In November 2021, staff from Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, John Muir National Historic Site, and SMART Workforce Center in Redding, California met at the Tower House Historic District of Whiskeytown National Recreation Area to re-establish an apple orchard.
The rehabilitated orchard was planted in an area called the Back Field that was once home to an expansive fruit orchard. An was completed for the Tower House Historic District in 2016. In preparation for future orchard treatments, the park also completed genetic testing and phenotypic identification on the fruit trees. However, in 2018, the over-200,000 acre Carr Fire burned vast portions of the park, including all of the four historic orchard areas within the Tower House Historic District. The historic Camden House itself was saved, but many of the old fruit trees dating to the late 1800s were lost.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
