Saratoga Historical Foundation presents, “How Californians Saved Big Basin” on August 22 at 7:00 PM on Zoom.  Author of “Big Basin Redwood Forest: California’s Oldest State Park,” Dr. Traci Bliss details in her lecture how and why a most unlikely coalition came together to change the trajectory of deforestation in California.  She will share why 1900 marked a new era in our state history.  Hear the riveting story of how women journalists, Jesuit priests, Bay Area academics and the pillars of San Francisco Society joined forces to achieve an unimaginable victory for preservation. Bliss will conclude her talk with an overview of the after effects of the 2020 CZU fire and the exciting plan for Big Basin’s future. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Emerita Professor  Dr. Traci Bliss retired early from her career in academia to write the true history of how the environmental movement began, fulfilling a promise she had made as a young child. In addition to writing “Big Basin,” Bliss has authored two other books about extraordinary public land: “Evergreen Cemetery of Santa Cruz” and “Santa Cruz's Seabright” with Randall Brown, She is a life member of the Society of California Pioneers, her family having arrived in Santa Cruz in the late 1840s. Bliss earned her BA, MA and PhD from Stanford. 

To register for the lecture go up to www.saratogahistory.com and click on Big Basin Park. For more information call 408-867-4311.