Well, I suppose it was going to happen eventually. About a month ago I requested a copy of the Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Region (R5) annual Frequency Guide from a source I had been using since my retirement in 1999. I was advised that the Washington Office of the USFS was no longer allowing them to be distributed to non-employees and current employees that did not have a need to program radios. My sources for frequency information for 7 other USFS regions have been drying up in the last 2-3 years as security procedures for ordering internal documents have been tightened and now require a password to order over the internet and other procedures to order via mail/telephone.
Those of you who have been getting frequency information for the Southwest Region (R3 covering Arizona/New Mexico) from the internet by downloading the PDF file of their Geographical Area Mobilization Guide should realize that the frequency information portion of the Guide will probably require a password in the future.
Another good source of CDF information in the form of their mobile/handheld channel plan is presently widely available on the internet, and is presently posted on another current thread. I suspect that this source will be unavailble in the next year or two.
I've been told by a friend in the USFS and another in the NPS that their have been some frequency changes for Yosemite National Park and for the Bakersfield, Folsom, and Hollister Field Offices of the BLM. These folks only know that changes have been made but don't know what the frequencies are. The CDF channel plan posted on the "It's Fire Season" thread does not reflect these changes.
Pretty interesting considering I'm a retired USFS employee and have been told that the official policy is that the guides cannot be distributed to someone like me, even if I were to promise I would not share the info, and use it for my personal use only. The trouble I see is that so many folks monitor the fire and natural resource services, call in information that can be helpful, or use the information they hear about a nearby fire to make decisions about pulling up stakes and getting out of a campsite, summer home, or residence when there is a nearby wildland fire. If you see a smoke when you are recreating in a wildlland setting, it is comforting to be able to hear if the initial attack is getting a handle on the situation. Those folks in charge of making this policy are no doubt aware of these benefits and have reasons for making the policy they have based on some information I have not seen. There must have been some abuse by enough folks, in the same ways over and over, that they had "enough is enough."
Those of you who have been getting frequency information for the Southwest Region (R3 covering Arizona/New Mexico) from the internet by downloading the PDF file of their Geographical Area Mobilization Guide should realize that the frequency information portion of the Guide will probably require a password in the future.
Another good source of CDF information in the form of their mobile/handheld channel plan is presently widely available on the internet, and is presently posted on another current thread. I suspect that this source will be unavailble in the next year or two.
I've been told by a friend in the USFS and another in the NPS that their have been some frequency changes for Yosemite National Park and for the Bakersfield, Folsom, and Hollister Field Offices of the BLM. These folks only know that changes have been made but don't know what the frequencies are. The CDF channel plan posted on the "It's Fire Season" thread does not reflect these changes.
Pretty interesting considering I'm a retired USFS employee and have been told that the official policy is that the guides cannot be distributed to someone like me, even if I were to promise I would not share the info, and use it for my personal use only. The trouble I see is that so many folks monitor the fire and natural resource services, call in information that can be helpful, or use the information they hear about a nearby fire to make decisions about pulling up stakes and getting out of a campsite, summer home, or residence when there is a nearby wildland fire. If you see a smoke when you are recreating in a wildlland setting, it is comforting to be able to hear if the initial attack is getting a handle on the situation. Those folks in charge of making this policy are no doubt aware of these benefits and have reasons for making the policy they have based on some information I have not seen. There must have been some abuse by enough folks, in the same ways over and over, that they had "enough is enough."
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