2023 News: What You’ve Made Possible
photo by Orenda Randuch
2023 News
A Stewardship Story: Return to Nature
Surviving since nearly the age of the dinosaurs, redwoods are resilient—but only 5% of them have survived the last century and a half. Human impacts have left redwood forests struggling to recover. Together, we are carefully caring for the redwood forests you protect, resetting their natural systems, and helping them return to nature. Take a...
Sempervirens Fund welcomes Dana McRae to its board of directors
Dana McRae, a resident of Santa Cruz and the former County Counsel for Santa Cruz County has joined the Sempervirens Fund Board of Directors. She served as the county’s main legal representative for more than 20 years and remains heavily involved in the Santa Cruz community.
Exploring Trails and Their Benefits: Vamos Outdoors
It might be called The Great Outdoors for several reasons. It can be beautiful. It can be fun. It can be inspiring. But did you know that it can also be great for your health? Hit the trail with our partners at Latino Outdoors to explore the beauty and benefits of the places you help...
Statement on the Passage of Measure Q (Santa Cruz County)
Santa Cruz County's Measure Q is a landmark initiative and a significant step forward in the County’s unified approach to water and wildfire protection.
Statement on the Passage of Proposition 4
This landmark $10 billion bond measure, Proposition 4, represents a crucial investment in our state's immediate environmental future and demonstrates Californians’ commitment to addressing climate change, protecting our water, forests, parks, and natural resources, and enhancing community safety.
An Extraordinary Look at an Ordinary Lizard
You’ve seen them. They are one of the most commonly seen lizards in the Santa Cruz mountain region. That is, if they want to be seen. As herpetologist and creator of the #FindThatLizard game Dr. Earyn McGee shows us, these masters of disguise can hide right beneath our very eyes. But you’ve probably never seen...
Find That Lizard
The redwood forests you protect support countless species in and below their canopies. But some of the forests’ inhabitants are such great masters of disguise, they’re hiding right beneath our eyes. We reached out to Dr. Earyn McGee, creator of #FindThatLizard and Coordinator of Conservation Engagement at the Los Angeles Zoo, to help us find...
Water and Wildfire Protection for Redwoods
At Sempervirens Fund we are proud to support Prop 4, a $10 billion statewide climate bond, and Measure Q, which would establish the Santa Cruz County Safe Drinking Water, Clean Beaches, Wildfire Risk Reduction, & Wildlife Protection Act. Learn more below and take action.
The Opposite of Redwoods
Redwoods drew artist Jane Kim to California more than 20 years ago and today she returns the favor, drawing redwoods to help people better connect with and draw inspiration from the natural world around us. The more she learns about redwoods as Sempervirens Fund's first Forest Fellow, the more she contemplates people as redwoods' exact...
NEWS: Statement on Ca. Governor’s Veto of AB 2013 (Pellerin)
Mountain View, Calif. (Sept. 23, 2024) – Today, Sempervirens Fund, California’s first land trust, responded to Ca. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of AB 2103 (Pellerin – Santa Cruz). Sempervirens Fund Executive Director Sara Barth said, “Conservation groups like Sempervirens Fund have been working for years to get our state leaders to make the necessary investments…
NEWS: Sempervirens Fund purchases Año Nuevo Vista
Sempervirens Fund announced the purchase of Año Nuevo Vista, a 41-acre parcel of land in the Santa Cruz mountains that will play a vital role in connecting protected habitat in Big Basin Redwoods and Skylark Ranch, and could eventually connect to two additional state parks: Año Nuevo and Butano.
Fall and Winter Hikes
As thermometers and leaves drop, crisp air and leaves beckon us outside to appreciate a different side of the Santa Cruz mountains’ wild beauty - colorful leaves, sparkling creeks, migrating birds, curious mushrooms, and of course banana slugs and elephant seals. If you're looking for trails and places to enjoy the change of seasons this...
Giants Rising
Giants Rising The Secrets and Superpowers of the Redwoods Revealing the wonders of redwood trees like never before, Giants Rising tells the epic tale of America’s most iconic forests, including the mission to help them rise up from the past -and help us ALL face the challenges of the future. We invite you to join…
Protect Año Nuevo Vista
From glittering white ridges to the glittering Pacific Ocean, Año Nuevo’s breathtaking views boast much of what makes the Santa Cruz mountains special. Its shady redwood forest and sunny chaparral interspersed with rare white sands known as “the chalks” support endangered plants and animals. Together, we can protect Año Nuevo Vista’s forest and watershed from...
Healing Under Redwood Groves
"I’ve known for years that I struggled with high blood pressure, I would feel a pressure in my arm or my hands would start to throb or go numb. I learned to step away from what I was doing at that time and sit in a quiet space, close my eyes and think about what...
NEWS: Sempervirens Fund Launches Trails Prescription Program for the Santa Cruz Mountains
Sempervirens Fund's Trails Prescription Program, also known as Trails Rx, encourages people to explore the outdoors by promoting the health and wellness benefits associated with spending time in nature. Trails Rx gives clinicians and patients new options to turn a recommendation for time in nature into a specific ‘prescription’ for where best to go outdoors...
Introduction to Forest Bathing
Forest bathing, or “Shinrin-yoku” as it's called in Japan where the practice was founded, is a way of immersing your senses in nature that has proven benefits for our physical and mental well being. Time in nature can boost our immune systems and creativity, settle our minds, and lower our stress levels. But how do...
ParksRx and You
Parks prescriptions, or ParksRx, is a movement based on the fundamental idea that spending time in nature is good for your health. In California’s Bay Area, most counties host a ParksRx program, often connecting parks and public health departments. They provide resources for clinicians and doctors to recommend, like reminding a patient to exercise, spending...
Santa Cruz Sandhills
Among redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains you can find a habitat so rare it doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world: the Santa Cruz sandhills. Species uniquely adapted to its soil cling to their disappearing habitat long interwoven with redwoods. And you could be their best hope for survival. Explore the ancient rarities of...
More to Explore
- See the highlights of what supporters like you made possible last year in your Impact Report
- Help protect the forest with a Climate bond for California in 2024
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