Sempervirens Fund

Protecting land through acquisition and transfer in fiscal year 2023, Sempervirens Fund secured a conservation easement in the amount of $9,625,000 for the 920-acre ymca camp jones gulch in la honda, ca., which includes what was the largest unprotected stand of old-growth redwoods in the santa cruz mountains. Sempervirens Fund also acquired two land parcels totaling 15.6 acres near big basin redwoods state park strengthening the connection between the park and the gateway property acquired in fiscal year 2022.acre by protected acre, and with your support, we purchase, restore, and safeguard redwood forests in the santa cruz mountains, ensuring they will never be developed, degraded, or destroyed. Much of the remaining redwood forests to protect is privately owned. We work with willing sellers to purchase land at fair market value, often transferring the land to California state parks or other local public agencies. When transfering land to California state parks we may receive payment for the land which is below its book value, this results in a write-off for the impaired book value of that land. In fiscal year 2024 there will be a sale of six parcels of land to state parks at an impaired value, this requires us to record a land impairment write-off of $2,945,966 in fiscal year 2023. This is reflected in part xi-9 as a change in net assets.we also own significant conservation properties, on which we work to restore healthy forests and heal landscapes. We also work with private landowners to establish conservation easements that protect the natural and scenic resources on their forest lands, while keeping the properties in private ownership. The conservation easement protects the land's resources without buying fee title to the property itself.

Education and outreach Sempervirens Fund regularly communicates general information about its work, the vital role redwoods play in a healthy, thriving, and rich regional ecosystem, and opportunities to find recreation in the santa cruz mountains. Sempervirens Fund's community is invited to learn, volunteer, take action, and donate to our work through digital, print, and in-person communications and events, including through publications and other printed materials, a website sempervirens.org, social media, email newsletters; outreach activities such as webinars, events, speakers, and hiking and volunteer opportunities. The focus of Sempervirens Fund's outreach is to introduce new groups of people about it's work; introduce them to outdoor recreation opportunities; learn together about the marvels of redwoods, and cultivate their interest to become new stewards of the santa cruz mountains habitat. At Sempervirens Fund, we believe that celebrating diversity, fostering inclusion, advancing equity, and realizing justice is not only essential to our mission, but vital to our humanity, as people working for and serving on the board for Sempervirens Fund and as part of a community dedicated to protecting, caring for, and exploring redwood forests in the santa cruz mountains. In recent years, Sempervirens Fund has produced a series of webinars under the redwoods in which we host experts and thinkers to explore our magnificent redwood forests, what makes redwoods so special, why they thrive here and nowhere else in the world, and what they mean to us in our lives. We also regularly engage in California and local policy to ensure resources are being directed to conservation and stewardship of redwoods and other habitats in the santa cruz mountains, and invite our community to take action with us. Learn more: sempervirens.org/take-action

Land stewardship Sempervirens Fund owns directly or through conservation easement more than 12,000 acres of land. Permanently protecting redwood forests ensures that the properties where redwoods thrive are set aside to keep forests intact and preserved for generations to come. We work across santa cruz mountain landscapes, and in collaboration with neighbors and regional partners, to safeguard the health of trees, habitats, waterways, and wildlife.for each property in our care, we generate a stewardship plan which gives us, our partners, and our neighbors clarity and guidance about the resources we are preserving and the natural features we are restoring. Active land management activities include wildfire resiliency projects such as establishing shaded fuel breaks and prescribed burning programs; forest health projects, including removing debris, maintaining trails, clearing invasive plants, and planting new seedlings; and research projects such as wildlife monitoring, endangered species reclamation, traditional indigenous cultural surveys, and much more. After significant disturbances, such as wildfire or flooding, restoration efforts include debris clean up, culvert replacement, hazard tree removal, waterway restoration, and fuel reduction. In recent years, our stewardship work has included milestone projects like the removal of a dam on mill creek in san vicente redwoods restoring stream flow that led to the return of coho salmon to the watershed for the first time in generations to forest restoration projects on multiple properties that prioritize supporting second-growth redwoods the best opportunities to grow larger, more quickly, and to establish old-growth characteristics that ensure redwood resiliency. Now more than ever we depend on funding from our donors to help us care for redwood forests, to monitor their health, conserve wildlife, and improve waterways, keeping them healthy, thriving, and resilient, for generations to come. Learn more: sempervirens.org/stewardship

Giving in honor or memory Sempervirens Fund provides the opportunity for its supporters to dedicate a tree or grove located within one of the state parks of the santa cruz mountains. Making a lasting tribute or celebrating a special occasion can also make an important contribution to protecting the redwoods forest.sempervirens Fund has entered into an agreement with California state parks whereby the Fund is permitted to offer the naming rights to the trees. We take care of all the details and can send a gift card to the person you are honoring.