2023 News: What You’ve Made Possible
photo by Orenda Randuch
2023 News
125 Years
125 years in photos! In 1900, a group of citizen activists banded together to form Sempervirens Club—now Sempervirens Fund—and committed to protecting and nurturing coast redwoods. As we reflect on our legacy and look forward to the future, we are forever thankful to our vast community of supporters like you for your unwavering commitment to...
Chronodiversity in Redwood Forests
Among the hallmarks of healthy redwood forests are trees of varying ages growing and thriving together. Achieving this diversity of ages, or chronodiversity, can improve old-growth conditions, which leads to greater habitat diversity—two essential outcomes for redwoods to thrive in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Read on to learn about the importance of chronodiveristy in coast...
Redwoods Festival | May 18, 2025
On May 18, 2025, 125 years after Sempervirens Fund was founded, hundreds of supporters joined us at the historic Roaring Camp, for our first-ever Redwoods Festival to celebrate 125 years of protecting redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains! Thank you for your support!
Why Cut Redwoods?
More than a decade ago, Sempervirens Fund was confronted with a choice: do we actively manage the forests we protect to improve their health, or do we continue to protect the redwoods as we have for more than a century and allow nature to heal on its own timeline? Active management to restore the forest...
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,...
Honoring Herb Grench
Sempervirens Fund joins the conservation community in mourning the passing of Herb Grench, a visionary leader whose efforts helped shape the Bay Area’s open space landscape. Herb dedicated his life to protecting the natural world, and his contributions continue to benefit our region’s forests, wildlife, and communities. In the early 1970s, Herb played a pivotal…
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...
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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