Historic Camp's Rebuilding Plans Include Sustainably Harvested Redwood
Berkeley Tuolumne Camp selects Forest Stewardship Council® certified, California grown redwood
SANTA ROSA, Calif., Nov. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In operation since 1922, the 30-acre Berkeley Tuolumne Camp in the Stanislaus National Forest welcomed more than 4,000 campers annually for fun-filled activities and traditions. Tragically, the camp was largely destroyed by the devastating Rim Fire on August 25, 2013. After years of fundraising, negotiations with insurers, local, and federal agencies, and lengthy planning and permitting processes, the reconstruction of the camp broke ground in June 2020. The reconstruction project is slated to take about two years notwithstanding any unforeseen circumstances.
City of Berkeley Project Manager, Liza McNulty, says the City has worked for seven years with many partners, among others the United States Forest Service, California Office of Emergency Service (CalOES), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Friends of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp, to bring the camp back to life for the next generation of campers.
Siegel & Strain Architects is the lead design firm on the Project, tasked with designing camp facilities including a new dining hall, recreation hall, camper and staff cabins, maintenance structure, pedestrian bridges, parking and loading areas, and other infrastructure. The new camp buildings and landscape have been designed to evoke the rustic spirit of the old camp while using contemporary construction methods to meet modern building codes.
Important to the City of Berkeley and its many stakeholders was that the building materials for the new camp come from sustainable sources. The old camp was largely built with old-growth wood timbers; the new design also calls for a heavy use of wood to maintain the original aesthetic. The City of Berkeley committed to using Forest Stewardship Council® certified wood whenever possible on this Project. With that requirement in mind, Humboldt Sawmill redwood lumber and timbers will be utilized for much of the wood in the design.
Sourced from 440,000 acres of Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C013133) timberlands in Northern California, redwood from Humboldt Sawmill has the additional benefit of local availability and a low carbon footprint.
Those interested in learning more about the Berkeley Tuolumne Camp are encouraged to visit the City of Berkeley website for construction updates and additional documentation.
About the Mendocino Family of Companies
The Mendocino Family of Companies include Allweather Wood, Humboldt Redwood Company, Humboldt Sawmill Company, Mendocino Forest Products, Mendocino Redwood Company.
In aggregate Mendocino Companies owns 440,000 acres of Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C013133) certificated timberland, constitutes the largest waterborne wood treater in the Western USA, and is the largest producer of redwood lumber in the world. Humboldt Sawmill produces large timbers and custom cuts in redwood and Douglas-fir for "program" business. Additionally, Mendocino Companies owns and operates a 25-megaWatt biomass Cogen plant and largest wood pellet plant in California.
For more information, please visit www.MendoCo.com.