Sierra Mountain Lodge - Yosemite

10/16/2026

10/15/2026

10/14/2026

Be prepared!

IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION: The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is NOT conducting or directing the power shutoff. This is a PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). PG&E is solely responsible for determining which areas are affected, when power is shut off and when service is restored.

The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is providing public safety support and coordinating emergency response efforts during the event. For outage information and updates, please visit pge.com/pspsupdates.

- - -
PG&E is monitoring conditions that could require a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) beginning tonight, Wednesday, October 14, 2026 around 11:00 p.m. Power is estimated to be restored Saturday, October 17, 2026, depending on weather and safety inspections.

The potential outage area has expanded includes Bass Lake, North Fork, Oakhurst, Ahwahnee, O’Neals and Coarsegold.

🚔 The Madera County Sheriff’s Office will increase patrol staffing in affected areas, and the County Emergency Operations Center will be activated to coordinate response efforts.

🔋 CHARGING STATION AVAILABLE: The Oakhurst Sheriff’s Substation will be open Thursday and Friday, October 15–16, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for residents needing to charge phones or other electronic devices.

48267 Liberty Drive, Oakhurst, CA

Prepare now!
🔌 Charge your devices
🧰 Gather emergency supplies
🚙 Fuel your vehicles
⚡️Have backup plans for medical equipment requiring electricity or refrigeration
🏠 Check on neighbors who may need assistance.

📍 Check if your address is affected: https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/outage-tools/outage-map/ Follow PG&E for the latest updates.

📱 Download the Madera County Sheriff’s Mobile App: MaderaSheriffApp.com

10/13/2026

Before it was Yosemite, it was Ahwahnee.

The people who lived in the valley named it for its wide, mouth-like walls. Ahwahnee means "gaping mouth-like place." They called themselves the Ahwahneechee, a community of Miwuk and Paiute families.

"Yosemite" came later. It traces back to a word neighboring Miwuk peoples used for the valley's residents, meaning "those who kill." In 1851, a militia called the Mariposa Battalion entered the valley to force the Ahwahneechee out. One member proposed naming it after the people they were removing. He believed the word meant "grizzly bear." He was wrong about that, and about much more.

We carry the name Yosemite in our own name. On Indigenous Peoples' Day, we think it's important to know the whole story behind it.

The Ahwahneechee's descendants are still here. The Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Merced rivers flow through the homelands of the Me-Wuk, Miwuk, Mono, Paiute, and Yokuts peoples, who have cared for these waters since time immemorial. Today, that includes the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians, Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, Mono Lake Kootzaduka'a Tribe, Bishop Paiute Tribe, and Bridgeport Indian Colony.

This Indigenous Peoples' Day, we invite you to start a relationship with the land and water you call home:
Learn the names of the nations whose land you're on, in their own words and spellings
Follow and share their work
Support tribe-led stewardship all year, not just one day

Whose land and water are you on today? Share in the comments. Let's learn together.

09/24/2026

07/02/2026

🚫🧨As you're making plans to celebrate 4th of July, remember fireworks are ALWAYS ILLEGAL on National Forest lands.

Do your part to help firefighters this holiday weekend -- one less spark means one less wildfire.
🚙Never park or drive on dry vegetation
⛓Secure tow chains
🔥Stage 1 Public Use Fire Restrictions are in effect meaning campfires are only allowed in designated, developed campgrounds. Find a list here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/deschutes/alerts/stage-1-fire-restrictions
🚭Properly discard of smoking materials & follow Stage 1 regulations

06/28/2026