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Gaviota State Park and Refugio State Beach, both located in Santa Barbara County, are closed indefinitely as crews work on removing palm trees and cleaning up debris caused by winter storms in February.

The latest storms “caused a significant amount of debris and damage to the beach, hardscape and infrastructure” at Gaviota State Park, according to its website. The location has “no anticipated reopening date.”

Over at Refugio State Beach, crews are working to clean up debris and complete minor repairs. The state beach is expected to reopen “in a relatively short time” after cleaning up has been completed, its website stated. However, no specific reopening date has been announced.

At Refugio State Beach, winter storms took out at least 16 iconic palm trees along the shoreline.

About 10 fell after waves crashed against the eroded sandy shoreline. Officials also found that more would have to be removed since they are tilting at a hazardous degree, Noozhawk, a Santa Barabara County-based publication, reported.

Aside from being visually appealing, the palm trees were placed across the shoreline to provide erosion control for the beach.

“They’ve been helping protect the park’s campgrounds and day-use amenities from the ocean for years,” Dena Bellman from the Channel Coast District of State Parks told the publication.

“We’re really at the front line of climate change and sea level rise issues,” Bellman told the publication. “Dealing with those are key to having a park for the future.”

California State Parks has previously moved healthy date palms back from the oceanfront but Bellman told Noozhawk that this time is different since the trees are already damaged.

The agency is working on long-term plans to protect the parks from storms and sea level rise. Bellman told the publication that while trees will be part of the conservation efforts, it’s unclear what kind of protection plans for the trees and parks themselves will be possible.

General plan updates for Refugio, Gaviota and another park, El Capitán State Beach, began last year. According to Noozhawk, State Parks will complete a programmatic environmental impact report by the end of 2025.

In the meantime, California Conservation Corps and Caltrans are assisting State Parks with the cleanup.

“The staff are working their hearts out to get the parks back to a state where we can open them again,” Bellman told Noozhawk.

KTLA reached out to the California Department of Parks and Recreation about the temporary closures but didn’t hear back in time for publication.