'The forest ... is resetting': California wildfires burned hundreds of ancient redwoods, but much of the forest seems to have survived the blaze
- A wildfire ravaged through the historic Big Basin Redwood State Park on Monday, taking down hundreds of ancient trees in a fiery blaze.
- Conservation experts remain hopeful about the forest's survival, though. Most of the trees seemed to have withstood the flames.
- Laura McLendon, conservation director for the Sempervirens Fund, an environmental organization dedicated to protecting redwood forests, told the Associated Press that "the forest, in some ways, is resetting."
Wildfires have been raging throughout the state of California, prompting sweeping evacuations of communities and deploying dozens of fire crews to battle the blazes.
On Monday, one of the fires, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire ravaged, through the famous Big Basin Redwood State Park in Santa Cruz County in northern California.
Hundreds of the thousand-year-old redwoods toppled from the wildfire, and the state park's headquarters remains nothing but a pile of burnt rubble.
Nonetheless, much of the forest seems to have survived the blaze, according to a photographer for the Associated Press.
Laura McLendon, conservation director for the Sempervirens Fund, an environmental organization dedicated to protecting redwood forests, told the AP that she remains hopeful despite the toll the fire took on the park.
"It will regrow," McLendon told the AP. "Every old-growth redwood I've ever seen, in Big Basin and other parks, has fire scars on them. They've been through multiple fires, possibly worse than this."
The 118-year-old state park, which sees 250,000 tourists a year, had recently reopened after being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It shut down again amid the fire season.
Upon learning that the forest had withstood the wildfire, State Parks District Superintendent Chris Spohrer told the AP that he was relieved that there are trees still standing.
"The reason those trees are so old is because they are really resilient," he said.
Spohrer told the AP the state parks department had so far only inspected buildings in the state park since the flames have been extinguished but hopes that the condition of the trees will be checked out soon.
"The forest, in some ways, is resetting," McLendon told the AP.
The California wildfires are shaping up to be among the worst in the state's history, with more than one million acres of land being consumed by flames. At least seven people have died related to the fires as of Monday, and thousands have been evacuated.
As of Monday, there are at least 20 active fires in the state, two of which — the LNU Lightning Complex and the SCU Lightning Complex Fires — are the second and third largest wildfires in California's history.