San Vicente Redwoods, near Davenport, is the largest privately-held redwood forest in the Santa Cruz mountains. In the past two centuries, it has been an active site for mining, clear-cut logging, and railroads. Despite considerable impacts from these activities, magnificent redwood stands remained and there we can restore natural conditions to the areas in need. In 2011, Sempervirens Fund, along with an unprecedented coalition of land trust partners, purchased the 8,532-acre property, to heal and restore the forest. San Vicente Redwoods’ old-growth redwoods<\/a> and eight creeks are home to many species of wildlife<\/a> and plants<\/a> including the endangered marbled murrelet<\/a>, endangered coho salmon<\/a>, threatened California red-legged frog<\/a>, and rare plants, such as the Point Reyes horkelia and Santa Cruz manzanita.<\/p>\r\n San Vicente Redwoods links 27,000 protected acres from the ridge to the sea-providing habitat, wildlife corridors, and countless recreation opportunities. For the partners, San Vicente Redwoods is where forest stewardship and public access can thrive in harmony.<\/p>\r\n In August and September 2020, the CZU Lightening Fire Complex burned more than 86,000 acres in the Santa Cruz mountains. This is one of the many properties that has been affected. We are working to make the property safe, repair damaged infrastructure like roads and culverts, and restore habitat by addressing landslide threats, clearing sediment and debris from streams, removing invasive species, and helping redwoods and other native plants to regrow. You can read more about redwoods recovery and restoration<\/a> here and throughout the Santa Cruz mountains.<\/p>\r\n Donate Now <\/a><\/p>\r\n The damaging human impacts over the past century have created a complex and large-scale conservation and restoration challenge. While some trees may be more than a thousand years old, clear-cut logging practices left groves of stunted trees growing too closely together and miles of old roads in need of repair. A lack of fallen trees diminishes habitat in the creeks and on the forest floor.<\/p>\r\n A visionary conservation plan addresses each area to protect old-growth redwoods, help overcrowded trees grow, enhance habitat in creeks and forest floors, remove an obsolete and obstructive dam<\/a>, improve water quality in the creeks, reduce major wildfire risks, and monitor wildlife to help inform future stewardship projects and public access. San Vicente Redwoods’ trails were carefully planned to maximize recreation and minimize impacts to wildlife.<\/p>\r\nWhere Recreation Meets Restoration<\/h2>\r\n