photo by I. Bornarth.
Photographers
These are some of the amazing photographers whose work helps to inspire change and curiosity—protecting the Santa Cruz Mountains and connecting people with them.
Insta Worthy
You can see stunning photos from the photographers above and many others at work inspiring protection and connection of the Santa Cruz Mountains on our Instagram feed below and at @SempervirensFund on Instagram.
There’s something magical about stepping into a redwood fairy ring.✨
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📸 Orenda Randuch @orenda_orenda
Photo ID: A person stands on a path admiring towering redwood trees in a sunlit forest.
#redwoodtrees #redwoodforest #redwoods #norcal #santacruz #santacruzmountains #naturelover #naturephotography
There’s something magical about stepping into a redwood fairy ring.✨
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📸 Orenda Randuch @orenda_orenda
Photo ID: A person stands on a path admiring towering redwood trees in a sunlit forest.
#redwoodtrees #redwoodforest #redwoods #norcal #santacruz #santacruzmountains #naturelover #naturephotography
🌎 Let’s take Earth Month action together! 🌎 Each week in April, we’ll have a new action to share with you for all of us to help protect land, water, and wildlife.
➡️ This week, join us in urging state leadership to support and create programs that align with the America the Beautiful Initiative.
In May, 2021, the Biden-Harris administration outlined a vision for how the United States can work collaboratively to conserve and restore the lands, waters, and wildlife that support and sustain the nation. The recommendations outline locally led and voluntary nationwide conservation goals to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Unfortunately, the Trump administration rescinded this directive. Now it is up to the States to carry this effort forward.
The effort, also known as 30x30, features six key priorities:
✅ Creating more parks and safe outdoor opportunities in nature-deprived communities.
✅ Supporting Tribally led conservation and restoration priorities.
✅ Expanding collaborative conservation of fish and wildlife habitats and corridors.
✅ Increasing access for outdoor recreation.
✅ Incentivizing and rewarding the voluntary conservation efforts of fishers, ranchers, farmers, and forest owners.
✅ Creating jobs by investing in restoration and resilience projects and initiatives, including the Civilian Climate Corps.
When the initiative was launched in 2021, more than 50 Tribal leaders and organizations and hundreds of locally elected officials across the country expressed support for the national conservation goal, recommendations, and guiding principles of the America the Beautiful initiative.
Join us in urging state leadership to support and create programs that align with the goals to protect 30% of land and water by 2030, and ensure that these efforts will support local economies, communities, and wildlife populations and habitats.
Write to your state legislators today and urge them to prioritize conserving and restoring lands, waters, and wildlife.
🚨Take action at the link in our bio.🚨
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📸 Mike Kahn
🌎 Let’s take Earth Month action together! 🌎 Each week in April, we’ll have a new action to share with you for all of us to help protect land, water, and wildlife.
➡️ This week, join us in urging state leadership to support and create programs that align with the America the Beautiful Initiative.
In May, 2021, the Biden-Harris administration outlined a vision for how the United States can work collaboratively to conserve and restore the lands, waters, and wildlife that support and sustain the nation. The recommendations outline locally led and voluntary nationwide conservation goals to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Unfortunately, the Trump administration rescinded this directive. Now it is up to the States to carry this effort forward.
The effort, also known as 30x30, features six key priorities:
✅ Creating more parks and safe outdoor opportunities in nature-deprived communities.
✅ Supporting Tribally led conservation and restoration priorities.
✅ Expanding collaborative conservation of fish and wildlife habitats and corridors.
✅ Increasing access for outdoor recreation.
✅ Incentivizing and rewarding the voluntary conservation efforts of fishers, ranchers, farmers, and forest owners.
✅ Creating jobs by investing in restoration and resilience projects and initiatives, including the Civilian Climate Corps.
When the initiative was launched in 2021, more than 50 Tribal leaders and organizations and hundreds of locally elected officials across the country expressed support for the national conservation goal, recommendations, and guiding principles of the America the Beautiful initiative.
Join us in urging state leadership to support and create programs that align with the goals to protect 30% of land and water by 2030, and ensure that these efforts will support local economies, communities, and wildlife populations and habitats.
Write to your state legislators today and urge them to prioritize conserving and restoring lands, waters, and wildlife.
🚨Take action at the link in our bio.🚨
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📸 Mike Kahn
Join Sempervirens Fund on Sunday, May 18 to celebrate 125 years of protecting redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains!
Hosted among the redwoods at the historic Roaring Camp, our first-ever Redwoods Festival will celebrate the redwoods with supporters like you and feature live music, train rides, hiking tours, food trucks, and other family fun!
Details of the festival:
• Date: Sunday, May 18, 2025
• Time: 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
• Location: Roaring Camp, 5401 Graham Hill Rd, Felton, CA 95018
• Cost: Parking only. Reserve your parking spot at sempervirens.org and stay updated on details.
The Redwoods Festival offers something for everyone, from outdoor enthusiasts to families looking for fun and adventure.
