california state parks

A bright green sprout growing from the base of a dark burned tree trunk

Reimagining Big Basin Redwoods

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Post-fire update and images from Big Basin Redwoods State Park, eight months after the CZU Lightning Complex fire

John Griffith

Celebrity of the forest

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John “Griff” Griffith has become a celebrity for his videos for California State Parks.

Big Basin nature museum

Fire at Big Basin Redwoods State Park derails nature museum project

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Fire destroyed the Big Basin Redwoods State Park Nature Museum. Work on the project was well underway in the original building when the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire came through the headquarters on Aug. 18, destroying everything.

Armando Quintero

League welcomes new Director of California State Parks

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Armando Quintero has been named to head California State Parks. Director Quintero has had a long and outstanding career in parks and conservation, including his work to engage, train and inspire the next generation of park leaders. We look forward to working with him!

Damaged Big Basin park gatehouse

Out of destruction, hope

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Since the League joined with Sempervirens Fund last week to create the Big Basin Recovery Fund, so many generous people have stepped forward to help. Pachama offered a $5,000 match to the Big Basin Recovery Fund to inspire others to take an active role in rebuilding this wondrous park and the forest around it. Together, we’ve raised more than $100,000 to fund the park’s immediate needs, as well as help lay the groundwork for its reconstruction.

A female California State Parks naturalist interpreter in park ranger fatigues gives her presentation before a tablet on a tripod on which she is livestreaming a virtual program to Facebook.

Bringing redwoods to the people

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The pandemic presented both a daunting challenge and the opportunity to take a flying leap toward an idea that had long been in the making. Since early March, the North Coast Redwoods District’s interpretation team has been delivering five to 10 PORTS programs each week, as well as daily Facebook live programs to the general public.  During this period, more than 5,000 students have received coast redwood-related PORTS programs, and their Facebook Live presentations have been viewed over 250,000 times. As to how his team came to the decision to hold daily events in the middle of a national crisis, Robbins deadpanned: “We just decided to do it.”

Residual old-growth redwoods rise above a second-growth stand in Redwood National and State Parks. Photo by Mike Shoys

Redwoods Rising Restoration of More Than 70,000 Acres Begins Across Northern California Redwood Forests, Providing Regional Jobs

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Save the Redwoods League, the National Park Service and California State Parks today announced the next steps in on-the-ground restoration work by Redwoods Rising, a large-scale forest restoration partnership underway in Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP). Beginning next week, Redwoods Rising crews will work in two watersheds within the park boundaries—representing a significant milestone for this long-term forest health initiative and bringing forestry jobs to this northern California region.

How California State Parks is bringing redwoods into people’s homes

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We interview the interpreters who are keeping people connected to the outdoors during the COVID-19 crisis. The League’s Dana Poblete jumped on a Zoom video call with two of these interpreters – Ryan Spencer at Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Angie Edmunds at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park – to learn more about this terrific program.

Three people testing burn in forest

A Successful Prescribed Burn at Beaver Creek

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Save the Redwoods League has successfully completed our first forestland prescribed burn at our Beaver Creek property! In collaboration with CAL FIRE, California State Parks, and our contractor Firestorm, a 20-acre unit of the 320-acre property was treated with fire last Friday under the guidance and supervision of our burn boss Ben Jacobs.