Gallery of 2020 Big Basin Fire Photos
Preface by Steve Singer — The Emptiness of a Devasted Landscape
I’ve been inside burned redwood forests before, but nothing prepared me for what I saw at Big Basin State Park two months after the fire.
My first post-fire visit was surreal. Instead of a landscape of lush green, the predominant color is a ruddy brown – the color of heat-killed leaves and needles still hanging onto the trees. The somber background is interrupted by the charcoal black trunks of heavily burned trees. Instead of green moss and ferns on the forest floor, the ground is completely covered with a layer of gray ash. The only green to be found is in the basal sprouts of redwood, tan oak, and huckleberry.
A noisy operation to remove fire-damaged trees is taking place along Highway 236 in the park. It is being done for safety’s sake. Nevertheless, the sound of chain saws and log skidders is disturbing to hear within the boundaries of a park set aside to protect an old-growth forest. Yet if the park is to be re-opened some day, it is necessary. The tree removal is collateral damage caused by the fire.
In the further reaches of the park, all is quiet. The public is not allowed in and will not be allowed in for some time. In the Huckleberry Campground there is no vehicle noise and no sounds of children playing or families socializing. Birds, squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, deer, and other wildlife are missing, and their sounds are lacking as well. There is an absolute quiet. The visual landscape is just as unreal with the somber browns, blacks, and grays of the burnt forest dominating the view. The lack of any green is shocking. I feel like I am standing on some other planet.
And as to the future…
Individual old-growth redwoods will survive the fire, but most old-growth Douglas-firs will not. Recovery of the forest ecosystem will be a slow and lengthy process, and it is contingent on humankind finally getting its act together to reverse climate warming. Let’s hope we can. If we can do that, then one day, future generations will be able to enjoy the beauty of the Big Basin that we once knew.
Following are two photo galleries, one of horizontal format photos and one of vertical format photos.
-— Steve Singer is a forest biologist and murrelet researcher who has been associated with Big Basin, in one form or another, for over 40 years. He is currently working in Big Basin to determine the impact of the fire on marbled murrelet nesting habitat.
Donations to the Santa Cruz Mountains Bioregional Council are welcome and will help us to promote the protection and recovery of biodiversity in the burn area and throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains. To donate, go here.
