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Nature for All: Explore the Outdoors

Nature for All

Encouraging everyone to discover redwoods and nature

Exploring the diverse ecosystems and marvels of coast redwood forests can be a rich, rewarding, and life-changing experience. But not everyone feels welcome in nature or comfortable visiting our region’s parks. We believe everyone deserves safe, welcoming, and inclusive access to the coast redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains.

We also acknowledge that redwood forests in the Santa Cruz mountains are among the ancestral lands for many Indigenous Peoples, who cared for these lands for millennia until they were forcibly removed. We are grateful to work with their descendants, including the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, to restore their cultural and traditional relationships to these magnificent lands.

Read on to learn more about efforts to welcome everyone to discover redwoods and nature.

Welcoming Everyone to Explore the Outdoors

Sempervirens Fund was created to protect redwood forests in the Santa Cruz mountains for all people to enjoy for generations to come. In 1900, we helped establish California’s oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Big Basin is a globally important protected area, and it was also the catalyst for creating California’s state park system (now made up of 280 state park units and enjoyed by over 75 million people annually).

We are proud to have played a role in also establishing Butano, Castle Rock, and Portola Redwoods State Parks, as well as regional parks such as El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve and Long Ridge Open Space Preserve. More than two-thirds of the 35.000 acres of land we’ve protected are now public parkland. Today, Sempervirens Fund continues to protect land to expand state parks and other public lands, in order to preserve critical habitats so people can experience the wonders and inspiration of healthy, vibrant redwood forests.

Unfortunately, not everyone can stand in the shadow of a towering redwood tree. For some, our state parks and other protected redwood forests are easy to access and feel as safe and welcoming to visit as their own backyard. For many, getting to a redwood forest, much less trekking around the Santa Cruz mountains, is no more than a dream. And for members of the region’s Indigenous tribes, access to these forests means more than just walking among the trees. It’s about reconnecting with their sacred lands, millennia of knowledge, and deep cultural traditions.

We have worked for 120 years to create public lands that, in theory, can be enjoyed by all members of the public. In practice, however, public lands are not equally accessible to or welcoming for all. That means we have work to do to achieve our vision for a network of protected redwood forests in which the forests are thriving and all visitors feel safe, welcome, and included. Here are some of Sempervirens Fund’s past and ongoing projects to help improve access to nature for all.

Big Basin Redwoods State Park Redwood

From Our Founding to the First State Park: How A.P. Hill Changed History

Sempervirens Fund, the redwood conservation movement, and Big Basin State Park may not be here today if not for Andrew Putnam Hill. Born in 1853, Hill was a painter and photographer whose work inspired him to become a leading environmentalist. He organized groups from Stanford University and Santa Clara University, and mobilized scientists and local activists to join him in the fight against the rampant logging that was rapidly destroying Northern California’s redwood forests. Together they formed Sempervirens Club in 1900, now known as Sempervirens Fund. They raised $250,000—an enormous sum in those days—to secure the land and in 1902, California’s first state park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, opened to the public. Hill helped begin the California State Park system and founded Sempervirens Fund, so we can continue to protect and restore these amazing natural lands in the Santa Cruz mountains for everyone to enjoy forever.

Over the decades, Sempervirens Fund has grown with California State Parks, and the parks have grown with us, and our support, both in buying land and in helping shape the experiences for generations to come. Learn more about our innovative work to help establish, expand, and save Castle Rock State Park 

Connecting the Next Generation with Nature

Despite the fact that the Santa Cruz mountains are just a short bus ride away from home, many local youth have never spent time in a redwood forest—an experience that can be not only awe-inspiring, but also truly transformative. Sempervirens Fund works with partners to help the next generation experience the redwoods first-hand.

