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They always have been and remain focused on preserving redwoods in special places...and on sharing these special places with the public so that we experience and value them. They raise money to protect and save Redwoods in such beautiful areas. Donations are well spent and every time we do a hike in one of the areas they have valued and preserved, it makes us want to donate again for the next project.
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Every time I read of a property in a special place that is being purchased by Sempervirens Fund, usually in partnership with other funders and other nonprofit orgs who also care about that spot, I am so thrilled that they exist. I have been a donor for a long time and when they open a new property to the public that has been in private hands or in jeapordy of being developed, I am always feeling so glad that so many people contributed to make this possible. It's the best of how nonprofits operate...in partnership with others who care and devoted to the success of accomplishing the Vision of all of these orgs and those who care about what they do!
The Big Reds must be protected. Sempervirens personnel offers us a chance to do just that. I regard the Reds as anchors and protectors of the earth in so many ways. Let us help them help us. We need them. I need and appreciate Sempervirens.
I fully support the work that Sempervirens fund does for the majestic and magnificent redwoods of our California coast. The preservation of the magic, and rejuvenating qualities of the redwoods aptly described by E.R. Sill:
"In the forest, sweet
The shade, the peace! Immensity, that seems
To drown the human life of doubts and dreams..."
is the most noble and important work!
Particularly the restoration work in the wake of the CZ fire. The dedication of this team and their efforts has demonstrable results. This crew has my heart!
I learned about Sempervirens several years ago from a friend who raved about their efforts. I researched Sempervirens & found their environmental & conservation goals admirable & their communication re: projects, successes & challenges excellent. Supporting these efforts is important to: 1) protect the Santa Cruz Mountains ecosystems, 2) to provide its beauty for public enjoyment & 3) to prevent development of some of the most pristine land in CA. The longevity of this group shows how important they & their efforts are to so many.
Sempervirens Fund does an excellent job of protecting and restoring lands in the Santa Cruz mountains. They let supporters know about projects and successes and form dynamic partnerships to overcome challenges. Recently, I was very excited to hear about the return of threatened and endangered fish species to one of the properties they helped protect and restore. Their determination, experience, and partnerships pay off for redwoods and the plants and animals that call them home. As threats like wildfires, droughts, and hotter temperatures increase, I feel confident that my donations to Sempervirens Fund are the best way to support the unique, diverse environment of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Very pleased that Sempervirens Fund is taking a major role in leading the restoration of Big Basin State Park. Just learned of their acquisition of an important 150-acre parcel that will play a role in the major work ahead.
The trees on the peninsula are so important to the peninsula and beautiful to those of us who live or have lived there. Their continued and protected lives are critical to LIFE, not just to the lives of those of us to take time and energy to appreciate them.
When I was a young child in the middle 1950's my family lived in Mountain View. Because it was so close, we spent many weekends and week-long vacations camping in Big Basin State Park. Many years later in the late 1970's when I returned to the area, I moved to the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was then as an adult, I became aware of the Sempervirens Fund mission and ongoing work to preserve Redwood Forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I have been a supporter of Sempervirens for over thirty years because it has been so effective in identifying properties and acquiring properties for its Great Park Plan.
Sempervirens has shown its ability to adapt its long relationship with the California State Parks Department. In the past, after property was purchased by Sempervirens the property was transferred in a relatively short period of time to the State Parks. For several reasons, the State Parks is no longer able to quickly accept ownership of newly purchased properties. In keeping with its long range, Great Park Plan, a new model has been created in which Sempervirens holds ownership of a property and the State Parks manages the property. A good example is the addition at Castle Rock State Park of property to expand greatly needed parking and other features such as picnic tables, an amphitheater, and more restrooms. This has made the Castle Rock much more user friendly, especially for families. I believe in years to come more local residents will see the need to support local State Parks.
Another example of Sempervirens adaptability are its plans to help with the recovery of Big Basin State Park after the devastating CZU Lightning Complex Fire that started in mid-August 2020. Through the use of television, newspaper and social media Semperivirens is keeping the public informed on the recovery status.
Another reason I support Sempervirens is its long, successful history of working with other land trust organizations.
I plan to continue my support of the Sempervirens Fund for many years to come.
