My Nonprofit Reviews

When my husband and I first met almost 20 years ago, we went hiking most weekends. We'd go to Big Basin, Waddell Creek, Fall Creek or Wilder Ranch, often coming out at dusk. Our partnership was forged on those long walks as we talked, laughed and wondered together.

Today we have an outdoor recreation website that we started precisely because we wanted to share our enthusiasm for and love of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Naturally that means parks and open spaces, and you cannot find an organization more integral to open spaces in the Santa Cruz Mountains than Sempervirens Fund. From starting the movement to protect old-growth trees in Big Basin more than 100 years ago -- a movement that culminated in the first state park -- to spearheading an innovative approach to conservation with the San Vicente Redwoods, Sempervirens Fund has proven time and again that it is a forward-looking leader in conservation. You could even say we owe our livelihoods to them! After all, without open spaces, Hilltromper would not exist.

Nor, probably, would our marriage!