plants Archives - Sempervirens Fund Wed, 04 Feb 2026 20:05:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 A Stewardship Story: Return to Nature https://sempervirens.org/news/return-to-nature/ Tue, 03 Feb 2026 13:00:17 +0000 https://sempervirens.org/?p=93635 Surviving since nearly the age of the dinosaurs, redwoods are resilient—but only 5% of them have survived the last century and a half. Human impacts have left redwood forests struggling to recover. Together, we are carefully caring for the redwood forests you protect, resetting their natural systems, and helping them return to nature. Take a peek behind the trees at how you have helped the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains–some of the most biodiverse and threatened on Earth–this year.

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A Stewardship Story:

Return to Nature

Surviving since nearly the age of the dinosaurs, redwoods are resilient—resisting bugs, fungus, rot, floods, and even fire. But only 5% of them have survived the last century and a half. Human impacts like clear cut logging, development, and the increasingly extreme weather events of our changing climate have left redwood forests struggling to recover.

Together, we are carefully caring for the redwood forests you protect, resetting their natural systems, and helping them return to nature.

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Caring for our Lands

photo by Orenda Randuch

Resetting Redwoods

A century and a half ago, as California’s economy expanded, settlers and industrialists began moving into the Santa Cruz Mountains and deciding what the redwood forests were for. Imagine seeing for the first time the dense understory of sky-scraping titans shading young redwoods in a diverse community that nourished wildlife and cooled creeks teeming with Coho-salmon. Navigating the untouched forest proved difficult and dangerous, but within the forests’ intricate ecosystem these newcomers also saw the potential to use the forest to grow cities like San Francisco and to establish new businesses, institutions, and more.

In an act of hubris, they forcibly carved roads into hillsides that gave their equipment access to each tree and stream, disrupting what had been thriving for thousands of millennia. Today, giant stumps, evenly-aged forests, and Coho-less creeks are the familiar scars of the once decimated forests. These crossings and structures continue to redirect water and sediment today; a large reason why in many places, protection alone cannot undo that damage. Restoring impacted forests begins by removing infrastructure designed for short-term extraction in mind.

Thanks to you, we steward more than 12,000 acres of protected land that we work to restore to nature for all of us.

A black and white logged hillside behind a wooden mill surrounded by stacks of lumber, railroad tracks, and logging roads, with “Waterman Creek Mill C.T.C.” written in the bottom left, Sempervirens Funds Historic archive

Take a peek behind the trees at how you have helped the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains–some of the most biodiverse and threatened on Earth–return to nature this year.

A Fainter Footprint in the Forest

In 2023, you protected more than 50 acres of redwood forest bordering Castle Rock State Park. This land had long been caught between commercial timber zoning and the steady expansion of a public park. As one of the last undeveloped inholdings within the park boundary, Castle Rock Hollow plays a quiet but important role in reconnecting forest and trail across the landscape, and can help realign the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail.

But tucked amongst its groves were several dilapidated buildings, unsafe for people and wildlife, and silently seeping chemicals and toxins into the soil and water. Thanks to you, these structures and materials were removed in the summer of 2024, ahead of winter rains and winds that could increase their threat to the forest and all who rely on it.

Watch as photographer Ian Bornarth documents the removal of these structures at Castle Rock Hollow and the space is returned to the forest.

Removing Roads Less Traveled

While not all of the forests we protect have unsafe buildings and materials on them, nearly all of them have roads. Many were designed for short-term industrial uses rather than long-term stability on steep terrain. Some continue to provide necessary access to the forest for stewardship, wildlife monitoring, and 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. With your support, 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.

See Orenda Randuch’s photos before and after the removal of an unused road at the Lompico Headwaters you protected in 2006.

Several crew members stand at the edge of an unused road in the redwoods and look down at a sheer drop from its edge into the creek below, by Orenda Randuch
Two large worn and rusty corrugated metal pipes removed from the creek lay on the unused road behind a tractor that unearthed them, by Orenda Randuch
Crew in hard hats inspect soil and gravel from the unused road being moved back into a gentle slope along the creek bed by a tractor, by Orenda Randuch
After the road is removed, water forms a pool near woody debris in the creek that wildlife like coho and steelhead need to spawn, by Orenda Randuch
The road and its sheer eroded edge have been replaced by a gentle embankment down to the creek lined with large woody debris and caged native plants to restore the creek, by Orenda Randuch

Undamming Water and Wildlife

Unmaintained roads are not the only structures that disrupt forest systems. Dams can alter watersheds more completely and for far longer. A defunct dam on San Vicente Redwoods’ Mill Creek trapped sediment behind it for 100 years—creating poor water quality upstream and poor habitat quality downstream. Endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead trout return from the sea to the forest to spawn the next generation among the pools created by redwood roots.

They depend on loose gravel and cobble to form stable beds for their eggs and to shape pools and riffles that shelter young fish. For nearly a century, that material was trapped behind the Mill Creek dam. Thanks to you, the dam was removed in 2021, and now sediment is able to move downstream again. Within a year, endangered coho salmon fry were documented in the watershed for the first time on record. These young fish will spend several years at sea before returning as adults. We continue to monitor the creek’s recovery through wildlife monitoring and an ongoing environmental DNA sampling project with UCLA and Amah Mutsun Land Trust. In the future, we hope to see the fry observed in Mill Creek complete that cycle and return to spawn, marking the first confirmed generation to do so in more than a century.

Watch as our Stewardship Team return fry to the creek after being counted.

Rooting Out Invasive Species

Infrastructure isn’t the only thing humans brought into the redwoods. As people across the country and globe came to the Santa Cruz mountains, plants and creatures came with them. Invasive plants like French, Scotch, and Italian broom took root in places without pests and pathogens equipped to naturally keep them in check. A single plant, such as old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba), can quickly cover ground in the forest and strangle redwood trees. Invasive plants can be a double-edged sword to the heart of the forest as they go up the canopy. Not only can they grow quickly without natural checks—crowding out the native plants the redwood forest and its creatures rely upon—they are also less fire-resilient—making their big growth a big pile of fuel for a wildfire.

