The devastating CZU Complex fire that burned 97% of Big Basin Redwoods State Park is giving way to new growth — and new plans, including tribal involvement, as the 120-year-old park comes back to life.
Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Coverage of Big Basin Redwoods State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains and its recovery from the disastrous 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fire.
Posted inCoast Life
Big job at a tough time: Cal Fire’s new leader talks about the challenges of wildfire defense
The new leader of Cal Fire in Santa Cruz County, Nate Armstrong, is making a few changes, while insisting that the statewide agency’s “aggressive initial attack” philosophy and other core principles are not his to change and were in place during the devastation of the CZU fires and the criticism that followed.
Posted inEnvironment
A new steward: ‘Gateway to Big Basin’ property sold to conservation nonprofit
The Sempervirens Fund announced Tuesday it had completed the $2.4 million purchase of 153 acres along Highway 236 in Boulder Creek, with the aim of donating the land to California State Parks and speeding the reopening of fire-scarred Big Basin Redwoods State Park.
Posted inPolitics & Policy, San Lorenzo Valley
Why a Boulder Creek land purchase has conservationists so excited
The Sempervirens Fund is closing in on a purchase of a 153-acre property near Big Basin Redwoods State Park — a development that could reopen at least part of the region devastated by the CZU Lightning Complex fire in 2020.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
‘Art and science’: In aftermath of the CZU fire, restoring our beloved trail systems is no easy task
Of the 175 miles of trails in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties affected by last summer’s blaze, only 7.5 miles have reopened so far. As the public anxiously waits to regain access to places like Big Basin and parts of Henry Cowell, crews from around the state and county are hard at work removing hazards and making trails safe for use.
Posted inUncategorized
Big Basin before and after CZU, through one local filmmaker’s eyes
The stark, straightforward “Big Basin Will Never Be The Same” uses side-by-side film of Eric Parson’s favorite trail run in Big Basin, one side shot before the 2020 blaze and one after, to sound an alarm about what our forests are facing.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
A Big Basin rebirth: California’s oldest state park won’t be the same, but nature is assuring it will be back
A year after the CZU Lightning Complex Fire tore through 97% of the park, Big Basin is showing signs of new growth and enters into a new renovation phase. ”We’re going to be looking at how to make the park more resilient in the future,” says the local State Parks superintendent.
Posted inEnvironment
Battered, burned but alive: Time will heal Big Basin’s wounds, but it needs big money, too
California’s early estimate of $200 million for basic wildfire repair across the state Parks and Recreation Department will be gobbled up to satisfy Big Basin’s needs alone, estimated at $186 million. And it’s only the beginning.
Posted inLatest News
Rising seas, worsening wildfires endanger Big Basin, other California parks
Big Basin, nearly wiped out by fire, remains closed as the state struggles to protect nearly 300 parks from climate change. Solutions are costly: thinning forests, adding sand to beaches, moving parking lots and buildings.
Posted inEnvironment
Restoration of Big Basin’s ancient redwoods begins: Park gets $500,000 for initial wildfire recovery cleanup
Two groups that have supported California’s oldest state park since its formation in 1902 have pledged $543,000 to help the ancient redwoods forest in the aftermath of the CZU Lightning Complex fire.