VALLEJO
Fee free on national forests for Veterans Day, honoring those who served
For this Veterans Day, Nov. 11, the USDA Forest Service is waiving standard amenity fees for all visitors to national forest and grassland day-use areas. This fee-free day shows our gratitude for the selfless service of those in the military who served our country along with the support of their families.
“The Forest Service is proud to honor our nation’s veterans with a free day to enjoy our forests and the outdoors,” said Jennifer Eberlien, regional forester for the Pacific Southwest Region. “We are thankful to the 5,553 veterans who continue their public service in our agency — with 600 veterans employed in our region alone.”
The Forest Service offers fee-free access a few times each year to encourage exploring national forests and grasslands.
On these special days, standard amenity fees charged for day-use sites — like picnic areas, developed trailheads, and destination visitor centers — are waived. Please note, the waiver does not apply to special recreation permits, cabin rentals, campground reservations, expanded amenity fees on certain highly developed sites, and service fees from independent concessionaires operating on national forest land.
Approximately 98% of national forest land can be enjoyed fee-free, year-round. Where fees are assessed, more than 80% of these funds are reinvested at the site where they’re collected. These fees provide necessary maintenance and services or pay for future improvements.
Fee-free public lands access is available year-round to U.S. military service members and their families, veterans and Gold Star family members. The Interagency Military Pass is available at no cost to all active-duty military personnel and their families. This pass is honored nationwide at all Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service sites charging standard amenity or entrance fees.
For more about interagency passes, visit the Forest Service’s Passes and Permits page at https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/passes-permits
—Submitted
Tuesday was the last day to vote in person or return ballots by mail, though Californians have been voting for a month. As of Monday, more than 8 million ballots were already in of the 22.8 million sent out (the percentage returned is down from the same point in 2020).
At press time, reporters were looking for some things and indicators to watch as the early returns came in:
Both the state Democratic and Republican parties had election integrity operations on the ground: There was a hotline for Democratic voters to call in questions or report any problems at the polls, and the California GOP also had an online portal to report any election integrity issues.
Attorney General Rob Bonta signed a bipartisan letter with 50 other attorneys general, urging Americans to “vote, participate in civil discourse and, above all, respect the integrity of the democratic process” without resorting to any violence. And the California Highway Patrol said it was ready for any violent protests at the state Capitol.
How many in-person votes are cast? Both parties have been encouraging early and mail voting, including the state’s Republican party. So the partisan split in the surge at polling places today could decide races.
As of Monday, of all ballots returned, 48% were from Democrats and 30% were from Republicans, according to the Political Data tracker. Of the roughly 10.3 million ballots mailed to registered Democrats, 3.9 million had been returned, or about 38%. And of the about 5.6 million ballots sent to Republicans, 2.4 million had been submitted, or about 43%.
Which races get called early? Based on public polling, there were two major contests expected to be the most likely to be declared soon after the polls closed at 8 p.m. by the Associated Press and other media: The U.S. Senate race, for Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, and Proposition 36, a “yes” vote for the statewide ballot measure to increase some criminal penalties.
The latest survey by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that 55% of likely voters support Schiff, compared to 34% for Republican Steve Garvey. For Prop. 36, 60% of voters were in favor, while 25% opposed.
Which contests were too close to call? It’s not just the presidential race that was expected to go well past Election Day. By the time California election officials stop their work early this morning, it was anticipated that the winners would not be known in toss-up congressional and legislative races, plus closely divided ballot propositions.
The nonpartisan California Voter Foundation tracked seven congressional races, providing daily updates from now until to Dec. 5 on the ballot counts.
—Lynn La, CALMatters
