The Desert Sun reports that the USFS is reinstating the permit requirement as of Sep. 1, 2020.
More solitude ahead.
The news people today never get the whole story. Why did the USFS ever stop requiring permits? The reporters never found out and probably never even asked. It was an accident. They happen.
The permits and the permit checkers are a pain sometimes, but the permits and checkers are important to managing and protecting the wilderness and solitude.