Field Trips and Scholarships

For years, Sempervirens Fund has invited students on educational field trips for a day of history, science and fun in the redwoods guided by Web of Life Field School naturalists. Our goal was to encourage new experiences and lasting connections between local youth and our local redwoods—the kind of connections that make history. Following the field trip, Sempervirens Fund presented the Tony Look Scholarship, established in the name of one of our Founding Directors, to a graduating senior of Andrew P. Hill High School, who is college-bound and dedicated to the community and the environment. Recently, the Web of Life Field School closed and we are turning our attention to new partners to work with to continue these efforts.

In 2018, we also began to support a program, Kids2Parks, operated California State Parks and Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. Our support has helped ensure that thousands of school children from local Title 1 schools are able to attend field trips at Castle Rock State Park.

Backpacking

Starting in 2017, Sempervirens Fund has sponsored the California State Parks Backpacking Adventures program, which helps create opportunities for local underserved youth to experience their first ever guided backpacking trip into the Santa Cruz mountains.

Youth Outreach

Thanks to our supporters, we are able to partner with organizations like the Web of Life Field SchoolAndrew P. Hill High SchoolLatino Outdoors, and California State Parks in our youth outreach programs.

Girl Scout Camps

Sempervirens Fund has had an extended partnership with the Girl Scouts of Northern California to manage permanent protection of two forested properties in the Santa Cruz mountains—Camp Butano Creek and Skylark Ranch—where thousands of girls visit each summer to learn from, and fall in love with, the land. Sempervirens Fund purchased conservation easements on the properties, permanently protecting their majestic redwoods and other important natural resources while also providing the Girl Scouts much-needed income to keep both camps operating, ensuring outdoor learning opportunities for girls and young women from across the Bay Area and beyond.

Sempervirens Fund introduced the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to the Girl Scouts, and tribal members now visit Skylark Ranch each summer to teach the young campers native traditions.

Public Policy and Funding

Land and water conservation policies are often common ground for voters and elected officials of all parties. As a non-partisan organization, Sempervirens Fund advocates for policies, legislation, bonds, and other referenda that expand equitable access to nature, improve and expand state parks, and support regional efforts to protect the most important lands and waterways from development.   

LWCF is Forever

Land and Water Conservation Fund

After nearly sixty years of efforts, in 2020 the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was made permanent, with dedicated, annual funding of $900 million for LWCF and up to $9.5 billion annually in the first five years to address the urgent and deferred maintenance needs on federal lands, parks, and forests. Butano State Park is among the many Santa Cruz Mountain parks to be expanded with support from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. LWCF has not only been essential for land conservation, but also to ensure more people have access to nature. Safe, welcoming, and inclusive access to nature for all is vital for our well-being and for the future of a diverse environmental movement. LWCF also can spur new investments in our outdoor economy, which in this critical time can mean important job opportunities. 

Reconnecting Indigenous Communities with Tribal Lands

Cotoni Coast Dairies Bison

Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument

Just north of Santa Cruz, the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument spans 5,800 acres of scenic land in California’s Coast Range and represents a globally-recognized biodiversity hotspot. In addition to being a refuge for many rare plants and animals, the land is also home to four registered ancestral Native American archaeological sites, and many more still may be identified through formal archaeological surveys. The Cotoni (pronounced “Cha-toni”) were the Indigenous Peoples who inhabited the area before European contact. They were part of the greater Awaswas nation whose descendants are members of today’s Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument is the first national monument to be named in honor of the indigenous people of California. Sempervirens Fund led the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument campaign to ensure that President Obama recognized the Cotoni-Coast Dairies for its national significance and bestowed upon it one of the highest levels of federal resource protection.

Amah Mutsun Land Trust

The members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band—descendants of the Mutsun and Awaswas speaking peoples—have lived in the greater Monterey Bay region for centuries. Prior to European contact and forced removal, the Amah Mutsun lived in close harmony with the land. The Amah Mutsun have not yet received federal recognition, so they are not eligible to hold land in a tribal trust. Without the means to protect sacred sites and lands, each new generation of Amah Mutsun grew further from the popeloutchom: the landscape across which their tribal culture developed and flourished. To protect this landscape’s natural and cultural resources, Sempervirens Fund helped the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band form the Amah Mutsun Land Trust (AMLT) from 2012 to 2016.

