In 2020, a blaze consumed Big Basin Redwoods State Park, incinerating cabins, blackening ancient trees, and imperiling endangered murrelets. Staff now want to reimagine the park to better ensure the seabird’s future.
SAN JOSE, Calif. â Nearly eight months after Gov. Gavin Newsom visited Big Basin Redwoods State Park to tour the damage after a major wildfire, green sprouts are coming back on the blackened trunks of the parkâs ancient redwoods. But not much else has changed on the charred landscape.
Hazardous trees pose a risk. The wreckage of burned buildings and vehicles from the Aug. 19 wildfire still hasnât been cleared. State officials havenât completed a damage estimate of how much it will cost to rebuild. And the process for holding public meetings to construct new facilities at Big Basin â Californiaâs oldest state park, whose soaring redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains attracted 1 million visitors a year â hasnât yet begun.
More than six months after the fire started, Big Basin is still burning
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A log continues smoldering in the Santa Cruz mountains more than six months after the CZU Lightning Complex fires started.Liz Celeste/Special to SFGATE
It’s been more than six months since the CZU Lightning Complex fires tore through Big Basin Redwoods State Park, burning about 97% of its 18,224 acres and destroying nearly all of its historic infrastructure. So it was a little alarming to find out on a recent media tour of the heavily damaged park that some logs are still burning.
Given the extreme conditions of the fire, though, scientists aren t surprised.
More than six months after the fire started, Big Basin is still burning ksbw.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ksbw.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.