We’ve enjoyed many, many hikes together through beautiful Bay Area parks and open spaces over the past quarter century. But only recently, crystallized by the impact of fire on one of our favorite places, Big Basin, have we come to appreciate the important role Sempervirens Fund plays in making our access to such places possible.
It’s so easy to take something for granted. We now see much more clearly the connection between these places we love and the work done by Sempervirens Fund. Their expertise at knowing how best to help conserve our remaining redwoods and their surrounding ecosystems, and their deep experience working with the myriad agencies and other stakeholders involved, means our contributions have the greatest possible impact.
If you also love and value these natural treasures, please consider supporting Sempervirens Fund.
When my family moved from the East Coast to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early '60s, my mother took us to see the redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
That was my first time seeing these elegant giants and I was absolutely blown away by their unbelievable beauty, power, grace, and majesty. I fell in love with them then and have never wavered from that feeling. Recognizing how important it was to take care of them, I became aware of the work of the Sempervirens Fund. Their focus and dedication was really impressive. And recently, their partnership with the Indigenous People who tended this land so skillfully in the past is so important. Their goal to preserve these treasures forever for the benefit of all, the environment included, prompted me to start donating to their organization many years ago. More recently, I decided to make them one of the beneficiaries of my IRA. It gives me great comfort to know that, in some very small way, I am helping them to reach that goal. I hope all may experience the comfort brought by being among the redwoods. Supporting the Sempervirens Fund can make that possible.
Redwoods and their environment exist in very few places in California/ let alone the World. You, who live in California have experienced the HEAT and FIRES of this Summer season, not to mention what may happen until it rains to put some moisture in the soil. When does the Fire season slow down? Regretfully, I doubt that it will stop like it used to, less than a decade ago.
There was a politician who said that Global Warming was fake news. We "thinking Californians" KNOW that that pol IS WRONG. It is HERE.
Sempervirens Fund is a group of caring people that are doing their best to help conserve the environment that is most essential to the Redwoods survival into the next generations. I want my 3 month old Grandson to be able to visit these places especially when I am gone. That is why I support the Sempervirens Fund. Would you please join and contribute support our/your cause?
Ray W
Walnut Creek
Four generations of my family have lived in San Mateo County. All those years and folks have LOVED being near the Redwoods. There is nothing like the peaceful walk through these giants of nature. All the comments that proceed mine are so true to the experience you get from just being in the forest. Sempervirens Fund provides us a way to make sure these trees are preserved and cared for, for many more generations to enjoy. The planet needs all of us to help preserve our natural environment. What a great way to leave a legacy and honor a family member. We can do this together.
Wonderful group not restrained by stupidity of government officials. They actually DO, not just talk. These types of organizations will steward our lands for the upcoming generations to enjoy.
I spent my summers in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the 50's and 60's. I learned to camp under the redwoods there, and love the area. Not so much the banana slugs, even though I recognize even they need to be preserved. Sempervirens Fund is my way to share the beauty of the area with future generations.
There is no more peaceful environment for me than the Redwoods. The Sempervirens Fund not only protects existing groves but works to expand the acreage that can be enjoyed. My mother donated as I do so that 1500 year old living things can continue to fill their role in the coastal mountains.
After my wife of 55 years died, our family and friends dedicated a redwood in her memory. What else can I say about the beautiful redwoods?
Love love love redwoods. I grew up in this area and my family camped at Big Basin almost every summer.
Sempervirens Fund’s mission is to protect these trees. They are an effective organization and I trust them to do what’s in the best interest of maintaining healthy and resilient redwood forests. For that, I am grateful.
My family loves Castle Rock State park and we learned that Sempervirens partners with the Park. We've been impressed by the facilities developed by Sempervirens for Castle Rock and by the educational family programing they have provided.
A camping trip to Big Basin in the Santa Cruz mountains marked the first time our family explored a redwood forest. Our three children, ages eleven, eight and five had taken hiking trips with us throughout California's national parks but here we were in a fragrant forest of trees that stretched their red barked trunks straight up to the sky. It was a new experience. We were all captivated by their magnificance. More than any other forest we had visited, these forest giants, the coast redwoods known as sequoia sempervirens, seemed to be an expression of nature's grand mission.
