Apologies if this is a dumb question or has been asked before. I'm not a lawyer so I may be misunderstanding something.

I've been getting more into nude hiking and camping, and just learned about this 2006 letter in which the former sherrif says it is not illegal to be naked in the angeles national forest. I see several wesbites like AANR say nudists should carry a copy of this letter in case they're questioned by a ranger or deputy.

However, I see that Baca was convicted of obstruction and sentenced to jail. And of course no longer serves as the sherrif. Given these, is his letter still considered a legal protection for nudity in the forest? Or would we need to wait for the current sherrif to make a similar statement?

I'm concerned that his conviction, retirement, or combination of the two would make current law enforcement ignore the letter. Several websites also mention how nudity in parks and other public land are largely up to the current management, so I'm not sure if it works the same way here.