A seemingly harmless sounding species, periwinkle (Vinca major), is particularly difficult to remove because any root left in the soil will regenerate into new plants. Thanks to you, invasive periwinkle and French broom removal projects began in the summer of 2024 in the redwood forest you protected at Lompico Headwaters. In 2025 and beyond, the work has continued as a returning project so native plants can re-establish themselves on the forest floor. Your support allows us to remove invasive plants, their deep roots and copious seeds, so these invaded patches do not become a persistent source of dry, flashy fuel in the hotter, drier years predicted to come.

See our Stewardship Team's photos before and after work to remove a patch of periwinkle from the forest by hand.

A tall patch of invasive periwinkle covers the forest floor at Lompico Headwaters, by Christopher Lopez
After the periwinkle is removed, the native plants can be seen poking through the soil and leaf litter of the forest floor, by Christopher Lopez
Return To Nature Invasive Periwinkle 2 Before Removal Lompico By Christopher Lopez
Following the invasive periwinkle removal project, scattered native plants soak in the much-needed sunshine after being shaded out, by Christopher Lopez

Returning Redwoods to Nature and Resilience

The truth is: redwood forests still bear the scars of a history marked by profoundly destructive human intervention. They have endured axes and bulldozers, but also lingering barriers like dams, buildings, and invasive species. What has changed is how we act now. Stewardship, for us, is the ongoing work of carefully and humbly understanding how to support forests toward what they once were, and what they still have the potential to become.

Protecting our last remaining redwood forests from further development is a crucial first step. By reducing human impacts left on the land, natural systems regain the capacity to respond, adapt, and recover. Together, we will continue to anchor broader efforts to renew watersheds, support resilient forests, and accelerate the collective well-being of ecosystems that redwoods are capable of achieving. With your help, our forests will be resilient and strong, able to support wildlife, clean water, fresh air, cooler temperatures, and healthy communities for generations to come.

Sunlight filters through the forest canopy to illuminate several redwood trees at Lompico Headwaters, by Orenda Randuch

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]]> Protect Año Nuevo Vista https://sempervirens.org/news/protect-ano-nuevo-vista/ Mon, 29 Jul 2024 12:00:53 +0000 https://sempervirens.org/?p=93366 From glittering white ridges to the glittering Pacific Ocean, Año Nuevo’s breathtaking views boast much of what makes the Santa Cruz mountains special. Its shady redwood forest and sunny chaparral interspersed with rare white sands known as “the chalks” support endangered plants and animals. Together, we can protect Año Nuevo Vista’s forest and watershed from development and help connect the largest protected lands and wildlife habitat.

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Año Nuevo Vista

Protecting and Connecting Forests to the Sea

From glittering white ridges to the glittering Pacific Ocean, Año Nuevo Vista’s breathtaking views boast much of what makes the Santa Cruz mountains special. Its shady redwood forest and sunny chaparral interspersed with rare white sands known as “the chalks” support endangered plants and animals. Together, we are protecting Año Nuevo Vista’s forest and watershed from development and helping connect the largest protected lands and wildlife habitat.

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Visit Año Nuevo State Park

photo by Orenda Randuch

Habitats

Just three miles from the coast, Año Nuevo Vista’s 41 acres include a mosaic of habitat types from redwood forest to quickly disappearing maritime chaparral. Atop its ridges are the chalks: a white sandy soil more specifically categorized as “Maymen rock outcrop complex” or “rough broken land.” Here, resilient fire-adapted chaparral species like knobcone pines, chinquapin, scrub oaks, and bush poppies thrive. Despite its unstable, low nutrient soil, the chalks support several rare plants that can’t be found anywhere else. The chalks are the only known habitat for the extremely rare and critically-imperiled Ohlone manzanita and Schreiber's manzanita and home to one of only five stands of Monterey pine trees in the world. Below the chalks’ quick-draining soils, healthy second-growth redwood forest and coast live oaks sprout new growth recovering from the 2020 CZU Fire. Año Nuevo Vista’s diversity of habitat types supports many plants and wildlife within its borders and throughout the watershed.

A chaparral ridge at Año Nuevo Vista overlooks a forested hill above green grasslands along the coast and the blue Pacific Ocean beneath a clear blue sky, by Orenda Randuch

photo by Orenda Randuch

Ano Nuevo Vista Bare Ridge By Orenda Randuch
Ano Nuevo Vista Connections By Orenda Randuch
Berries ripening from lighter shades of pink to deeper red on manzanita branches in the chalks at Año Nuevo Vista, by Orenda Randuch
Ano Nuevo Vista Knobcone Pine Cones By Ian Bornarth
Redwood trees recovering from the 2020 CZU Fire don the beginnings of new fuzzy, green canopies slope down hillsides of the Gazos Creek watershed and out to the blue Pacific Ocean under a clear blue sky, by Orenda Randuch

photo by Orenda Randuch

Water

The headwaters of Old Woman’s Creek spring from Año Nuevo Vista. Running through the property, Old Woman’s Creek supplies water for thirsty forests and wildlife at Año Nuevo Vista and beyond. Old Woman’s Creek feeds into Gazos Creek, a critical habitat and watershed, as well as the Pacific Ocean.

Wildlife

Endangered marbled murrelets, coho salmon, and steelhead trout rely on the Gazos Creek watershed’s route from the ocean to reproduce in the redwood forest. Marbled murrelets nest among old-growth trees while coho and steelhead spawn in creeks amongst their roots. From the redwoods to the ridges, pumas are known to traverse their large ranges along the less populated chalks, leaving their scratches in the warm sand where western fence lizards and rattlesnakes can thrive.

A nearly bare white, sandy ridge dotted with resilient chaparral plants regrowing after the CZU Fire starkly contrast the dark green forested ridges between Año Nuevo Vista and the blue Pacific Ocean beyond, by Orenda Randuch

photo by Orenda Randuch

A finger points to the unprotected area on a map between Año Nuevo State Park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and Butano State Park, by Ian Bornarth

photo by Ian Bornarth

Connections

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 can improve connectivity between 62,000 acres of protected land.

