Fire in the Redwoods

Here are images from Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, on the far northwest coast of California …. except for the last four images that take you to spots as far south as Big Sur.

Me (for scale) in front of the giant at Prairie Creek.

Fern and other moisture lovers decorate the coastal redwood forest floor at Prairie Creek.

Fire scars are evident even in our most moist plant communities.

Mushrooms pop out of decomposing logs in this night scene under the redwoods.

Visitors discover science in the forest at Prairie Creek Redwoods.

The smallest of openings in the redwoods provide habitat for a wealth of wildflowers. Could this be a site cleared by a recent fire?

Roosevelt elk often forage in meadows opened by occasional fires or clearcutting in redwood country.

Banana slugs are a common sight in most coast redwood forests. These little critters lived in Fern Canyon.

It’s time to move south until we reach the most southerly range of coast redwoods …

We’re hiking through yet another state park impacted by the August, 2020 firestorms. A segment of the massive LNU Lightning Complex fire ripped across slopes and over ridges above this canyon. Woodlands above were incinerated, but the fire burned cooler as it entered into Colonel Armstrong State Park’s coast redwood forest. Three years later, you might not have noticed too many fire scars until you hiked up above the denser forest canopy.

The most southerly natural stands of coast redwoods can be found within deep canyons around Big Sur. A few riparian plant communities are just barely cool, shady, and wet enough to support redwood regrowth.

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William Selby

William Selby is a native Californian who has explored, researched, and worked in every corner of the Golden State. William has accumulated over 3 decades of experience teaching Geography and Earth Science at Santa Monica College. Since retiring from teaching, his lifelong love and extensive knowledge of the Golden State is reflected in the book as well as in his continued service to academia, geography and the State of California.

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