Actions

US Forest Service - Angeles National Forest (CA)

From The RadioReference Wiki

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


Angeles National Forest (ANF - Forest #01) "Angeles" KME 2-2

The Angeles National Forest is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County in southern California. It was established on July 1, 1908, incorporating portions of the San Bernardino National Forest and parts of the former Santa Barbara (now Los Padres) and San Gabriel National Forests. It covers 655,387 acres and is located just north of the densely inhabited metropolitan area of Los Angeles and adjacent cities.

The Angeles National Forest manages the habitats, flora and fauna ecosystems, and watersheds of the largest open space in Los Angeles County. Some of the rivers with watersheds within its boundaries provide valuable groundwater recharge water for Southern California. The existing protected and restored native vegetation absorb and slow surface runoff of rainwater to minimize severe floods and landslides in adjacent communities. Most of the forest is covered with dense chaparral, which changes to pine and fir covered slopes on the peaks of the higher elevations. The land within the Forest is diverse, both in appearance and terrain. Elevations range from 1,200 to 10,064 feet.

The forest contains some 29,000 acres of old growth, consisting of Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), White Fir (Abies concolor), and Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta).

The residents of Los Angeles County, which number 10 million, are located within a two hour drive of the forest. The 19 million residents of the five county southern California metro area are within a half day drive of the Angeles. It is likely that the largest frequent gathering and concentration of people on any area of National Forest land in the U.S occurs in San Gabriel Canyon. The number of traffic accidents on the Angeles Crest Highway, human caused fires, law enforcement incidents and search/rescue operations is much higher than that of any other National Forest. This close proximity to such a large urban area often leads to crimes being committed on the forest. An oft repeated joke about this forest is that if every dead body on the Angeles got up and started walking, the population of L.A. County would increase by 10%! This is an extraordinarily difficult forest to manage. The Angeles is divided into the Los Angeles Gateway Ranger District (#1) and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (#2). The Forest Supervisor's Office in Arcadia. The National Monument was established in 2014, necessitating a change in ranger district boundaries. The Fire Management function is divided into 3 divisions, Division 1 headquartered at the Little Tujunga Ranger Station, Division 2 headquartered at the Glendora Ranger Station and Division 3 headquartered at the Acton Work Center. The boundaries of the divisions are not the same as the ranger district boundaries. Division 1 appears to cover the southern portion of the western area of the forest, Division 2 appears to cover the southern portion of the eastern area of the forest and Division 3 covers the northern portion of the forest.


R5 2014 Angeles NF RD Map.gif

Note: This map does not show the boundaries of the two ranger districts on the Angeles National Forest. The new Acton Work Center is being used as fire management's Division 3 headquarters. The Texas Canyon Ranger Station (Saugus) was replaced by the facility in Acton in 2011.


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), ANF Channels 5 and 6 (Service Net) two National Air to Ground frequencies and NIFC tactical channel 2. Each division and crews within them, may have different channel lineups, but they will usually have these nine in common. The variations between divisions and crews involve frequencies belonging to other agencies such as Los Angeles County Fire, San Bernardino County Fire, Cal Fire, and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as frequencies of adjacent National Forests. The agencies and areas that each division interacts with for mutual aid are vary.

ANF Channels 1 and 2 are called the "Forest Net" and are used primarily for fire and emergency traffic. ANF Channels 3 and 4 are called the "Admin Net." Admin is used by all non-fire personnel, including law enforcement. ANF Channels 5 and 6 are called the "Service Net." The service net is used as an alternate command net and communications net for all functions. Channels 1, 3 and 5 are simplex frequencies and channels 2, 4 and 6 are repeated. Channels 1 and 3 use tone 8 and Channel 5 uses tone 5.

When users transmit on channels 1 and 3 using tone 8 (103.5 Hz) and channel 5 (156.7 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, 4 and 6, the tone in use must match a repeater within range or their transmission will not be heard. The Angeles National Forest radio system is comprised of 15 repeater sites situated on various mountain peaks in and around the forest which are linked to the dispatch center at Fox Field near Lancaster. Each repeater site functions as both a repeater and as a receiving antenna for dispatch.

The 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 is a 24 hour operation. Its identifier is "Angeles." As of 2020, Angeles no longer provides dispatching for the National Park Service - SAMO (Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area)

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 164.9375 ANF 2 Frst Rpt Forest Net Repeat
3 8 173.7750 173.7750 ANF 3 Adm Dir Admin Direct
4 1-15 173.7750 164.8750 ANF 4 Adm Rpt Admin Repeat
5 171.5000 171.5000 ANF 5 Serv Direct Service Net Direct
6 2-3, 5, 14 171.5000 164.8250 ANF 6 Serv Direct Service Net Repeat
7 169.1125 169.1125 ANF 7 Air-Grnd 59 Air to Ground 59 Primary
8 168.4875 168.4875 ANF 8 Air-Grnd 53 Air to Ground 53 Secondary
9 168.2000 168.2000 ANF 9 NIFC Tac 2 NIFC Tactical 2

ANF Channel 1 & 3, Simplex Direct (Car to Car Only), Use Transmit Tone 8

ANF Channel 5, Simplex Direct (Car to Car Only) Use Transmit Tone 5

ANF Repeater Access (Use with ANF Ch. 2, 4, 6)

NOTE: This channel lineup varies by ranger district and by function (fire vs. non-fire). Some recreation/admin radios use a group that has 155.1600 (National Search and Rescue) in Channel 16

Tones

ANF Repeaters
Tone Location CTCSS Tone Area of Coverage
1 Mt. Waterman 110.9 Crest of Forest/Wilderness-Highway 2
2 Santiago Peak 123.0 I-5 & I-210/Front Country
3 Mt. Hawkins 131.8 San Gabriel Wilderness
4 Frost Peak 136.5 West of I-15/Cajon Pass/Highway 138
5 Table Mountain 146.2 Northeast of Highway 2/Wrightwood
6 Oat Mountain 156.7 West of I-5/Santa Clarita
7 Josephine Peak 167.9 Lower Highway 2/Angeles Forest Highway
8 Frazier Mountain 103.5 West of I-5/Gorman
9 Pine Mountain 100.0 Lower to Mid San Gabriel Canyon
10 Burnt Peak 107.2 East of I-5/Old Ridge Route
11 Magic Mountain 114.8 East of Highway 14/Santa Clarita
12 Mt. Lukens 127.3 Above La Canada/Flint Ridge
13 Johnstone Peak 141.3 Above San Dimas/Glendora
14 Grass Mountain 151.4 Green Valley/Elizabeth Lake Area
15 Warm Springs 162.2 Northeast I-5/Castaic

All repeaters transmit Tone 8 - 103.5 on the output frequency.


Note: only the Angeles and Klamath National Forests provide area of use descriptions for each repeater.

Related Links

  • National Incident Radio Support Cache - These frequencies are used for large incidents, usually when a Type I or Type II Incident Management Team is assigned. This cache is used for fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, visits of high ranking officials, such the U.S. President and the presidents of other countries, large law enforcement incidents, special events and other incidents where the federal government is utilizing the Incident Command System.



Return to DB page: United States Forest Service (CA)

US Forests in California:

Angeles Inyo Lassen Modoc Sequoia Six Rivers
Cleveland Klamath Los Padres Plumas Shasta-Trinity Stanislaus
Eldorado Lake Tahoe BMU Mendocino San Bernardino Sierra Tahoe