Stewardship

If protected with your support, we can steward Año Nuevo Vista to help restore it from human impacts and make it more resilient for increased wildfires and climate change threats. After the 2020 CZU Fire killed many trees and plants, Año Nuevo Vista’s fragile soils are eroding more quickly and washing into the crucial Gazos Creek watershed. By repairing roads, improving drainage and planting native plants, endangered plants and wildlife will benefit. Cameras will be installed to monitor wildlife’s use and habitat needs. Some areas burned severely in the fire and by removing standing dead trees, fast growing invasive plants, and creating a fire break in a key location, the speed and severity of fires can be decreased—better protecting the forest’s resilience and opportunities for firefighters to manage blazes. Together, we can protect Año Nuevo Vista and care for its woods, water, and wildlife.

A fairy circle of redwood trees with scorched trunks resprouting with fuzzy green growth encompass a sunny, clear blue sky at Año Nuevo Vista, by Ian Bornarth

photo by Ian Bornarth

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]]> Santa Cruz Sandhills https://sempervirens.org/news/santa-cruz-sandhills/ Thu, 06 Jun 2024 23:27:54 +0000 https://sempervirens.org/?p=92829 Among redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains you can find a habitat so rare it doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world: the Santa Cruz sandhills. Species uniquely adapted to its soil cling to their disappearing habitat long interwoven with redwoods. And you could be their best hope for survival. Explore the ancient rarities of sandhills and redwoods through the lens of photographer Orenda Randuch and learn more about the species and how you can help.

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Rarest in the Redwoods

Ancient Santa Cruz Sandhills Habitat
and Unique Species on the Brink

Redwoods aren’t the only ancient things rising from the earth in the Santa Cruz mountains. An incredibly rare habitat and its unique species are disappearing among the redwoods.

Once growing across the Earth, redwood habitat—now a thin stretch along the California coast—is scarce today. But among redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains you can find a habitat so rare it doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world: the Santa Cruz sandhills. Species uniquely adapted to its soil, nearly as old as redwoods themselves, cling to their disappearing habitat long interwoven with redwoods. And you could be their best hope for survival.

Explore the ancient rarities of sandhills and redwoods at one of the longest stretches of sensitive Santa Cruz sandhills habitat left in the world through the lens of photographer Orenda Randuch and learn more about the species and how you can help.

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Visit Sandhills

photos by Orenda Randuch

Nearly as ancient as redwoods—with fossil records dating back nearly to the dinosaurs—a 15-million year old sea floor emerges amongst the giants. Its Zayante soil, comprised of about 92% sand, can’t hold onto much nutrients or water. But these hot, dry pockets—starkly contrasting with their wet, dark redwood forest neighbors—support numerous species adapted to their extreme conditions, some of which aren't found anywhere else. The unfortunate similarity of sandhills and redwood habitats is that human impacts and climate change are leading to their decline. And like so many other things in the natural world, we are losing species faster than we can study them.

But in the case of the Santa Cruz sandhills and its inhabitants, no one can protect them better than you.

A view of rare, Santa Cruz sandhills habitat on a slope surrounded by forests
A manzanita branch casts a dark shadow against the bright Zayante soil in Santa Cruz sandhills
Up close, grains of Zayante soil reflect tiny rainbows of light from their surfaces
Miocene fossil shapes can be seen in the delicate sandstone of Santa Cruz sandhills
Fossils from a sea cow found in Santa Cruz sandhills habitat

Harsh Habitat

It might look a bit barren, especially compared to the lush redwood forest next door. And unfortunately, that may have led to the mining, development, and decline of this ultra-rare habitat. But ecologist Dr. Jodi McGraw, who wrote the book—or rather the Sandhills Conservation and Management Plan—says while they may be smaller, she sees more species in the sandhills’ harsh conditions, including creatures from the redwoods and sometimes even the redwoods themselves, than she does in the forest over the decades she has studied the habitats.

Dr. Jodi McGraw examines sticky monkeyflower growing along the trail in Santa Cruz sandhills habitat, by Orenda Randuch
Dr. Jodi McGraw examines sticky monkeyflower growing along the trail in Santa Cruz sandhills habitat
A sandy hill top dotted with tiny plants and blue flags marking the trail looks bare compared to the surrounding green habitats
A ridge of closed Santa Cruz sandhills habitat erodes in a patch on the left from continued use
Foggy redwood forest along the sunny edge of Santa Cruz sandhills

Like the shark teeth and shell fossils found in its sand, the sediment found in Santa Cruz sandhills rose up through space and time, from the bottom of the ocean during the Miocene Epoch, about 23.03 to 5.333 million years ago. Of the approximately 6,000 acres of ancient sea floor that gave rise to Santa Cruz sandhills habitat, Dr. McGraw says about 3,000 acres remain. Making them even more rare, those 3,000 acres are actually two different sandhills communities: sandhills chaparral characterized by manzanitas, and sand parkland featuring disjunct populations of ponderosa pines found much lower than their usual 3,000-foot plus elevations.

Manzanita and wildflowers line a thin white, sandy trail through Santa Cruz sandhills chaparral habitat toward trees in the distance, by Orenda Randuch
Santa Cruz sandhills sand chapparral habitat at Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve
Ponderosa pines rise from a sandy slope of Santa Cruz sandhills parkland, by Orenda Randuch
Ponderosa pines rise from a sandy slope of Santa Cruz sandhills parkland
A sandy trail wind through lush green Santa Cruz sandhills sand chaparral habitat and the towering redwood forest beyond, by Orenda Randuch
A sandy trail through lush, green Santa Cruz sandhills chaparral habitat and the towering redwood forest beyond

The sandy low-nutrient soil is sandhills plants' first line of defense. “This habitat is so extreme, other species can’t survive there,” explains James Maughn, a docent who guides hikes through protected Santa Cruz sandhills parkland habitat at Quail Hollow Ranch County Park. The plants that do grow here know how to survive with very little—little nutrients, little water, little shade, and very little stability in an easily shifting ground. These conditions are nearly opposite of those in the neighboring redwood forest habitat, but the water that slips through those sandy soils refills aquifers that give life to the redwoods and the rest of the ecosystem. Living in such close proximity, redwood and sandhill plant communities often share the same water, weather, and fire. And fire is sandhills plants’ next line of defense. Like coast redwoods, Santa Cruz sandhills plants are fire-adapted and need fire to survive and thrive.

