California State Parks announced yesterday it has begun burning hundreds of piles of dead sticks, leaves and branches at various locations in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
This work will be dependent on dry weather and conditions that allow for smoke dispersal.
Burning will continue as it is safe, through April 2026.
Approximately 400 burn piles will be ignited throughout Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Castle Rock State Park, and Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park—including the Fall Creek Unit.
Pile burning helps to alleviate extreme fire behavior in the event of a wildfire, experts say.
These projects improve emergency access, foster forest health, and enhance biodiversity, a State Parks spokesperson said.
Pile burning in both Big Basin and Henry Cowell is part of a continuing State Park effort to reduce fuel loads around old growth redwood habitats, fostering forest health.
Pile burning in Fall Creek Unit at Henry Cowell is part of a larger fuel reduction project at the park unit to alleviate the potential for extreme fire behavior.
Pile burning at Castle Rock is part of a forest health initiative to thin understory trees that are outpacing the growth of the black oak woodland, a unique fire-adapted plant community in the area.
Pile burning will be monitored until piles are cold and extinguished.
Burning will continue as conditions allow until the pile burning season ends.
Ignitions are scheduled to occur between 8am and 5pm for all burns.
