Rain causes road closures in Los Padres National Forest

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• Agency renews efforts to guard Ariz. monuments

  Agency renews efforts to guard Ariz. monuments

  Federal officials are boosting efforts at national parks in southern Arizona to prevent what they say is a path of destruction left by illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico.

• Trail work to begin near El Colibri Hotel

  Trail work to begin near El Colibri Hotel

  Construction is to start — finally—on Monday, April 16, on a 109-foot-long trail designed to provide a safer surface for people walking along the south end of Moonstone Beach Drive.

  If, as estimated, construction takes about a week to complete, that will equate to about one day of work for every year it has taken to get the trail segment approved by overlapping jurisdictions.

  The short trail segment within the Cambria Community Services District is on county road-shoulder right-of-way, near a State Park natural preserve area

• Drivers could face 10-minute delays on northbound Hwy. 101 in Pismo Beach on Thursday

  Drivers could face 10-minute delays on northbound Hwy. 101 in Pismo Beach on Thursday

  Drivers heading north on Highway 101 through Pismo Beach on Thursday morning can expect alternative moving lane closures from 9 a.m. to noon, according to Caltrans.

  The closures will take place on northbound Highway 101 from Price Street to Wadsworth Avenue to allow crews to complete some final striping on a nine-mile paving project from Nipomo to Pismo Beach.

  CHP officers will be present to ensure highway workers’ and motorists’ safety, according to a Caltrans news release.

• Eagle Ranch annexation in Atascadero to be subject of public discussion March 27

  Eagle Ranch annexation in Atascadero to be subject of public discussion March 27

  Atascadero city staff plans this month to update the public on a project that would annex thousands of acres into Atascadero.

  Eagle Ranch could add more than 3,000 acres to the city and includes the construction of homes, an equestrian center and a resort. The private land, characterized by its oak-covered hillsides, has long been used for ranching and agriculture. Much of it is proposed to remain that way, according to the city.

  Bordered by Los Padres National Forest, the parcel has been in the city’s plan for growth for nearly a decade.

• Another block builds protection for pine forest

  Another block builds protection for pine forest

  Another 4.5 acres of rugged Strawberry Canyon on Cambria’s Lodge Hill is now protected from development by the land’s new owner, Greenspace — The Cambria Land Trust. The acquisition expands the trust’s preserve there to more than 20 acres, or about one third of the approximately 60-acre canyon area.

  Greenspace has scheduled a celebratory hiking open house from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 25, at the site. Participants should meet at Burton Drive and Kay Street. The newly conserved, nearly rectangular parcel, which butts up against the northeast end of Greenspace’s previous 16-acre preserve in the canyon, starts near that intersection.

  Escrow closed Feb. 27 on the $175,000 land purchase from a foreclosure by a Texas bank, according to Richard Hawley, Greenspace’s executive director. He said the acquisition was paid for with a bequest from the Lillian Gleicher estate and other donations.