James (Jim) Maughn smiles looking at a plant along the trail through Santa Cruz sandhills habitat, by Orenda Randuch
James (Jim) Maughn smiles looking at a plant along the trail through Santa Cruz sandhills habitat
The still standing blackened remains of Santa Cruz sandhills plants at Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve after the 2020 CZU Fire
Lupine flowers blanket the Santa Cruz sandhills to the forest edge of recovering and dead trees at Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve three years after the CZU Fire

Persistent Plants

Sandhills species have adapted to live without what most plants need and through what most plants can’t. Unique life grows from unique conditions. Three endangered plants live in the Santa Cruz sandhills and two others can’t be found anywhere else on Earth.

Ben Lomond Spineflower

One look at their pointy petals and you can guess where the Ben Lomond spineflower (Chorizanthe pungens var. hartwegiana) gets its name. But consider yourself lucky if you do see one of these federally-endangered wildflowers. They bloom from April through July but their small populations have only been found in the Santa Cruz mountains north of Santa Cruz. While they like some habitat disturbances such as a trail edge or gopher hole to open up space for them, invasive grasses making their way from nearby homes or past misguided attempts to “stabilize” the soil are a disturbance that further threatens their survival, explains Maughn. That being said, Henry Cowell State Park Interpreter Dylan McManus might consider himself, and the sandhills, incredibly lucky. At the end of May, McManus found a patch of Ben Lomond spineflower in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. And it may be a new patch that no one has documented before.

Very tiny pink flowers of Ben Lomond spineflower dot the Zayante soil in Santa Cruz sandhills

Ben Lomond Buckwheat

Nestled in openings in sandhills chaparral or beneath the ponderosa pines in sandhills parkland, Ben Lomond buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum var. decurrens) blooms support pollinators from June to October. Of the 25 likely butterfly and moth pollinators, Dr. McGraw said there may be a subspecies of dotted blue butterfly exclusive to the Santa Cruz sandhills. Unfortunately, despite Ben Lomond buckwheat’s already small numbers, small habitat, and the California Native Plant Society listing it as one of California’s most rare and endangered plants, it isn’t protected by federal or state laws. Although they are a fire adapted species, with so little known about these rare habitats and their inhabitants, Dr. McGraw says the challenge has shifted from reintroducing fire to sandhills plant communities in the previous decade to preventing too-frequent fire as a result of climate change. “Fires too often can potentially prevent even fire-adapted plants from persisting,” she notes.

Santa Cruz Wallflower

Of the sandhills’ endangered plants, the Santa Cruz wallflower (Erysimum teretifolium) is the most rare. “It takes multiple years to mature and flowers only once”, explains McManus. When it does bloom, its bright yellow petals typically appear from February to May in open areas and along trail edges. “Santa Cruz wallflowers don’t do well with competition,” Maughn shares, which is why populations at Quail Hollow and Bonny Doon benefit from active management to decrease erosion, pull invasive plants, and utilize fire to fend off encroaching plants and awaken seeds.

Santa Cruz Cypress

Seeds like those of the endangered Santa Cruz cypress (Hesperocyparis abramsiana var. abramsiana), are serotinous and open only from the heat of fire. Endemic to the Santa Cruz mountains, the Santa Cruz cypress can only be found on 350 acres, half of which is Santa Cruz sandhills habitat. The Santa Cruz cypress was once found in Henry Cowell State Park sandhills habitat but now is on the brink of extinction, McManus laments.

But all isn’t lost yet.

Some endemic species are surviving in surprising ways.

Santa Cruz County Monkeyflower

A rare plant found only in the county, Santa Cruz County monkeyflower (Mimulus rattanii ssp. decurtatus) isn’t a usual suspect in most places including rare sandhills habitat. However, McManus says he sees them at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park growing in burned areas of sandhills chaparral where it blooms from May to July.

California Pinefoot

As harsh as the Santa Cruz sandhills seem for plants, a rare endemic plant thought only to grow in northern California was recently found in sandhills habitat for the first time. “Last season, a California pinefoot [Pityopus californicus] was discovered in the Santa Cruz sandhills at Henry Cowell. It was one of the most southern coastal documentations of the plant, a range expansion for the species,” McManus shares. Finding the species further south and in such a rare and specialized habitat is unexpected.

Santa Cruz Sandhills California Pinefoot By Orenda Randuch

Bonny Doon Manzanita

Although Bonny Doon manzanitas (Arctostaphylos silvicola) have silvery leaves that reflect light and keep water in order to survive in the sandhills, they can’t survive fire. But they can flourish from it. Like Santa Cruz cypress, Bonny Doon manzanita relies on fire to create areas of open, bare soil and promote seed germination, McGraw notes. Fires in the last 20 years have helped to reestablish Bonny Doon manzanitas, many of which sprouted from seeds collected underground by their rodent custodians.

