My Nonprofit Reviews

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.