Update: The bat captured in Idyllwild tested negative for rabies, according to John Welsh, the senior public information officer for the County’s Animals Services Agency. Riverside County Animal Services has impounded a live bat captured in the Idyllwild area, according to John Welsh, senior public information specialist for the agency. The bat will be tested…

The Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council is beginning to revise the 2006 Community Wildfire Protection Plan. More than 25 firefighters and land managers met at the FSC’s offices on Franklin Drive Wednesday to begin work on updating the eight-year-old plan. CWPPs were originally authorized by the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003. One of the…

With recent rain across the southland, the San Bernardino National Forest officials reduced fire restrictions effective Wednesday, Dec. 5. As a result of lowering the fire restrictions, visitors may have wood and charcoal fires in agency-provided campfire rings at campgrounds, picnic areas and yellow post sites. Recreational target shooting is permitted within designated sites in…