Big Basin Redwoods State Park, devastated by the CZU Lightning Complex fires last August, is set to receive almost $200 million in state funding to aid its recovery under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new budget proposal.
Of the governor’s announced $267.8 billion budget, $217 million is allocated for wildfire restoration and $186 million of that is expected to go to Big Basin.
The cost of restoring the park is not known, however initial estimates were slightly less than $200 million, though that number is expected to rise according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The state funds are expected to provide a significant boost to the park’s recovery, which is expected to take years to fully recover.
"This is a significant signal and down payment for Big Basin’s future, but it is too early to tell how much re-imagining the park will cost," Sara Barth, executive director of Sempervirens Fund, one of the group’s fund-raising on the park’s behalf, told the paper.
The park estimates that 97% of the 18,000 acre park was burned by the fires, and over 100 buildings were destroyed.
California’s oldest state park, which has been closed since August, is set to partially reopen on Memorial Day, however that doesn’t include its famous redwood historic groves or historic core.
Despite the destruction caused by the blazes, it’s believed that more than 90% of the park’s iconic redwoods survived.
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