🚂 A scenic train ride through the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains
🌲 Guided hikes in partnership with Henry Cowell State Park
🎶 Live music from a local band
🍔 Food trucks offering mouth watering options
🦉 Get up close with raptors and learn about these magnificent birds of prey
🍃 The Community Forest featuring our extraordinary partners and community
Let`s gather together for fun, connection, and a celebration of the incredible work we`ve accomplished together to protect these majestic redwood forests!
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#redwoods #santacruz #santacruzmountains #roaringcamp #henrycowellredwoods
Photo ID: Invitation to the Sempervirens Fund Redwoods Festival on May 18, 2025, celebrating 125 years. The invitation is displayed in a lush redwood forest with towering trees and misty air.
Join Sempervirens Fund on Sunday, May 18 to celebrate 125 years of protecting redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains!
Hosted among the redwoods at the historic Roaring Camp, our first-ever Redwoods Festival will celebrate the redwoods with supporters like you and feature live music, train rides, hiking tours, food trucks, and other family fun!
Details of the festival:
• Date: Sunday, May 18, 2025
• Time: 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
• Location: Roaring Camp, 5401 Graham Hill Rd, Felton, CA 95018
• Cost: Parking only. Reserve your parking spot at sempervirens.org and stay updated on details.
The Redwoods Festival offers something for everyone, from outdoor enthusiasts to families looking for fun and adventure.
🚂 A scenic train ride through the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains
🌲 Guided hikes in partnership with Henry Cowell State Park
🎶 Live music from a local band
🍔 Food trucks offering mouth watering options
🦉 Get up close with raptors and learn about these magnificent birds of prey
🍃 The Community Forest featuring our extraordinary partners and community
Let`s gather together for fun, connection, and a celebration of the incredible work we`ve accomplished together to protect these majestic redwood forests!
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#redwoods #santacruz #santacruzmountains #roaringcamp #henrycowellredwoods
Photo ID: Invitation to the Sempervirens Fund Redwoods Festival on May 18, 2025, celebrating 125 years. The invitation is displayed in a lush redwood forest with towering trees and misty air.
Get to know the Gray Fox: The only member of the canine family that can climb trees thanks to strong hooked claws, gray foxes are known to climb trees for fruit, birds and to evade predators. When climbing to safety isn’t an option for these California natives, gray foxes can double back on their own footprints to try to throw predators like bobcats and coyotes off their trail.
When we protect the coast redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains, we also protect the rich diversity of life that thrives here. 🌲🦊
#redwoods #santacruzmountains #wildlife #naturelovers #naturephotography #santacruz
Get to know the Gray Fox: The only member of the canine family that can climb trees thanks to strong hooked claws, gray foxes are known to climb trees for fruit, birds and to evade predators. When climbing to safety isn’t an option for these California natives, gray foxes can double back on their own footprints to try to throw predators like bobcats and coyotes off their trail.
When we protect the coast redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains, we also protect the rich diversity of life that thrives here. 🌲🦊
#redwoods #santacruzmountains #wildlife #naturelovers #naturephotography #santacruz
We couldn`t let #WomensHistoryMonth pass by without acknowledging the visionary legacy of Josephine Clifford McCracken. Along with a group of friends, she formed the Sempervirens Club (now called Sempervirens Fund) which was instrumental in founding Big Basin Redwoods State Park in 1902. Josephine was a writer, horticulturist and environmentalist who became a true champion of saving California’s redwoods. We are forever grateful for her dedication and leadership.
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#redwoods #santacruz #conservation #inspiringwomen
ID: Black and white historical photo of Josephine Clifford McCracken, an environmentalist and co-founder of Sempervirens Club, commemorating Women`s History Month.
We couldn`t let #WomensHistoryMonth pass by without acknowledging the visionary legacy of Josephine Clifford McCracken. Along with a group of friends, she formed the Sempervirens Club (now called Sempervirens Fund) which was instrumental in founding Big Basin Redwoods State Park in 1902. Josephine was a writer, horticulturist and environmentalist who became a true champion of saving California’s redwoods. We are forever grateful for her dedication and leadership.
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#redwoods #santacruz #conservation #inspiringwomen
ID: Black and white historical photo of Josephine Clifford McCracken, an environmentalist and co-founder of Sempervirens Club, commemorating Women`s History Month.
🌲 As they age, redwoods also become more resilient: better able to protect themselves and support the forest. Their thick, armor-like bark can grow to be a foot thick–helping to protect them from fire, pests, and rot.
🌲 Old-growth canopies are higher and harder for fire to reach. Their well-established root systems spread 100-feet wide and interconnect with fungi and other trees throughout the forest to share nutrients and information.
🌲 Old-growth redwoods are able to help support the forest as a whole, and with their ancient lifespans they are able to live for millennia.
