Protecting Habitat from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific Ocean

Snapshots from Cascade Creek

Experience the Cascade Creek property through photos as the League advances the effort to protect this jewel of a landscape connecting the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Cascade Creek is an ecological keystone property featuring more than 100 acres of old growth, as well as healthy second growth and a rich diversity of plants.

Photos by Max Forster.

 

Cascade Creek is a stunning and ecologically rich habitat that consists of over 100 acres of old growth and second growth redwoods forest.
The League is raising funds to protect Cascade Creek, an ecological keystone property that will create contiguous protected habitat from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. From this ridge, there’s a view of a unique landform of siltstone, also known as chalks.

 

Redwoods nestled in a bed of sorrels on Cascade Creek, in the ancestral territory of the Quiroste tribe.
Cascade Creek is in the ancestral territory of the Quiroste tribe. There are no known surviving members of this tribe, and so today the area continues to be stewarded by the neighboring Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. The League had the opportunity to work with the Amah Mutsun Land Trust on an archaeological survey of the property, and the tribe’s stewards found many traditional plants.

 

Dan Winterson, with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, stands among the approximately 100 acres of old-growth coast redwoods on the Cascade Creek property.
Dan Winterson, with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, stands among the approximately 100 acres of old-growth coast redwoods on the Cascade Creek property. Cascade Creek is home to both old-growth and healthy second-growth stands towering over verdant beds of redwood sorrels, western sword ferns, and trilliums.

 

Second growth redwood trees abound on Cascade Creek
The property features many large young trees, which are thriving on stable soils with adequate nutrients and water. These second-growth stands are already developing the qualities of older forests.

 

Cascade Creek waterfall
The namesake creek flows down through the forest and over a waterfall just south of the property on State Park land.

 

Yellow Banana Slug
The land provides a healthy habitat that can support a wide array of wildlife, from banana slugs to endangered marbled murrelets to mountain lions.

 

Support Our Work

Cascade Creek is a flagship project of Forever Forest: The Campaign for the Redwoods. To permanently protect Cascade Creek, the League must raise $9.6 million for the purchase and stewardship costs by May 30, 2020. Donate now to secure this forest forever.

About the author

Dana Viloria joined Save the Redwoods League in 2019 as Writer/Storyteller and Editor. In addition to amplifying people’s stories in nature, she loves building community in the outdoors.

bear reading the blog
Get the latest redwood updates in your inbox

One Response to “Protecting Habitat from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific Ocean”

  1. Tom Lincoln

    Mr. Holder’s talk was most inspiring….Keep up your wonderful work. I have not been to CA for 5 or 6 years, but remember several wonderful walks in the redwoods with our good friends in S.F. We look forward to doing that again soon enough…..

    – Boston, Massachusetts April 14,, 2020

    Reply

Leave a Reply