Santa Cruz Sandhills Bonny Doon Manzanita By Orenda Randuch

Waning Wildlife

Santa Cruz Kangaroo Rat

Rodents like the rare Santa Cruz kangaroo rat (Dipodomys venustus venustus) are considered a keystone species for the outsized impact they have on their habitat. Their contributions to storing seeds likely helped save the Bonny Doon manzanita they rely on for shoots to eat and shelter in its brush. Sadly, populations monitored since the 1980s started to disappear as off trail recreation crushed their burrows and eroded their fragile habitat. A bit like a kangaroo, their powerful hind legs help them move across the shifting sands but their short front legs wouldn’t be able to dig a burrow in anything harder than the loose Zayante soils of sandhills. It was looking bleak as Santa Cruz kangaroo rats were extirpated from all but one of their only known habitat locations. Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park had the last known population of Santa Cruz kangaroo rats in the sandhills. That is, until 2019, when they were rediscovered in Sierra Azul Open Space after 76 years. Mid Peninsula Open Space began work to enhance the habitat at Sierra Azul this spring and researchers are hoping this newfound population can help them gather enough data to get the imperiled Santa Cruz Kangaroo rat the Endangered Species Act protections before these special stewards are gone forever.

While the Santa Cruz kangaroo rats may not depend solely on the sandhills habitat for survival, other species do. Like little deserts in the rainforest, Santa Cruz sandhills have nurtured creatures like the desert-iconic the greater roadrunner and more specialized species, like the Mount Hermon June beetle, contributing to the incredible biodiversity of the Santa Cruz mountains. There are still species in the Santa Cruz sandhills that haven’t been described by science, and of those that have, two are endangered.

A sandy trail wind through lush green Santa Cruz sandhills sand chaparral habitat and the towering redwood forest beyond, by Orenda Randuch
An interpretive sign at Quail Hollow Ranch County Park illustrates the rarest unique species in Santa Cruz sandhills, by Orenda Randuch

Zayante Band-Winged Grasshopper

Zayante band-winged grasshoppers (Trimerotropis infantilis) has been federally listed as an endangered species since 1997, but it's not for lack of skills. They can only fly a few feet, but that’s pretty good by grasshopper standards, and when they fly they produce a buzzing sound that helps them evade predators. The challenge is, they are currently only known to live in Santa Cruz sandhills parkland habitat—the rarest of the rare with approximately 600 acres of suitable habitat remaining. And without fire to help hold them at bay, both native and non-native plants are moving in and changing the habitat with shade and leaf litter, which might sound harmless but it decreases both the imperiled grasshoppers and their habitat. McManus reports Zayante band-winged grasshopper populations are very small and you’re unlikely to see one in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park but your best chance may be during their flight season from May to October, with peak flight activity between July and August.

Mount Hermon June Beetle

Their fellow endangered sandhills insect, the Mount Hermon June beetle (Polyphylla barbata) faces a few more challenges than the Zayante band-winged grasshopper. Mount Hermon June beetles spend most of their lives as grubs, enriching the rare Zayante soil underground. Despite their humble and crucial role, they’re often viewed as pests by those who encounter them. “It's really hard to get people excited about beetles,” Maughn laughs. Those who might lend the endangered species some compassion could still easily confuse it with the common ten-lined beetle. And while disappearing habitat threatens their survival, so does leaving it. Mount Hermon June beetles are attracted to light and water which can draw them from their protected habitat into nearby yards treated with pesticides and into pools—they’re not swimmers. Unsuspecting neighbors may not even realize they’ve found an endangered species.

A Mount Hermon june beetle is smaller and has less defined lines than its look-alike ten-lined beetle neighbor
Mount Hermon june beetle (left) is smaller with less defined lines than the ten-lined beetle (right)

Of course not all species that benefit from these rare habitats are endemic or endangered. Wildlife like bobcats, hummingbirds, and acorn woodpeckers that shelter in the redwood forest are known to seek food in the Santa Cruz sandhills. “Species utilize both habitats for a variety of reasons,” Dr. McGraw says. Even redwoods themselves can be found enjoying drainages that keep their roots wet in the sandhills, she points out, like those growing near Eagle Creek in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. “But banana slugs probably steer clear,” Dr. McGraw laughs. And the sandhills bring a bit of the desert to the redwoods as well.

Dylan McManus moving a Pacific Gopher Snake off trail
Merriam's chipmunks
Western fence lizard
Acorn woodpecker
Depositing an acorn
Acorns in a "granary tree"

The sandhills provide habitat for wildlife from hotter drier habitats that might not otherwise be in the Santa Cruz mountains. Like the California whiptail lizard, (Aspidoscelis tigris munda) which has a need for speed and enjoys the Santa Cruz sandhills warm, open, sands where they can bury themselves and run down their prey while hunting. But some of these species are also feeling the impacts of our presence. The greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) was seen in the sandhills until they were unfortunately hunted down by domestic cats living nearby in 1964. Invasive ants also living in homes nearby are making their way into the sandhills and outcompeting the native ants the Blainville's horned lizards (Phrynosoma blainvillii)—still recovering from a century of exploitation being sold as pets and varnish-coated tourist souvenirs—eat there.

Brown earth transitions to light Zayante sand halfway down a trail lined with flowering ceanothus & yerba santa, by Orenda Randuch

Saving Sandhills

Santa Cruz sandhills habitat is not only extraordinarily unique—complementing the redwood forests and adding tremendous biodiversity to the Santa Cruz mountain region—it’s also extraordinarily fragile. “We’re still learning about this community, but the learning window is closing and it's important for us to steward it before it disappears,” McManus says. The good news? The second longest contiguous stretch of Santa Cruz sandhills habitat left on Earth is protected at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. But the struggle to save it is far from over.

“When you add hiking, biking and horseback riding to sandhills, the landscape changes at an alarming rate”

A Santa Cruz sandhills trail has eroded several feet down from recreational use in a matter of years, by Orenda Randuch

The trail in this second largest contiguous stretch of sandhills follows the edge of a restricted area, allowing visitors to enjoy the fragile area from the perimeter with minimal impact to the sensitive habitat and its inhabitants. But sadly some visitors are loving the sandhills to death by going off trail, making their own trails, and tearing out trail signage that helps other visitors stay on trail. “The trail system (in the sandhills extension) can be confusing due to the fact that illegal and new trails are continually being developed within the closed area, and the park faces an uphill battle to install infrastructure that isn't vandalized," McManus shares. And while some may think going off trail isn’t that big of a deal, in sandhills, it's one of the biggest. “This isn’t sandstone like Moab,” McGraw explains. “This crumbles at your touch. Sandhills erode incredibly fast,” she continues. When you add hiking, biking and horseback riding to sandhills, the landscape changes at an alarming rate, McManus agrees.

