Podcast: California's Oldest State Park Attempts A Comeback

Santa Cruz CA

29 May, 2021

12:34 PM

Description

By CalMatters staff, CalMatters May 28, 2021 In summary Big Basin Redwoods State Park will be back after massive wildfires, but what will it look like? Ninety-seven percent of California's oldest state park burned last summer in lightning-caused wildfires. Now, conservationists and the staff at Big Basin Redwoods State Park say they need more than $200 million just to start rebuilding. CalMatters' Julie Cart went on a rare tour of the park just as it starts to regrow. She found scorched bark and hollowed-out trees, but also signs of hope in little green shoots at the base of redwoods "like fuzzy house slippers." California State Parks director Armando Quintero said he went to Big Basin on his first day on the job, in September. He said the wildfires that have ravaged state park land are an opportunity to address climate change and "rethink the original state park in terms of how we can manage that park for a healthy future a century from now." Listen to the "California State of Mind" episode, co-hosted by Nicole Nixon and guest host Nigel Duara. Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Follow @yourgoldenstate, @CalMatters and @CapRadioNews on Twitter to engage with our show every week and see the top California news of the day. We want to hear from you Want to submit a guest commentary or reaction to an article we wrote? You can find our submission guidelines here. Please contact Gary Reed with any commentary questions: [email protected], (916) 234-3081. CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics. Sign up for our newsletters and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.