Visiting the old-growth forest at Big Basin Redwoods State Park to hike and bike through the colossal redwoods was a popular
outing before the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in August 2020.
Nearly two years later, an organization formerly based in Los Altos is helping restore Big Basin, California’s oldest state park, so that visitors can enjoy it again beginning July 22.
Sempervirens Fund, established in 1900 as California’s first land trust, was integral in advocating for the creation of Big Basin Redwoods State Park and the parks that followed: Castle Rock, Butano and Portola Redwoods State Park. Today, in the aftermath of the fire that burned nearly 97% of Big Basin and its facilities, Sempervirens Fund is once again playing a role in a plan to rebuild the park – but there’s a twist.
Initiated by the California State Parks system in August 2021, the plan “Reimagining Big Basin” is not solely focused on recovery – rather, it aims to modernize, better protect and expand accessibility to the park, according to Sempervirens Fund executive director Sara Barth.
“I think because it was so shocking to people how extreme the fire got, it forced a deep reconsideration of what would be good for the park going forward,” she said. “I think that (it) was a pretty broadly shared view that a new, really fresh look was warranted.”
The plan outlines a mix of goals, some effective this summer through a limited park reopening and others with a longer timeline. The goals effective this summer include online reservations required for park entrance and access to the park’s facilities. The park also plans to limit the old-growth core area for primarily day use, while offering basic amenities for visitors – “no major structures” near the old growth, the plan’s website reports – to better protect the forest. Other spaces scheduled to open at Big Basin this summer include Waddell Beach, the Marsh Trail, the Rancho del Oso park road and the Rancho del Oso Nature and History Center.
“I just urge the public to have some patience with State Parks, because I think people may be disappointed when they realize how limited the reopening is,” Barth said. “The task is enormous, and the work they’ve done already has been remarkable.”
Gateway property
The reimagining of long-term goals for Big Basin includes a new welcome center at Saddle Mountain, a shuttle system to transport visitors to the old growth and trailheads, new campgrounds and a new entrance at Rancho del Oso – changes that Barth calls “bold.”
“I think it’s going to be a very different approach,” she said. “But at the end of the day, I hope if (State Parks) follows this vision, I think they will come out with a park that is more ecologically resilient, probably safer for the public in terms of risk from future wildfire, and also one that is accessible to more Californians.”
To support the plan, Barth said Sempervirens Fund – which moved from Los Altos to San Mateo in April – provided funding and purchased land of interest for the park, which will be called the “Gateway to Big Basin.”
“Sempervirens has a really special relationship with this park and with State Parks as a system, because we were involved in the creation of the state park as the earliest advocates for land being set aside – and having been deeply involved in most of the subsequent acquisition and additions to the park over time,” she said.
The acquisition of land, specifically within the Santa Cruz Mountains, is part of Sempervirens Fund’s role as a nonprofit land trust, in addition to a commitment to protect and “support the public’s ability to responsibly access those lands and enjoy them,” according to Barth. She added that organizations like Sempervirens Fund are important because of their ability to “act much more nimbly and quickly – for example, to acquire land that we want to see added to the park that State Parks would ever be able to do.”
Barth said she hopes Sempervirens Fund and State Parks’ efforts will set a precedent for the other California state parks.
“I think if we do it right here (at Big Basin), you could see a similar positive ripple effect where other state parks in California and other state parks elsewhere in the country really think hard about how they approach ecological sustainability (and) climate resilience,” she said.
Big Basin is scheduled to reopen July 22 for limited day-use access, by reservation only. For more information, visit sempervirens.org/news/reimagining-big-basin.