Luckily, there are several ways you can recreate responsibly in and learn more about how to protect Santa Cruz sandhills.

Where to Go

While many wildflowers bloom in spring, sandhills plant communities will begin flowering with manzanitas in the winter with wildflowers blossoming in the spring and often lasting through summer.

Guided Hikes

  • In the summer, McManus says Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park leads hikes in the sandhills at 9am on the second Saturday every month. Check out their schedule for the next hike.
  • April is the only time of year the public can visit Quail Hollow’s ultra-rare sandhills parkland habitat. It’s only accessible by guided hikes every Sunday. Spaces are limited and fill up fast, so Maughn recommends visitors check for openings in February or March.
Santa Cruz Sandhills Manzanita And Butterfly By Orenda Randuch

Trails

If you can’t snag a space on one of the highly sought after guided hikes, here are some of the best trails to admire the fragile fleeting beauty of Santa Cruz sandhills habitat:

Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve

Dr. McGraw recommends the Silverleaf and Wallflower loops to traverse sandhills habitat.

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Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

McManus suggests hiking to the Observation Deck, which has both easy and moderate version, for a trip through and a great view of sandhills.

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Quail Hollow Ranch County Park

Maughn recommends the Sunset Trail that features sandhills chaparral along the way.

Learn More

How to Help

The Sandhills Conservation and Management Plan just turned 20 this May and Dr. McGraw is looking at updating it with the latest science and priorities. In the 20 years since the plan was created, there has been heartbreak as populations have disappeared and delight as new populations have been found. Hope is not lost—Santa Cruz sandhills greatest hope for survival could be you.

You can help by:

Staying on Trails

Staying on trails and adhering to trail closures is the best way to enjoy nature responsibly but especially crucial in such rare, fragile habitats as Santa Cruz sandhills, Dr. McGraw and McManus urge. "If we don't steward this landscape and it continues on its current path of degradation, then over time species' densities and distributions will change and the unique biodiversity we experience when recreating responsibly in this ecosystem will also begin to change,” McManus explains. Please be mindful of your impact on and movement of the sand. These soils crumble and are displaced easily, Maughn adds.

A “Closed for restoration” sign in amidst illegal trails in Santa Cruz sandhills habitat at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, by Orenda Randuch

It’s estimated that two-thirds of Santa Cruz sandhills habitat is unprotected and privately-owned. If you live near these incredibly rare ecosystems, here are more ways you can help:

Volunteer

Removing invasive plants can be hard work but it's one of the most helpful ways to help care for endangered Santa Cruz sandhills habitat. Look for volunteer opportunities at parks with sandhills habitat like Quail Hollow Ranch County Park and Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.

Pets

When living near sandhills, keeping pets inside and on leash where appropriate can have an enormous positive impact for sandhills species.

Lights

If you are a fan of bugs, you can help protect them by turning off unnecessary outdoor lights that draw them away from safer habitat. If you’re not a fan of bugs, you can see less of them by turning off unnecessary lights outside that attract them to your home. It’s a win-win!

Inform

Not everyone knows how rare, fragile, and unique Santa Cruz sandhills are. Share with others what you know about this habitat and these incredible species and let them know how they can help. Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park has lots of great resources for sharing and learning more and McManus is working on more:

A bumblebee approaches lupine in Santa Cruz sandhills habitat, by Orenda Randuch

More to Explore

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]]> Wildflowers After Wildfire https://sempervirens.org/news/wildflowers-after-wildfire/ Wed, 14 Apr 2021 15:08:07 +0000 https://sempervirens.org/?p=12784 The Santa Cruz Mountains are a rich and dynamic place with diverse habitats and landscapes rising from the shores to the ridges. In this guide you can explore three key plant communities - Santa Cruz Sandhills, Chaparral, and Redwood Forest - and the special flowers, plants, and trees to look for as fire-scarred landscapes reset and rebound. Photo by James Maughn.

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Wildflowers After Wildfire

A Guide for the Santa Cruz Mountains

From fire comes life. Fire can have a remarkable power to reset natural systems, making them healthier and more resilient. Wildfires in 2020 were devastating, but as the ash enriches the soil with nutrients, certain plants—some long dormant—will burst forth in a dazzling display of life. These “fire followers” will be a sight to behold.

Read on to learn about the ecosystems in the Santa Cruz mountains and the rare and special plants and flowers that are likely to flourish this spring.

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Visit Parks

photo by James Maughn.

A Guide for Wildflowers After Wildfire

Produced with the California Native Plant Society

The Santa Cruz mountains are a rich and dynamic place with diverse habitats and landscapes rising from the shores to the ridges. We will explore three key plant communities - Santa Cruz Sandhills, Chaparral, and Redwood Forest - and the special flowers, plants, and trees to look for as fire-scarred landscapes reset and rebound.

What to Know Before You Go

Habitats
Rare and Special Plants
Maps for Viewing Safely
Tips for Exploring Safely

Ready to carefully explore nature? Although areas that burned in the CZU Lightning Complex fire like Big Basin Redwoods and Butano State Parks are closed for safety reasons, many fire follower species can be seen for a few years after a fire when burn areas are safe and open. Here are three unique habitats in the Santa Cruz mountains - Santa Cruz Sandhills, Chaparral, and Redwood Forest - and some of the rare fire following plants we might find in each one.

Santa Cruz Sandhills

photo by James Maughn.

