Located in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Northern California, Big Basin Redwoods State Park is truly an enchanting place. Home to the largest continuous stand of ancient coast redwoods south of San Francisco, this park was established in 1902, making it California’s oldest state park. There are over 10,000 acres of old-growth forests, making it an ideal hiking destination. Over 80 miles of trails wind through a variety of elevations and environments, including the famous Skyline-to-the-Sea trail as well as the 329-foot-high “Mother of the Forest” redwood tree and the 2,000-year-old “Father of the Forest” tree. But it’s the biodiversity that makes this place so special. The park is home to a variety of habitats and species, including mammals, amphibians, rare plants, and wildflowers. Playful western gray squirrels, colorful banana slugs, secretive bobcats, and a symphony of birds including egrets, herons, and Steller’s jays all call this place home.
When Lightning Strikes
This idyllic landscape was shattered one catastrophic night in August of 2020. A dry lightning storm unleashed over 11,000 lightning bolts and ignited over 600 fires, which eventually combined to form a relentless wildfire covering over 40,000 acres. For 37 days, flames ravaged the area, forcing the evacuation of 65,000 people and destroying homes and livelihoods. Incredibly, only one person died in the fires, which destroyed 86,000 acres and cost more than $68 million to fight.
The park was hit hard. More than 97% of the park’s land was burned, nearly every structure was destroyed, and the park was closed for almost two years. Generally, redwoods are able to survive most fires because of their thick, fire-resistant bark filled with tannic acid. This fire, however, being the first major one there for over 100 years, was much more intense than normal and severely damaged the old growth trees. Even though many redwoods are still standing, only 24% of the forest in Big Basin is alive, according to a recent satellite survey. It may take generations for old growth forests to recover fully.
There have been concerted efforts to rebuild and restore the park after the wildfires. In the multi-year “Reimagining Big Basin” project, trails will be repaired, recreation facilities rebuilt, and the forest will be managed to ensure future fire resistance. This initiative is not just about rehabilitating the park physically, but it is also about rethinking how visitors are welcomed, including the design and placement of campgrounds, visitor centers, transportation, parking, and other infrastructure in the context of its ecological recovery. In doing so, the park’s infrastructure will be rebuilt in a way that is sensitive to the natural recovery process and the continuing impacts of climate change.
Redwood saplings emerge within months of the fire.
Photo by Melissa (Lissy) Enright, US Forest Service
Creating a greener future through the lessons of the past
In spite of the destruction, life always manages to survive and thrive. Forest fires actually have a beneficial effect on redwood trees. Ashes and nutrients left behind create fertile ground for new growth, and the opening of the forest canopy allows sunlight to reach seedlings that sprout from burl tissue. The indigenous peoples of California have used fire as a tool for stewarding the land for thousands of years, and still do. As Europeans colonized California, they interrupted these traditional fire management practices, which led to an accumulation of organic matter that caused the inevitable forest fires to be even more devastating. However, in recent years, there has been growing recognition of the importance of traditional fire management practices and their role in preserving the ecosystem.
Natural regeneration is now considered to be the most effective restoration technique for forests, a process that allows them to heal on their own with minimal intervention. In addition to sequestering carbon more efficiently, this approach also fosters far richer biodiversity than could be achieved through actively replanting single species. Through thoughtful management practices, such as prescribed burns and selective invasive species removal, this natural process can be supported and nurtured.
Rewilding is a similar approach that emphasizes natural processes over human intervention in order to create resilient, self-regulating, and self-sustaining ecosystems. The goal of this strategy is to protect and connect core areas of wild land so that all species can fulfill their functional roles. As a result of restoring natural processes and reintroducing keystone species, rewilding is a forward-looking approach that has demonstrated some success in recent years. The reintroduction of beavers in several locations throughout the UK in 2021, for example, had a profound impact. In the face of increasingly frequent and severe weather events, the dams built by the beavers reduced floods by 60 percent, preventing damage to local infrastructure and property. Furthermore, beaver dams are excellent ways to capture carbon as they create wetlands that act as carbon sinks.
There has never been a better time for these new conservation trends. Climate change threatens California in many ways, ranging from droughts to heatwaves and from atmospheric rivers to sea level rise. According to studies, if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, lightning strikes will increase by 12% for every 1°C of warming. By incorporating traditional fire management practices, natural regeneration, and rewilding strategies, we can restore the balance that the land once had before human interference. In this way, diverse ecosystems like Big Basin Redwoods State Park can flourish and survive for future generations.
Rewilding the World the Wildish Way
Here at Wildish, these conservation practices deeply resonate with us. With Big Basin Redwoods State Park just over a mile from our location, we can’t help but support their commitment to natural restoration. We also suffered significant losses from the devastating CZU fire which destroyed the forest on our land within minutes. In spite of the heroic efforts of our local CALFIRE firefighters, only one gnarled tree survived at the top of our hillside.
A beautiful stand of rare Monterey Pine once grew on our land, and we want to help it return and thrive. There are only three very limited areas in California where this endangered species is native, including Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo counties and two islands in Mexico. For years it has been struggling with an infection caused by a fungus called Pine Pitch Canker, but fortunately the intensity of the fire seems to have killed much of the fungus inside the burn zone.
As with the nearby redwoods, the Monterey Pine has adapted to wildfires. The cones of this species are serotinous, which means that they remain closed until heated by forest fires. Once opened, the abundant seeds are discharged onto the burned forest floor and can regenerate there for years. That’s exactly what happened at Wildish. After over three years, our hillside is now covered with seedlings and saplings ranging from one foot to seven feet high!
Wildish was designed with a specific focus on living in harmony with the environment and showcasing the unique natural beauty of our surroundings.
Our goal is minimal disturbance, allowing the forest to flourish and envelop us. We have designed our spaces to blend seamlessly with the surrounding landscape, so visitors can enjoy nature’s magic without disturbing its delicate balance.
We are proud to be a part of the restoration effort and eager to see healthy Monterey Pines flourish once more on our hillside.
Turn Your Vacation into a Force for Good
We invite you to join us at Wildish on this amazing journey of regenerating the forest and our community. Rather than simply adhering to the principles of sustainable tourism, we embrace the principles of regenerative tourism. Sustainable tourism aims to ensure that tourism thrives while reducing its negative impacts on the environment.
However, regenerative tourism is all about creating a net-positive impact, leaving things better than they were found. Fundamentally, it aims to improve and restore the destinations that people visit, leaving them in better shape than when they arrived. It also redefines the traveler’s role, turning holidays into meaningful experiences rather than mere escapes from reality.
So, we invite you, dear reader, to come and experience the magic of regeneration at Wildish. As our forest, once touched by flame erupts with life, you can see the cycle of life unfold before your eyes. Here’s your chance to witness nature’s resilience up close, and to participate in restoring and strengthening it.
See you soon,
— JAMES —
