Angeles National Forest

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. is looking for a hiker who's been missing since Friday evening. From the release: Sierra Madre Search and Rescue seeks your help in locating a missing person:  Matthew Hernandez, 29, Male Hispanic 5'07" 180 pounds  Last seen: November 19, 2011 6 PM near Chantry Flats located in the Angeles National Forest above Arcadia.  Due to severe weather your help is requested.  Hernandez was last seen wearing a green shirt, denim vest and black pants.

In the second fatality in as many days, a woman died after her car went over the side of a road in the Angeles National Forest early Sunday, authorities said. A witness at the Coldwater Campground reported seeing a blue Honda go off the road near mile marker 32 on San Gabriel Canyon Road at about 2:27 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. The name of the victim, a woman between 40 and 50 years old, has not been released. CHP Officer Jennifer Connolly said she could not say whether the car had any other occupants.

Police detectives were trying to determine Thursday why a 6-week-old infant was buried in the Angeles National Forest and why the child's death was not reported to authorities. Officials said they learned of the newborn's death Tuesday, when the Los Angeles Police Department's juvenile division received information about it. Detectives and coroner's officials recovered the body and unspecified evidence from the scene, they said. Police added only that the baby died while in the care of his parents, and that they were trying to determine why he was buried in the forest.

Two roads that were closed during the weekend's winter storm will reopen Monday, Los Angeles County officials announced. The county shut down portions of the Angeles Forest Highway and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road because of snow and icy conditions but planned to reopen them by 5 p.m. Monday. The storm dumped more than 20 inches of snow at the higher elevations. Motorists can get updates on these and other road closures at www.dpwcare.org . -- Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times

On a sweltering morning deep in the San Gabriel Mountains, Katie VinZant donned work gloves and boots, hoisted a pickax and began bashing alien species. The 31-year-old botanist enjoys a Sunday in the Angeles National Forest as much as the next person. But when it comes to weeds that have colonized and multiplied since the 2009 Station fire, she's a terminator. Slender and trim in a T-shirt, grubby pants and tattered straw sombrero, VinZant swiped the sweat stinging her eyes.

The U.S. Forest Service has tapped Thomas Contreras to be supervisor of Angeles National Forest, where he has been serving on an interim basis for several months. “I welcome the opportunity to manage one of the most heavily used urban forests within the nation,” Contreras said in a statement. The park recently reopened campgrounds and more than 100 miles of hiking trails after months of rehabilitation following the massive Station fire, which scorched wide swaths of landscape.

Los Angeles County firefighters were responding to a brush fire Monday night in the Angeles National Forest near Azusa. _________________________ FOR THE RECORD: This version corrects the headline. _________________________ Arriving fire crews reported about half an acre of brush burning as flames moved uphill near 22550 E. Fork Road, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.  L.A. NOW

The Glendale black bear that was tranquilized Tuesday morning by state Fish and Game officials has arrived home, 25 miles into the Angeles National Forest, where authorities say he is "groggy and grumpy but doing well. "  Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan confirmed to The Times that the meatball-loving bear with a Twitter handle named "Glen Bearian" was released about 1 p.m. Tuesday deep in his natural habitat. "He just wandered out, looked around, and took stock of his surroundings," Hughan said.

After weeks of late-night snacking in backyards, “Glen Bearian,” the black bear with a taste for meatballs, was given the boot from North Glendale Tuesday, after state fish and game officials tranquilized and relocated him to the Angeles National Forest. Spotted roaming the streets of La Crescenta at 3 a.m., the bear started attracting a media horde at sunrise, perched in the backyard of a vacant home in 2300 block of Mayfield Avenue. Television news cameras tracked the bear as it climbed fences into other yards and at one point, took the sidewalk, sending startled residents running for cover.

Two roads that were closed during the weekend's winter storm will reopen Monday, Los Angeles County officials announced. The county shut down portions of the Angeles Forest Highway and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road because of snow and icy conditions but planned to reopen them by 5 p.m. Monday. The storm dumped more than 20 inches of snow at the higher elevations. Motorists can get updates on these and other road closures at www.dpwcare.org . -- Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times

A year after "snowmageddon" struck across the country, the owners of the Mt. Waterman are stuck praying for snow. Rick Metcalf, who co-owns the small resort located just an hour up Angeles Crest Highway from La Cañada Flintridge, said that while he hopes to be able to open the slopes this year, so far it's not looking good, with only inches on the mountain so far. Metcalf said this is the first winter since he and his three partners acquired...

A job fair in Angeles National Forest on Saturday will highlight a number of open positions this year, including for seasonal wildland firefighters. The event, scheduled to take place at the Little Tujunga Ranger Station, 12371 Little Tujunga Canyon Road, will feature paid and unpaid positions ranging from volunteer and student programs to seasonal and full-time employment, according to an announcement from the U.S. Forest Service. Officials will be at the event to assist applicants with the recruitment process.

In a standoff with federal forest officials, Caltrans is proposing to abandon a popular, cliff-hanging highway in the San Gabriel Mountains because it is too expensive to maintain. Caltrans' proposal to walk away from California Highway 39, enjoyed by an estimated 3 million people a year, comes as the state struggles to close a $9.2-billion budget shortfall. To avoid closure, Caltrans is trying to persuade the U.S. Forest Service or Los Angeles County to take over the roadway, which runs 27 miles from the city of Azusa nearly to the crest of the San Gabriels.

In regards to Megan O'Neil's article on Tuesday titled “Trust eyes foothill parcel,” thank you, thank you to the Whalin family and the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy for working together to help preserve a small piece of the beautiful and wild hillsides that so define La Crescenta. It fills my heart to know that the scree of the red-tail hawks, the perfume of the sage bushes, the cool shade of the oaks, and the deer and coyote habitat will be around for my children and grandchildren to enjoy as much as I do. I have known the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy for many years, and have seen the work it has done in stewarding similar property in the foothills above Altadena.

A winter storm watch remains in effect until noon today as a cold weather system slowly moves out of the area, clearing the way for a moderate warming trend on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Roads in the Station fire burn area in the Angeles National Forest are expected to reopen later today after they were closed Tuesday due to relatively low snow levels. [Updated 11 a.m.: According to the latest estimates, some roads in the Angeles National Forest, including portions of Big Tujunga Canyon Road and Angeles Forest Highway, may not reopen until Wednesday.

Roads within the Station fire burn area of the Angeles National Forest will close at noon today due to expected snowfall and icy conditions, officials announced. Angeles Forest Highway will close from Aliso Canyon Road to Angeles Crest Highway. Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road will close from Angeles Forest Highway to Angeles Crest Highway. Big Tujunga Canyon Road will close from Vogel Flats Road to Angeles Forest Highway. Local road access will not be allowed until closures are lifted, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.