One evening, at twilight, our family gathered 'round the campfire site with other fellow campers for a sing-along led by the ranger. We raised our voices in the soft mountain air along with others, the children laughed at the funny words and reveled in the joyful friendship surrounding us. But after a few songs, I was drawn again to the redwoods nearby, especially the family of trees just beyond the campfire. I broke away from the singers and found a place to stand in the giant tree's ancient circle. I felt sheltered by the tall trunks now smoothly rounded together. I was surrounded in a protective embrace. I looked up into their branches. The wonder of reddish bark and wood still standing over thousands of of years seemed to be giving me a deeper message. I was touched by their ability to multiply and stand shoulder to shoulder. Had Nature created a tree that would stand as a living symbol, a model for humans to imitate, to stand and survive? Was this circle of trees a revelation? Were they showing a deeper message, the importance of family?
A friend worked with Sempervirens Fund to name a redwood tree in my husband’s honor shortly he passed away. I had never heard of Sempervirens Fund before, but quickly became a donor, too. Now, I’m a Redwood Ranger! Thank you, Sempervirens Fund. A great organization filled with great people!
Sempervirens Fund is one of the oldest nonprofits in the history of environmental activism. Founded in 1900, it has been actively working to preserve the redwoods and other ecosystems in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We wholeheartedly support their work and encourage you to do so as well.
I can still remember my first time walking through a redwood forest. I felt an incredible sense of belonging, of peace, and of happiness, as I stood in awe of these majestic giants. I truly feel a part of my DNA is linked to these trees. That's why I support Sempervirens Fund. Their work in the Santa Cruz Mountains truly matters. They currently own and care for more than 11,000 acres there--that's three times the size of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco! Keep up the good work, Sempervirens Fund. All pictures taken at Big Basin Redwoods State Park--California's first state park, saved by Sempervirens Fund in 1900.
Sempervirens Fund enables the preservation of acres upon acres of redwood forest. While much of it is left in a wilderness state, in the last decade they have evolved to have a more active relationship with land that will be used for state parks. They intervened in 2012 to help keep Castle Rock State Park open in the face of state wide cuts. And they continue to work to upgrade Castle Rock with the new entrance that is in progress.
I have donated to Sempervirens Fund as a Redwood Ranger monthly donor for several years now. I am consistently impressed by all the behind-the-scenes work that Sempervirens Fund does to protect redwoods and other wildlife in the Santa Cruz Mountains. They often partner with other, larger organizations with more name recognition, providing their intensive local expertise while not demanding the credit. I am proud to support them.
Sempervirens Fund is exactly the non-profit my family and I were searching for. We were looking for a way to remember and honor a beloved family member, while at the same time providing a small measure of support toward a much larger cause important to us, in this case the protection and preservation of California's coastal redwood forests. Sempervirens Fund invited us to fund a particular sequoia, a redwood tree in the Big Basin area of the Santa Cruz Mountains, designated as "our" tree, which we personally selected from among a number of trees nearby, and to plant a memorial stake at the base of that sequoia with a plaque inscribed with words of our choosing. Sempervirens Fund will assure that the memorial stake stays in place for years to come, certainly through the next several generations of our family at least. Indeed, we have invested in the right to plant other memorial stakes nearby, with their own plaques, to form a quiet, secluded grove for the extended family to visit and enjoy whenever they are able to do so. A special feature of Sempervirens Fund is that anyone, family or friend, can donate to any designated tree, and so remember especially a friend or family-member in perpetuity. We could not be happier with the opportunity that Sempervirens Fund has provided us for honoring a loved one while simultaneously supporting an enormously important earthly cause, the imperiled redwoods. Signed, Ted Dietz, of Kenmore, WA, July 14, 2017 (dietzted@comcast.net)
My late wife was a tree-hugger who loved redwoods and Big Basin. After her death from brain cancer in March 2014, her family worked with Sempervirens Fund to identify an appropriate site for the "Janette Kettmann Klingner Memorial Grove" in December 2016 and arrange its dedication and scattering of her ashes there in June 2017. From November 2016 to June 2017 their Tribute Giving Manager Amanda Krauss did it all. We are most grateful to her for tramping through Big Basin with me to identify an appropriate grove, arranging our charitable donation to Sempervirens Fund, shepherding its designation through the Calif Dept of Parks & Rec, arranging for State approval to scatter her ashes there, and being present at the grove dedication. Amanda Krauss, thanks!
