Big Basin Facilities Management Plan Receives Award of Excellence

PlaceWorks is honored to announce that the Big Basin Redwoods State Park Facilities Management Plan has received the 2026 APA California Chapter Award of Excellence in Resilience and Sustainability.

The 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fires burned 97% of Big Basin Redwoods State Park and destroyed or damaged nearly all development within its core. For California’s oldest state park, the question was larger than how to rebuild.  The park had changed. The climate is changing. And public expectations and best practices around access, stewardship, and inclusion are evolving.

Shaped by a multi-year engagement process designed to reach a broad range of Californians, the Facilities Management Plan (FMP) approaches recovery as a long-term resilience strategy, prioritizing forest health, equitable access, Indigenous perspectives, multimodal transportation, stewardship, and design with reverence and resilience. The result is a park plan that is durable, realistic, and aligned with the people and ecosystems it serves.

PlaceWorks is proud to share this recognition with California State Parks; our subconsultant team, including Mithun, Sherwood Design Engineers, Fehr & Peers, Land and Water Connections, and Environmental Collaborative; and key project partners, including Parks California, Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, Mountain Parks Foundation, Latino Outdoors, Saved by Nature, Community Bridges, Amah Mutsun Land Trust, Sempervirens Fund, and Save the Redwoods League.

Together, the project team and partners helped create a practical and visionary roadmap for Big Basin’s recovery, offering a model for rebuilding public landscapes after climate-driven disaster in more inclusive, adaptive, and resilient ways.

To learn more about the project, visit: http://ReimaginingBigBasin.org