A huge swath of redwoods has been preserved near Big Basin Redwoods State Park to help create a new scenic entrance in an area that was damaged in the CZU Lightning Complex fires.
The Sempervirens Fund on Monday announced an agreement to purchase 153 acres of redwood forest in Boulder Creek intended to preserve the "gateway" to Big Basin.
“For decades, the gateway to Big Basin has been a conservation priority for Sempervirens Fund and for California State parks,” Matthew Shaffer, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer with the Sempervirens Fund, told KCBS Radio in an interview.
However, the 135 acres the group plans to purchase are still recovering from the destructive CZU Lightning Complex.
Shafer said the land accounted for some of the nearly 87,000 acres that burned during August and September of 2020. The CZU complex burned through the area at low-to-moderate intensity, Shafer said, and the burns could be considered healthy for forest conditions.
That's a credit to landowner Colby Barr, according to Shafer. Barr purchased the land in 2019, seven years after it was placed into receivership.
"This is largely thanks to the landowner, who got to know the conditions nearby Big Basin and understood that preserving the gateway ensured that the forest conditions would be thriving and healthy throughout the region," Shafer said.
The Sempervirens Fund said in a release on Monday it had raised nearly $2.2 million towards the purchase and preservation of the property. The former will cost $2.45 million, and the latter $346,500, according to the fund.
The group said it will match all donations up to $100,000 through Jan. 31 in an effort to make up the difference.
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