An old-growth redwood is one of the largest living things to ever grace the planet. And their size isn’t just impressive, it`s important. In the Santa Cruz Mountains very few old-growth redwoods remain, but together we can help to grow the old-growth of tomorrow for future generations.
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#redwoods #redwoodtree #santacruzmountains #norcal #santacruz #redwoodforest #naturelovers #naturephotography
🌲 As they age, redwoods also become more resilient: better able to protect themselves and support the forest. Their thick, armor-like bark can grow to be a foot thick–helping to protect them from fire, pests, and rot.
🌲 Old-growth canopies are higher and harder for fire to reach. Their well-established root systems spread 100-feet wide and interconnect with fungi and other trees throughout the forest to share nutrients and information.
🌲 Old-growth redwoods are able to help support the forest as a whole, and with their ancient lifespans they are able to live for millennia.
An old-growth redwood is one of the largest living things to ever grace the planet. And their size isn’t just impressive, it`s important. In the Santa Cruz Mountains very few old-growth redwoods remain, but together we can help to grow the old-growth of tomorrow for future generations.
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#redwoods #redwoodtree #santacruzmountains #norcal #santacruz #redwoodforest #naturelovers #naturephotography
🍄 Orange Jelly fungi can look a lot like Witches` Butter. So how can you tell them apart?
🍄 Orange Jellies are more orange and less “snotty” than Witches’ Butter. But unless you have them side by side, the easiest way to tell them apart is by what they’re growing on. Mycologist and researcher Maya Elson explains that mushroom identification is often “rotting log identification.”
🍄 The Orange Jelly spot (Dacrymyces chrysospermus) pictured on the right was found growing on a Douglas-fir which makes cones whereas the Witches` Butter on the left (Tremella aurantia) is a parasitic fungus that grows on false turkey tail fungi on broad-leaved trees like oaks.
🍄 Meet the mushrooms hard at work at San Vicente Redwoods in an in-depth photo essay exploration with Mycologist and researcher Maya Elson and photographer Orenda Randuch. (🔗 in bio.)
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📸 Orenda Randuch @orenda_orenda
Photo ID: A side by side photo showing Orange Jelly and Witches` Brew fungi
#redwoodforest #santacruzmountains #santacruz #fungi #fungilove #fungophotography #fungiofinstagram #naturelovers #naturephotography
🍄 Orange Jelly fungi can look a lot like Witches` Butter. So how can you tell them apart?
🍄 Orange Jellies are more orange and less “snotty” than Witches’ Butter. But unless you have them side by side, the easiest way to tell them apart is by what they’re growing on. Mycologist and researcher Maya Elson explains that mushroom identification is often “rotting log identification.”
🍄 The Orange Jelly spot (Dacrymyces chrysospermus) pictured on the right was found growing on a Douglas-fir which makes cones whereas the Witches` Butter on the left (Tremella aurantia) is a parasitic fungus that grows on false turkey tail fungi on broad-leaved trees like oaks.
🍄 Meet the mushrooms hard at work at San Vicente Redwoods in an in-depth photo essay exploration with Mycologist and researcher Maya Elson and photographer Orenda Randuch. (🔗 in bio.)
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📸 Orenda Randuch @orenda_orenda
Photo ID: A side by side photo showing Orange Jelly and Witches` Brew fungi
#redwoodforest #santacruzmountains #santacruz #fungi #fungilove #fungophotography #fungiofinstagram #naturelovers #naturephotography
Don’t miss our free webinar tomorrow 3/25! Join us for “Ecology of Water,” the third installment in our four-part Redwoods and the Elements series to learn how redwoods and water work together to support habitats and the intricate interworking of nature. Jim Robins, ecologist and founder of Alnus Ecological, has extensive experience in ecological restoration planning, riparian and stream ecology, salmonid ecology, rangeland management, land-use policy and environmental compliance. His work focuses on the synthesis and application of ecological data and principles to complex resource issues. Jim played a key role in Sempervirens Fund’s Mill Creek Dam and the San Vicente Watershed project in 2021.
Meet us under the redwoods to explore the beauty, history, science, and benefits of redwood forests. Register at 🔗 in bio.
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#redwoods #santacruz #undertheredwoods #santacruzmountains #naturelovers
Don’t miss our free webinar tomorrow 3/25! Join us for “Ecology of Water,” the third installment in our four-part Redwoods and the Elements series to learn how redwoods and water work together to support habitats and the intricate interworking of nature. Jim Robins, ecologist and founder of Alnus Ecological, has extensive experience in ecological restoration planning, riparian and stream ecology, salmonid ecology, rangeland management, land-use policy and environmental compliance. His work focuses on the synthesis and application of ecological data and principles to complex resource issues. Jim played a key role in Sempervirens Fund’s Mill Creek Dam and the San Vicente Watershed project in 2021.
Meet us under the redwoods to explore the beauty, history, science, and benefits of redwood forests. Register at 🔗 in bio.
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#redwoods #santacruz #undertheredwoods #santacruzmountains #naturelovers