2023 News: What You’ve Made Possible
photo by Orenda Randuch
2023 News
Growing Old-Growth
An old-growth redwood is huge. 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 you’re helping to grow the old-growth of tomorrow, today. Together, we’re restoring redwood forests faster for the trees, for wildlife,...
Redwoods Festival | May 18, 2025
Join Sempervirens Fund 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 on May 18, 2025 will celebrate the redwoods with supporters like you and feature live music, train rides, hiking tours, food trucks, and other family fun!
Sempervirens in Elementis
In her new art series, Sempervirens in Elementis—Latin for ever living in the elements, Sempervirens Fund’s Forest Fellow Jane Kim explores the relationship between redwoods and the elements: water, fire, earth, and air.
David Cowman joins Sempervirens Fund as Director of Land Stewardship
David Cowman joins Sempervirens Fund as its new, and first-ever, Director of Land Stewardship, signaling the 125-year old organization's increased emphasis on the restoration and future health of redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Redwoods and Fog
We know fog when we see it, but what is fog? Fog clouds linger in cool, damp forests, lending an air of mystery and beauty around us, but the mystery is a simple one. Read on to learn about fog and their magical relationship with redwoods.
Recording Redwoods: Sounds of the Forest
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Field recordist, Thomas Rex Beverly, found an answer to the age-old philosophical question, and so much more, on his quest to capture the sounds of the redwood forest. Among the protected old-growth redwoods of the...
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…
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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