Conserving Costanoa

With the Amah Mutsun Land Trust in place, they were able to acquire and steward lands integral to the preservation of their tribal culture. Building on this success, Sempervirens Fund facilitated the transfer of a 96-acre conservation easement at the nearby Costanoa Lodge to the Amah Mutsun Land Trust to protect both valuable cultural heritage and wildlands for people, wildlife, and future generations to enjoy.

San Vicente Redwoods Val Lopez
Skylark Ranch Ceremonial Fire

The Quiroste Valley

Located upstream from the Costanoa Lodge property is the Quiroste Valley (pronounced “Keer-osh-tee”), believed to be the “first contact” village site described by the Portola Expedition. The Amah Mutsun and their Native Stewardship Corps are reintroducing traditional native land-management techniques to care for their easement near Costanoa Lodge and the Quiroste Valley Cultural Preserve (which is State Park Land). Quiroste Valley and these innovative partnerships are featured on NBC Bay Area’s television program, Open Road with Doug McConnell, and in a new film by the Bay Area Open Space Council. Their ground-breaking research at Quiroste Valley is fundamentally changing our understanding about how native people lived and how they managed the land around them. There is evidence, for example, that native people made regular use of controlled burns to stimulate seed production for food and animal forage. The Amah Mutsun are re-learning and passing on spiritual and ecological traditions to young tribal members and also sharing long-lost stewardship practices with other land managers.

Stewardship: Preserving the Past and Improving the Present

In 2016, the Amah Mutsun Land Trust shared their fire ceremony with us and participated in a controlled burn with CalFire to restore the forest’s health and reduce the risk of future catastrophic wildfire in the critical forest habitat on our San Vicente Redwoods property. This burn was special, providing an opportunity for members of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to restore a traditional stewardship practice to the land. Members of the Amah Mutsun Land Trust’s Stewardship Corps are studying the native plant regeneration in response to the fire. This is a modern example of native traditions and wisdom being practiced, once-again, in the Santa Cruz mountains.

In 2017, the Amah Mutsun Land Trust Native Stewardship Corps Program began the multi-year restoration of a meadow of high ecological and ethnobotanical significance on one of our properties, which is now open to the public as part of the new Robert C. Kirkwood Entrance at Castle Rock State Park. The Mawekma Ohlone and Amah Mutsun Tribal Bands also tend a Native Plants Garden to share the importance of local plants and their uses by the indigenous people who lived on the land for centuries.

San Vicente Redwoods Ceremonial Fire

Improving Access to the Majesty of the Santa Cruz Mountains

Robert C. Kirkwood Entrance at Castle Rock State Park

Castle Rock State Park’s new Robert C. Kirkwood Entrance amenities, including accessible pathways and amphitheater, will make visiting the park a draw for old and new audiences, helping more people connect with the wonders of nature in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Virtual Visits to the Forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains

For those who are unable able to experience the majesty of the Santa Cruz mountains’ redwood forests in person, a virtual visit can be the next best thing. So, if you can't get to the forest, we're bringing the redwoods to you to share the mood boost they can provide and the awe they can ignite, even virtually. Explore the Virtual Redwoods of the Santa Cruz mountains from anywhere through virtual hikes, videos from our stewardship team, webinars and podcasts with renown experts, and even an inspirational playlist.

Castle Rock State Park Kirkwood Entrance

What’s Next

In 2020, we witnessed extraordinary cultural moments in terms of human health and racial justice. As in many other places, our Santa Cruz mountains communities are suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the death of George Floyd is galvanizing communities across America to advance racial justice. You can read our Statement on Racial Justice here. As we continue protecting and preserving the remaining redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains, we will also build on our legacy of improving access to nature for all, work to reflect our community in the board and staff representing our organization, and expand our partnerships to create opportunities for rewarding access to nature by all.

We hope you will join us. The best is yet to come.

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