Little Basin Joins Big Basin as California State Parkland
© 2009 Dan QuinnOnce the private playground for Hewlett-Packard employees, 535-acre Little Basin now belongs to everyone. On February 24, POST and Sempervirens Fund officially transferred Little Basin to California Department of Parks and Recreation as an addition to the adjacent Big Basin Redwoods State Park. A priority State Parks acquisition, Little Basin was appraised for $7.7 million in 2010 and was sold to State Parks for $6.5 million. In transferring Little Basin to State Parks, POST and Sempervirens have set aside $1.3 million from the sale proceeds in a land stewardship fund to ensure that Little Basin is well maintained and cared for into the future.
The two land trusts jointly owned and managed Little Basin since 2007, when they acquired the property in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains for $4 million from the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP). "With the transfer of Little Basin to State Parks, we have accomplished our original goals to protect the beautiful redwoods and open meadows and open the property for public enjoyment" said POST President Audrey Rust. Along with this property transfer, Sempervirens and POST also transferred to State Parks a concession agreement established with United Camps, Conferences and Retreats (UCCR) to run Little Basin until 2017. UCCR is a nonprofit organization based in Petaluma that specializes in running outdoor camping facilities and environmental education programs.
For more information on access to Little Basin, please contact UCCR at 800-678-5102 or visit http://uccr.org.
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