Today’s column in the PSN by Larry Wilson serves up the alarming news that rumors swirl about the National Forest Service possibly closing down the Millard Canyon campsite, a bit of being "in the woods" but still a few minutes away from town.  Or, maybe it’s not so alarming — Altadenablog thinks that’s just another example of the Bush era-push for fewer services, fewer amenities, reduced services, and reduced sites in our national parks and forests. So it would be no surprise.  Wilson quotes an unnamed source who says that "the Angeles National Forest will cut its visitor capacity and its spending on each visitor."  Didn’t see that coming.  Because, you know, why let government do the job that the private sector does so much better (and didn’t they both perform stunningly after Hurricane Katrina?)

Ok, that’s the sad news.  The happy news is all the different great names Wilson gives the cursed Adventure Pass, i.e., "pay $35 to walk in the woods that you, Mr. and Ms. Taxpayer, already own."  When Altadenablog was living in Monrovia, he used to powerwalk on a dirt trail in town that ran behind several neighborhoods, skirting a park and a drainage ditch.  One day, he saw these USFS signs had been put up warning that he needed to have an Adventure Pass and be able to show it to a ranger to walk on the dirt path from now on.  In other words, "you can walk on the sidewalk in front of the houses for free, but walking on the dirt path behind them sets you back $35 a year."  We  ignored the signs, figuring that the odds were slight of USFS assigning a forest ranger to bust hikers and equestrians in a Monrovia alley.