Habitat Fast Fact Explore
Habitat

A rock filled with sea fossils in the Santa Cruz Sandhills. by kattrap

Extraordinarily rare and delicate, Santa Cruz Sandhills habitat doesn't exist anywhere else in the world and only 40% of it remains. Once the bottom of the ocean, the Santa Cruz Sandhills are made up of rough Zayante soil filled with sea fossils from the Miocene. These sensitive sand dunes, now miles inland between the wet redwood forests and the beach, support many types of wildlife including rare and endemic species that can’t be found anywhere else. These species have specially adapted to the Santa Cruz Sandhills’ low-nutrient soil and California’s natural wildfires.

Fast Fact

Considered endangered since 1973, the Santa Cruz cypress can only be found on 350 acres half of which is in the Santa Cruz sandhills habitat. According to California Native Plant Society’s Vegetation Science Team, Santa Cruz cypress are serotinous, which means their cones stay mostly closed until they are opened by the heat of a fire. In addition to triggering cones to open, fire also clears out competitive plants, providing more sunlight and bare mineral soil for the new trees. Look for open cones and sprouts.

photo by James Maughn.

More to Look For in the Santa Cruz Sandhills

Santa Cruz sandhill habitat flourishes with wildflowers in the spring that die away before the heat and drought of the summer months. These four plants are endemic and specially adapted to the rare Santa Cruz sandhills habitat, some with silver hairs or coloring on their leaves to reflect sunlight and limit water loss in the hot, sandy area. Without natural wildfire to reset their habitat, their already limited protected habitat degrades and further threatens these rare, fleeting beauties. Recent fires should help to create the ideal conditions for them this spring.

Ben Lomond Buckwheat

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Ben Lomond Wallflower

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Bonny Doon Manzanita

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Ben Lomond Spineflower

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Explore Santa Cruz Sandhills

Chaparral

Habitat Fast Fact Explore
Habitat

Brewer's Calandrinia, also known as Brewer's redmaids, rising above grasses. by J. Maughn

Brewer's calandrinia, also known as Brewer's redmaids, rising above grasses. by J. Maughn

Chaparral is a broad plant community of woody, evergreen shrubs like chamise, interior live and scrub oaks, manzanita, toyon, monkeyflower, ceanothus and sage that are well suited to life in California. In the Santa Cruz mountains, chaparral can be found on the lower parts of the driest, hottest slopes and along the coast in the rare “maritime chaparral”.

Plants in chaparral communities are adapted to low nutrient soil, drought, and of course fire. According to the California Native Plant Society, chaparral is one of the most fire-adapted plant communities in North America. Although chaparral is flammable and burns at high-intensities, fires every few decades are exactly what some of the native plants need to survive and thrive over invasive plant competition. After the canopy is burned away, some chaparral plants will resprout and others, like the rare Brewer’s calandrinia, will emerge from seeds that have waited decades for their chance to shine in the sun. Look for rare, fire following plants that had been sleeping beneath the cover of dense chaparral to awaken for the next few years after a fire.

Fast Fact

Featured Plant: Bush Poppy

Bush poppy is a hardy plant  that can grow several feet tall in the right conditions like well-draining soil of a chaparral slope. Its long lasting, bright yellow flowers often bloom in late winter and can linger into June. Like the plant they come from, the seeds are hardy as well, often requiring the heat of fire to crack the seed for germination to begin. They can also resprout from their stumps after a fire if they aren’t too badly damaged underground. Bush poppies are among the first plants to pop up after a fire and we can expect to see more of this cool fire follower in areas burned by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire. Bush poppies can often be found growing near manzanita.

photo by James Maughn.

More to Look For in Chaparral

Many types of manzanitas grow in chaparral habitats and have interesting responses to fire. Although some manzanitas have a large, aboveground storage system called a burl that they can quickly regrow from, many of the rarest types of manzanitas must be much more patient. These two rare, endemic manzanitas cannot stump sprout and must wait for their seed bank in the soils to be passed over by fire to germinate making this a hopeful time to look for these two threatened species.

Schreiber’s Manzanita

This manzanita has only been found in a few locations on the western slopes of the Santa Cruz mountains including seedlings that grew after a fire in 2009. Its blooms can help you spot it from March to April.

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Ohlone Manzanita

Even more rare than Schreiber’s manzanita, this manzanita wasn’t discovered until the 1970’s and has only been found on Ben Lomond Mountain. Although its seeds rely on fires to sprout, if fires happen too quickly the new plants may not produce more seeds in time. It blooms from February to March.

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Monterey Pine

One of only a handful of native stands of this threatened, endemic tree can be found in Año Nuevo State Park. Monterey pines need fire's heat to open their cones and leave behind the nutrient-rich ash and sunlight it needs to germinate. Without fire, there is less germination and more pests and pathogens like the non-native fungus, pitch canker, that's plagued them since the 1980’s.

Learn More

Explore Chaparral

Redwood Forest

photo by I. Bornarth.

Habitat Fast Fact Explore
Habitat

Redwood Trees Sprout New Growth, Charred But Alive After The CZU Lightning Complex Fire. by I. Bornarth

Redwood Trees Sprout New Growth, Charred But Alive After The CZU Lightning Complex Fire. by I. Bornarth

The Santa Cruz Mountains are home to some of the most southern native redwood forests. After clear-cut logging in the late 1800’s, only 5% of old-growth redwoods, the oldest, largest trees, are left. In the Santa Cruz mountains, second-growth coast redwoods often grow along other trees like Douglas-fir and hardwoods like tanoak, live oaks, California bay, dogwood, and madrones. The iconic coast redwood usually grows on the lower slopes, basins, and flat areas of the Santa Cruz mountains where water from rain and fog will collect helping to give the world’s tallest tree all of the moisture it needs. Known as “fog drip”, up to 30% of the moisture in a redwood forest is collected by the trees from fog which can be condensed on leaves and dripped down to the soil and also absorbed right into the redwood leaves themselves. Although studies have shown that fog has been decreasing in the Santa Cruz mountains, leaving redwood forests a little drier and the likelihood of fire greater, redwoods and many other plants in the redwood forest are adapted to wildfire. Coast redwoods have thick, fire resistant bark. If fire does manage to damage a redwood tree, it can resprout from trunks, branches, stumps or roots. Tanoaks and madrones can also resprout following fire. Hollows burned out of a living tree by fire become homes for wildlife, plants, and insects.

