Government Shutdown Prompts Angeles National Forest Closure

While local impacts of the first government shutdown in 17 years so far have been minor, recreational areas in the Angeles National Forest are feeling its effects.

Campgrounds in the Angeles National Forest were closed Tuesday, including the campground in Altadena.

Lonnie Fehr, campground host at Millard Trail Camp, wrote in an email statement that gates to the campground would be closed Tuesday and that Sheriff’s deputies did not plan to reopen the gates Wednesday.

"Due to the lapse in federal government funding, the U.S. Forest Service, as with other federal agencies, is closed with the exception of certain essential services," according to a statement from the Angeles National Forest.

Other nearby spots enjoyed by hikers and campers that are closed because of the shutdown include the Chantry Flats Recreation Area above Arcadia.

Metro officials said that since the shutdown means mass furloughs in the Federal Transit Administration, a protracted stalemate in Washington could mean delays in processing grant applications for local rail projects.

Officials with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank said it had adequate resources to continue providing food for the short term, but if government services remain shuttered, demand will increase.

``When government programs are cut, the agencies we provide food to will see an increase in demand,'' food bank President Michael Flood said. “The food bank already sees demand out-stripping supplies.''

According to the state Employment Development Department, Los Angeles County was home to about 48,100 federal workers in 2012.

Los Angeles County CEO Bill Fujioka said the county was operating normally, noting on his Twitter page that the "federal (government) shutdown will not have significant fiscal or program impact on the county."

- City News Service and Hazel Lodevico-To’o contributed to this report.