My family camped at Big Basin every year when I was growing up. Now I take my nieces and nephews to introduce a new generation to these magnificent trees. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who had the foresight to protect them. It would be an absolute shame for our country to lose such treasures.
The Sempervirens Fund has been active in protecting land, educating people of all ages, as a model for many other conservation organizations and providing a beautiful and wonderful forest and open space experience for local people and those from around the world. There management, staff and volunteers are excellent and provide an unusually fine opportunity for many to learn and enjoy the forests.
By providing camp sites in Big Basin State Park they started a backpacking tradition for my son and I 35 years ago. Sempervirens is at the top of my list of charities for its aggressive pursuit of public lands and responsible logging.
One of the greats. They have a clear vision and concrete goals, and a plan to achieve those fairly specific goals, so one can be assured of progress and clarity as the process unfolds.
Sempervirens Fund does work that lasts for generations. I give to the trees monthly as a Redwood Ranger because I KNOW that an overwhelming amount of my support goes towards programs that preserve, protect, and connect vital ecosystems in Northern California.
I've always had a special place in my heart for the redwoods of the coast range in Northern California. The Sempervirens Fund helps protect and preserve this precious resource for our kids and their kids someday. I've been particularly impressed with what Sempervirens has done over the years with Big Basin State Park. I'm an HP employee, and was glad to see Little Basin (which used to be a getaway for HP employees) move into the public domain, with help from the Sempervirens Fund and POST. Keep up the good work!
I have been a donor for around 14 years and now also a volunteer since 2013. Preserving and managing local redwood forest is so important for the present and the future. Sempervirens Fund does a great job to accomplish its goals. All the staff, board members and volunteers work very hard. Every cent of my donation is put to good use. I will keep on donating to Sempervirens Fund. Thank you so much.
Although I've only recently been introduced to Sempervirens Fund, I have been enjoying the fruits of their labors all my life. Some of my favorite memories growing up consist of the family's annual camping trips to Big Basin.
One of my favorite things about living in the Bay Area is just how close these redwood forests are... where else can you be in the heart of a big modern city one minute then a beautiful redwood forest in less than an hour? It's amazing!
These forests need to be protected and Sempervirens Fund has been at the forefront doing so. They may be a small organization, but they give big bang for every buck they get! I am proud to be a supporter!
Look at a map of the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of San Francisco, and you will see lots and lots of parkland. Better yet, go there and get out and hike amid the many groves of redwoods and other kinds of forest habitat, and experience the many animals that depend on these habitats for their survival. We can all of us have this experience, and our grandchildren will be able to as well, partly because of the difficult and patient work that Sempervirens Fund has been doing for more than a century to help achieve protection for these areas. The raising of funds, the analysis of properties, the negotiations with willing sellers--all of this requires sustained, painstaking work. Being even a relatively small change donor as I am, I find myself having a sense of pride at every new land acquisition, at every story of a threatened species offered a fighting chance for recovery--I feel proud that I played some small part. I look up at these mountains and I breathe a sigh of relief--and I breathe more oxygen!--because these people have worked so hard and so successfully to preserve a quality of life that very much deserves being preserved.
Preserving the redwoods is an important task that Sempervirens Fund has taken to heart. Their dedication to preserving these important areas is crucial to our heritage as well as the wildlife that live and pass through the area, including some endangered species. Many of the old growth redwoods that they protect would never be seen again at this age for generations had it been allowed to be logged.
Fantastic! I grew up in the redwoods so they have a special place in my heart. I like to know that every small donation I make goes towards buying up land that can't be touched for my kids and their kids. Central California has these wonderful treasures and it really comes down to who owns the land. They made great headway this year purchasing the Cemex property and I'm so proud that even my meager contributions will ultimately make an impact since it goes directly to land procurement and conservation of the lovely redwoods and various ecosystems within. I do believe in sustainable enjoyment as well, and they do a lot of work maintaining trails and parklands so people can actually enjoy the land they are working to save.
As a donor (and former staff member for 30 years), I and my family have supported Sempervirens Fund and its mission. It has been exciting to see the acreage that the Fund has protected grow in size. Through the efforts of Sempervirens Fund, it is special to me to know that the trees will be protected and undisturbed for generations to come. Preserving the parks of the Santa Cruz Mountains is a wonderful legacy.