Fast Fact

Featured Plant: Santa Cruz Mountains beardtongue

The Santa Cruz Mountains beardtongue is the fire follower that California Native Plant Society Rare Plant Treasure Hunt Manager Amy Patten is most excited to see after the August 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fires because “there are very few known extant populations and it’s endemic to the Santa Cruz Mountains.” Although not officially protected federally or by the state, plant experts consider Santa Cruz Mountains beardtongue threatened. This incredibly rare wildflower likes the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains, showing up after fires and in other disturbed areas such as logging roads. In 2011, 100 plants were found in Bonny Doon after a fire cleared chaparral from the area. The Santa Cruz beardtongue’s roots are deep enough to survive fire and the re-sprouted plants enjoy the after-effects of enriched soil and extra sunlight the fire creates. Following the rains, these flowers will flourish and their blooms may be spotted in May and June. Once other plants catch up to this fire follower and vegetation gets dense it will likely decrease again until opportunity—and flames—arise.

photo by by Mathew Mosher.

More to Look For in Redwood Forests

Fairy Slipper Orchid

Fairy slipper orchids are native to the Santa Cruz Mountains but not often spotted. Like their greek name Calypso suggests they are typically concealed in dense cover of the redwood forest. As geophytes, these beauties can regrow from their underground storage in corms after a fire.

Learn More

Blueblossom Ceanothus

Although blueblossom ceanothus are native to the Santa Cruz Mountains, they are not rare or endemic like many of the other fire followers in this guide but their lovely fragrance can be enjoyed year after year as they’ll often spring up long after settling in from a fire.

Learn More

Dudley’s Lousewort

There is much still to learn about this threatened, rare, endemic plant but what we do know is interesting—banana slug slime is one way its seeds are likely dispersed and it benefits from disturbances like road cuts and fire. It may need bare soil below and a closed canopy forest above, so, keep an eye out along road or trail edges in April to June when it blooms.

Learn More

Explore Redwood Forest

Wildflowers After Wildfire Hike List on AllTrails

In partnership with AllTrails, these maps feature destinations that provide a view, while encouraging you to enjoy and discover what you find from a distance, to protect habitats. Check out our curated hikes with great wildflower and rare plant viewing potential, Wildflowers After Wildfire: A Guide to the Santa Cruz Mountains by Sempervirens Fund on AllTrails. While certainly not a comprehensive list, these hikes will help you experience the habitats and you may see some amazing flowers. The best times to find parking and experience fewer hikers at parks and preserves are on weekdays and late afternoons on weekends.

You Can Help

Protecting Rare Plants

If you think you see one of these rare beauties, take a picture! Upload your photo to iNaturalist, which can identify plants right from your photos and help other naturalists id the plant, to provide CNPS’ Fire Followers program with crucial information for recovery and conservation efforts from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire.

And please don’t forget to share your photo with Sempervirens Fund—tag @sempervirensfund on Instagram—to help protect more habitat for the amazing plants and wildlife of the Santa Cruz mountains! You can also enter your photos in our first ever monthly Santa Cruz Mountains Photo Contest to help raise awareness about the beauty at risk and you could also win cool prizes to help you enjoy it.

Plant Pics Fire Followers

How to Make an Observation with iNaturalist app

To learn how to upload your plant photo to make an observation on iNaturalist you can read instructions here to get started or watch the video below.

How to Make an Observation on iNaturalist using our Mobile App from iNaturalist on Vimeo.

More to Explore

To learn more about some of the rare and interesting plants of the Santa Cruz mountains, watch Under the Redwoods: Treasure Hunting in the Santa Cruz Mountains with Amy Patten, a Rare Plant Treasure Hunt Manager with the California Native Plant Society.

Sempervirens Fund produced this guide with

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]]> Clematis Removal Project Underway in San Vicente Redwoods https://sempervirens.org/news/clematis-removal-project-underway/ Tue, 12 Jun 2018 07:00:00 +0000 https://sempervirens.org/about/press/clematis-removal-project-underway/ DAVENPORT >> This week, Sempervirens Fund will begin work with Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), Save the Redwoods League and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to treat and control the invasive Clematis vitalba (Clematis) on 30 acres of watershed within the San Vicente Redwoods property, a large, park-sized property which is co-owned by…

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The invasive plant Clematis vitalba can overwhelm even the largest of redwood trees. (Photo: Ian Bonarth)

DAVENPORT >> This week, Sempervirens Fund will begin work with Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), Save the Redwoods League and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to treat and control the invasive Clematis vitalba (Clematis) on 30 acres of watershed within the San Vicente Redwoods property, a large, park-sized property which is co-owned by Sempervirens and POST and managed by the four organizations.

Also known as “old man’s beard,” Clematis is an insidious vine believed to have been introduced into the area as a house plant by a resident of Bella Vista, a town that once existed downstream of the quarry. Although Bella Vista was destroyed by a landslide in 1962, Clematis has continued to thrive. Today, it grows aggressively over anything in its path, suffocating all vegetation – including mighty redwood trees – as it goes. Its spread threatens anadromous fish and other wildlife habitat, water quality, and ecosystem health (including coast redwood forestlands) throughout the lower watershed by completely engulfing native vegetation.

The Clematis Removal Project will address the Clematis infestation in the watershed by controlling the invasive plant on the San Vicente Redwoods property, monitoring and documenting the success or failure of treatment methods used, and laying the groundwork for a future phase to control Clematis on the adjacent Cotoni-Coast National Monument property and ultimately eradicate it from the watershed.

Sempervirens Fund, a 118-year old land trust focused on the connection, protection and restoration of redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains, will be releasing a new five-year Strategic Plan this fall. While the protection of land remains the organization’s primary mission, restoration of ecologically-important forest lands such as the Clematis-choked San Vicente Watershed will be an increasingly high priority in years to come.

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