Leggett Park serves historical crises

April 8, 2022 — As drought parches the land and fire season approaches, community groups are trying to figure out how to get more water to quench more fire. In the absence of small natural oases that used to be plentiful, that often means building huge expensive tanks, like the one envisioned by a coalition in the north county. The Leggett Fire Water Project is an effort to build a large steel tank at Tan Oak Park, just off of Highway 101 between Leggett and Laytonville. Jessica Roemer is the Executive Director of Tan Oak Park, which is owned by a non-profit called Families and Friends United by AIDS. The organization bought the park as AIDS was raging around the world. Now, as another pandemic recedes, Roemer is thinking about how the park can be put to service in another pressing crisis.