Manti LaSal National Forest is expecting lots of folks up in the high country this weekend and they wanted to share some reminders for the Labor Day holiday. Castle Country Radio was able to sit down with Public Affairs Officer, Samantha Stoffregen to discuss all the details.

Recreators will be happy to know that there are no fire restrictions in our area at this time. “Late monsoonal rains have been really great for our forest and there are no fire restrictions. Our south zone, along the Moab and Monticello areas were in restrictions for the majority of our summer, but our northern zone here we did not enter restrictions once,” stated Stoffregen. Although there are no restrictions the Forest Service is asking the public to please recreate responsibly and respect the rules in place on the Forest.

There are stay limits when it comes to camping on the Manti LaSal National Forest. “We have a couple of limitations, camping time is limited to 14 days. What that means is your campsite from the time you put that equipment there to the time that you pack up to leave, must be within a 14-day limit. Once you’re ready to move your camp, if you want to continue camping and stay on the forest, you do need to move your campsite a minimum of 10 miles to a different location,” explained Stoffregen. Now if a Ranger or Forest Service Personnel comes by your campsite and they notice that it’s unattended, they may leave a notice that reminds you of these camping rules. It is not a ticket until it has been seen that your equipment was left unattended for more than 72 hours.

Forest Service would like to remind folks to stay on designated roads and trails. “So vehicles may be no more than 150 feet off the road for picnicking and camping unless other wise posted. So if you’re looking for that kind of off-grid experience and we also ask that everyone travel on designated roads and trails. If you’re out there and you want to get from point A to point B and you don’t see a road, that does not mean go make a road for you. Because that creates a lot of work for our Forest Service employees later on. They have to go and fix those areas, they have to clean up the area that you damaged, and now you have impacted the area for other users,” stated Stoffregen. Users of roads and trails have a responsibility to stay on trails and help protect the environment.

For additional information on the Manti- La Sal National Forest, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/mantilasal