Big Basin State Park Gone After Wildfire

Today Thursday (August 20) Big Basin Woods State Park, which is California's oldest state park, has suffered extensive damage beyond repair due to California's wildfires. The State Park's team announced on their FaceBook page and website:

We are devastated to report that Big Basin State Park, as we have known it, loved it, and cherished it for generations, is gone. Early reports are that the wildfire has consumed much of the park’s historic facilities. We do not yet know the fate of the park’s grandest old trees.

We feel like we have lost an old friend. And we imagine that many of you will feel the same way. For millions of people, Big Basin is the place where they first experienced the majesty of the redwoods — where they were humbled and inspired standing amidst a grove of towering trees that have stood resolute for thousands of years. Those memories will live on.

For Sempervirens Fund, these wildfires strike at the heart of our legacy as a forest conservation organization and the state’s first land trust. We were founded in 1900 to advocate for the State of California to purchase coast redwood forests to prevent them from being destroyed to satiate the voracious demand for lumber at the time. Our origin story is forever intertwined with the establishment of the iconic Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California’s first state park. And Big Basin’s origin story is forever intertwined with that of the creation of California’s State Park System – which has been a model that inspired many other networks of protected land around the nation.

We do not know exactly what the future holds, but we do know that coast redwoods are remarkably resilient, thrive even during adverse conditions, and are naturally fire-adaptive. We intend to be here for the forests we protected in the past to see that they rise to the skies once more.

Read their full statement here.

Photo: GettyImages.