Hunting Banned Along Paradise Road

Hunting is now forbidden along Paradise Road in the Los Padres National Forest until March 2012, marking the first time in recent memory that the practice has been officially banned for the Lower Santa Ynez Recreational Area. According to Forest Service spokesperson Andrew Madsen, the District Ranger was concerned about jackrabbit hunters accidentally entering residential or recreational areas. Meanwhile, after the recent completion of a biological survey, the Forest Service plans to reopen Paradise Road from the first crossing of the Santa Ynez River to Lower Oso day use area; they’d planned to open the road all the way to Red Rock, but winter rains undermined a bridge that now must be repaired.