Sempervirens Fund works to protect and permanently preserve redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests, wildlife habitat, watersheds, and other important natural and scenic features of California’s Santa Cruz mountains, and to encourage public appreciation and enjoyment of this environment.
External link for Sempervirens Fund
P.O. Box 1417
Los Altos, California 94023, US
🌲Who are we and what do we do? With more than a century of history behind us, there’s lots to learn about Sempervirens Fund, but our mission is simple: we preserve redwoods and their broader ecosystem through land stewardship. 📸 Swipe through to learn what that means, and how you help to preserve tens of thousands of acres of natural California habitat!
Happy New Year! In 2025, we’re marking 125 years of protecting coast redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains and the rich diversity of life that thrives here. We hope you’ll join us! #redwoods #santacruzmountains #norcal #wildlife #naturephotography #naturelovers
It's almost the new year! This marks the last day of charitable giving for 2024, so why not help preserve our beloved redwoods to round out your taxable donations for the year? https://lnkd.in/gzVpZN6J
In Curiosity Stories Season 2, join field recordist Thomas Rex Beverly as he hears the old-growth redwood grove known as the "Valley of the Giants," located at YMCA Camp Jones Gulch. The entire episode, as well as the episodes from Season 1, are available at https://lnkd.in/gp848GSU Curiosity Stories is produced in collaboration with Bone and Gold; featured recording technology includes Sennheiser.
With your support, we are able to carefully care for the redwood forests, resetting their natural systems, and helping them return to nature. One way we steward the redwood forest is by removing unmaintained roads. Roads provide necessary access to the forest for stewardship, wildlife monitoring, and for emergency crews like firefighters. But unmaintained roads can add to the erosion of mountainsides fragile after the CZU Fire and the extreme winter storms that followed. With fewer plants to help hold soil in place, dirt roads can wash out, taking away the soil the recovering forest needs, and muddying critical water sources we and wildlife need. This year, we were able to “rock” crucial access roads—establishing beds of crushed gravel—and decommission unnecessary roads to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and give the space back to the forest. Read "A Stewardship Story: Return to Nature" here: https://lnkd.in/gerXTRbn
In 2024, Sempervirens Fund launched a new Forest Fellowship program. Through this program, Sempervirens Fund invites creative and curious thinkers to explore redwoods with us, tell their and the community’s stories, and deepen our insights into what makes redwoods so vital to the natural world and the humanity within. The inaugural Forest Fellow is Jane Kim, a visual artist, science illustrator, and the founder of Ink Dwell studio. Together, Sempervirens Fund and Kim have already collaborated on visual illustrations for a series of reports on the intersection of redwood trees and climate change, as well as Curiosity Stories films about Kim’s journey to create new works of art inspired by the cut rounds of an old-growth redwood stump. Meet Jane Kim: https://lnkd.in/g9pCJU6b
Año Nuevo Vista is located within the largest remaining intact habitat patch in the Santa Cruz mountains. Nestled between Año Nuevo State Park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and Butano State Park, it’s just one parcel away from Big Basin to the east and shares a border with protected Skylark Ranch to the south. Año Nuevo Vista is key to connecting protected habitats for wildlife and protected park lands for people. Landscapes fragmented by human development impact the health of forests, watersheds, and wildlife. By protecting Año Nuevo Vista’s 41 acres, we improved connectivity between 62,000 acres of protected land. Learn more about this special place: https://lnkd.in/g7r3uKVB
By now, you're hopefully acquainted with our Trails Rx program, which helps you find the right trail in the Santa Cruz mountains for your health and wellness goals. In August, we launched a partnership with Latino Outdoors to showcase some of these trails through a photo essay, videos, and more. Explore all the Trails Rx excursions with our friends: https://lnkd.in/g5qjdgwz
Wishing you a Merry Midwinter’s Eve and Happy Holidays from all of us at Sempervirens Fund! We hope you can enjoy a visit to the redwoods in person or virtually this season. Thank you for protecting the forests, that protect us all, for people and wildlife to enjoy for generations to come! ‘Twas the night before solstice, when all through the forest, Creatures were stirring, trees swaying in chorus. Redwood saplings were planted in the soil with care, In hopes that ancient giants someday would be there. The owls were nestled in hollows so deep, While deer in the meadow lay silent in sleep. And I in my fleece, with scarf wrapped up tight, Had ventured to witness this magical night. When out in the grove rose a moon so round, I peered past the shadows, my heart started to pound. Away to the clearing I hurried, wide-eyed, And gazed at the forest so vast and so wide. The moon through the branches cast beams soft and pale, Revealing the mountains in their white misty veil. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a fairy ring of trees flourishing here. Vibrant mushrooms sprung from an underground lair, Where their threads weave the forest together to share. The redwoods stood tall in the moon’s silver glow, Guarding the forest from ages ago. Once-dammed creeks, now flowing like fountains, Welcome endangered fish back to the mountains. Untraveled roads, returned to the wild. The forest restored; a gift to every child. My troubles shrank beneath the towering trees, Inhaling their healing terpenes on the breeze. As the moon beamed, the stars danced on high, And the trees seemed to sway as if breathing a sigh. So deep was their wisdom, so still was their grace, That I felt all the forest alive in this place. The wind seemed to whisper, “this land you behold, Is a gift to protect, more precious than gold. Its rivers and ridges, its creatures and air, Are threads of a tapestry woven with care.” And as quick as it came, the breeze faded on cue, Leaving frost-kissed needles and a world born anew. But I thought I heard, before they vanished from sight, “Honor the redwoods, and to all, a good night!”