific Valley | Station 37 - Cuyama | Station 47 - Santa Ynez | |
| Station 18 - Big Sur | Station 38 - Figueroa | ||
| Station 19 - Arroyo Seco | |||
| Ojai Ranger District #5 | Mt. Pinos Ranger District #7 | ||
| Station 51 - Casitas | Station 71 - Chuchupate | ||
| Station 52 - Ojai | Station 72 - Ozena | ||
| Station 53 - Temescal | Station 73 - Apache Saddle | ||
| Station 54 - Sespe | Station 74 - Los Alamos (w/Angeles NF E14) | ||
| Station 55 - Wheeler Gorge | Station 75 - Lockwood |
RADIO SYSTEM
The Los Padres National Forest has three repeater nets, Forest Net, Admin Net and Service Net For tactical communication two frequencies are utilized that are not assigned for tactical purposes elsewhere in Region 5. The Los Padres has provided channels to enable direct or simplex communications on each repeater net. There are 20 repeaters on the Los Padres and one remote base on Santa Ynez Peak that controls all the repeaters. This number of repeaters is 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. The two Los Padres tactical channels, Channel 3 (168.2625 MHz) and Channel 4 (168.1250) are unique in that they are dedicated, not shared, tactical frequencies for this forest only. 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 and/or Region 5 Tac 7.
Other
This is the only National Forest in the region, and possibly in the nation, with three helicopters assigned to it. They are based at Arroyo Grande (H527), the Santa Ynez Airport (H528) and the Chuchupate (Mt. Pinos District) Ranger Station (H530).
This Forest uses the function name, district number, position number system to identify non fire management personnel. Individuals working at the Forest Supervisor's Office use the number 6 following the function name. 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; and the fire function of Vandenberg Air Force Base and Fort Hunter Ligget Army Training Base. In addition it serves as a logistical channel to the Operations Southern California Geographical Area Coordination Center for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians, Channel Islands National Park and for the Bureau of Reclamation managed reservoirs at Lake Casitas and Lake Cachuma. This communications center is located in Santa Maria. Its identifier is "Los Padres."
Channel Plan
| Channel | Tone(s) | Rx | Tx | Alpha Tag | Description |
| 1 | 170.4625 | 170.4625 | FrstDir | Los Padres N.F. - Forest Net Direct - Use Tone 8 (103.5) | |
| 2 | 1-16 | 170.4625 | 164.9125 | FrstRpt | Los Padres N.F. - Forest Net Repeater |
| 3 | 168.2625 | 168.2625 | Tac3 | Los Padres N.F. - Tac 3 | |
| 4 | 168.1250 | 168.1250 | Tac4 | Los Padres N.F. - Tac 4 | |
| 5 | 167.9625 | 167.9625 | R5 T7 | R5 Tac 7 (R5 Crew Net) | |
| 6 | 167.4750 | 167.4750 | A/G 41 CA03 P | National Air-Ground 41 - CA03 Zone Primary | |
| 7 | 171.5500 | 171.5500 | AdminDir | Los Padres NF - Admin Net Direct - Use Tone 8 (103.5) | |
| 8 | 1-16 | 171.5500 | 164.1500 | AdminRpt | Los Padres NF - Admin Net Repeater |
| ^ (2) | 3-8,14,16 | 171.5000 | 164.8250 | ServRpt | Los Padres NF - Service Net Repeater |
Revised 6-10-24
(1) This is the Channel Group 1 in all Los Padres NF radios, it is the Monterey Ranger District - East Group. Each ranger district has two groups available for different portions of the district (north and south or east and west), with the exception of the Ojai Ranger District, which has only one group. Channels 9-13 and 15-16 are for Cal Fire and other local fire departments and are thus listed elsewhere in the database.
(2) The Los Padres has installed a Service Net in the last 8-10 years. Currently 8 of the 20 repeater sites have service net repeaters and these locations are noted on the tone/repeater chart below. It is unknown if more Service Net repeaters are to be added. Typically National Forests have fewer Service Net repeaters than Forest and Admin Nets as fire camps are usually set up in less remote locations or used for command on incidents only where Service Net coverage exists.
Note: because this forest is so spread out, it would require about 4 National Flight Following remote bases to cover the forest. Flight following is conducted on Forest Net, except on the Mt. Pinos Ranger District using the National Flight Following remote base on Frazier Mountain.
Tones
| Tone | Location - Net(s) - Ranger District of Location (1) | CTCSS Tone |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frazier - Forest/Admin - Mt. Pinos | 110.9 |
| 2 | Sisar Peak - Forest/Admin - Ojai | 123.0 |
| 3 | La Cumbre - Forest/Admin/Service - Santa Barbara | 131.8 |
| 4 | Alder Peak - Forest/Admin/Service - Monterey | 136.5 |
| 5 | Black Mtn. - Forest/Admin/Service - Santa Lucia | 146.2 |
| 6 | Torrey Hill - Forest/Admin/Service - Ojai | 156.7 |
| 6 | Piedras Blancas - Forest/Admin - Monterey | 156.7 |
| 7 | Mt. Pinos - Forest/Admin/Service - Mt. Pinos | 167.9 |
| 8 | Cone Peak - Forest/Admin/Service- Monterey | 103.5 |
| 8 | Santa Ynez Peak - Forest/Admin - Remote Base Only (2) - Santa Barbara | 103.5 |
| 9 | Tassajera Peak - Forest/Admin - Santa Lucia | 100.0 |
| 10 | Chews Ridge - Forest/Admin - Monterey | 107.2 |
| 11 | Plowshare Peak - Forest/Admin - Santa Lucia | 114.8 |
| 12 | Tepusquet Peak - Forest/Admin - Santa Lucia | 127.3 |
| 13 | Anderson Peak - Forest/Admin - Monterey | 141.3 |
| 14 | Figueroa Mtn. - Forest/Admin/Service - Santa Lucia | 151.4 |
| 15 | Manuel Mtn. - Forest - Monterey | 162.2 |
| 15 | Calandra - Admin - Monterey | 162.2 |
| 16 | Santa Cruz Island - Forest/Admin - Channel Islands National Park | 192.8 |
| 16 | Tranquillon Mtn. - Service - Santa Barbara | 192.8 |
All repeaters transmit Tone 8 - 103.5 on the repeater output frequency. The remote base on Santa Ynez Peak transmits Tone 1 - 110.9 on the output.
(1) The Ranger District listed is where the repeater site is located, however, the repeater might serve the communications needs of portions of more than one Ranger District. The distance between the Monterey Ranger District and the southern portion of the Los Padres NF explains why more than one repeater can be assigned the same tone.
(2) This is the LPF's only remote base and not a repeater. Channels 1 (Forest Net) or 7 (Admin Net), both direct (simplex), use Tone 8 (103.5) to contact dispatch, the Forest Supervisor's Office and the Los Prietos Ranger Station (Santa Barbara Ranger District Office). For field units this works on the Santa Barbara Ranger District only.
Related Links
- National Incident Radio Support Cache - These frequencies are used for large incidents, usually when a Type I or Type II Incident Management Team is assigned. This cache is used for fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, visits of high ranking officials, such the U.S. President and the presidents of other countries, large law enforcement incidents, special events and other incidents where the federal government is utilizing the Incident Command System.
Return to DB page: United States Forest Service (CA)
| US Forests in California: | |||||
| Angeles | Inyo | Lassen | Modoc | Sequoia | Six Rivers |
| Cleveland | Klamath | Los Padres | Plumas | Shasta-Trinity | Stanislaus |
| Eldorado | Lake Tahoe BMU | Mendocino | San Bernardino | Sierra | Tahoe |