San Vicente Redwoods

San Vicente Redwoods is an emerging 8,500 acres (34 km2) mixed-use open space in Davenport, California.[1] It is the largest privately owned parcel in Santa Cruz County, California, and one of the largest in California.[2]

San Vicente Redwoods
CEMEX Redwoods, Lonestar Timberlands
Map showing the location of San Vicente Redwoods
Map showing the location of San Vicente Redwoods
Location of the San Vicente Redwoods in California
LocationDavenport, CA
Nearest citySanta Cruz, California
Coordinates37°01′05″N 122°11′50″W
Area8,500 acres (34 km2)
Governing bodyprivate

Since 2011 the land has been owned and managed by the Living Landscape Initiative, a consortium of local and national conservation groups, including the Peninsula Open Space Trust, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, The Nature Conservancy, the Save the Redwoods League and the Sempervirens Fund.[3] The $30 million purchase from Cemex was supported in part by the Packard and Moore Foundations.[2] The new name of the park stems from the San Vicente Creek which flows through the main portion of the park.[1] A small exclave of the parcel straddles Laguna Creek to the east.

Land Uses

Conservation and Research

The San Vicente Redwoods land is home to several species of wild animals threatened by the destruction of old-growth forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Native animals of particular interest include the California red-legged frog, a federally listed threatened species, and the endangered Marbled murrelet, as well as mountain lions, peregrine falcons and coho salmon.[4] The endangered Mount Hermon June beetle and Zayante band-winged grasshopper are both endemic to this area.[5] The Santa Cruz Puma Project uses the area for research on North American cougar.[6]

Laguna and San Vicente Creeks provide domestic water to Santa Cruz and Davenport, respectively.[7]

Recreation

The land has more than 70 miles (110 km) of gravel roads built by previous owners. It is adjacent to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the Fall Creek unit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, both managed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Coast Dairies parcel owned by the Bureau of Land Management.[7] The Laguna parcel is adjacent to the Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve.

A draft public access plan was released in August 2014.[8] A revised public access plan[9] was accepted by the managing partners in April 2018 with a predicted opening date for the space in 2019.[10] In August 2020 the CZU Lightning Complex fires burned the entire property. This delayed trail building further. In December 2022, 7.3 miles of trails opened to public access. [11] [12]

Logging

The new owners of the land plan to log a portion of second-growth forest order to fund the restoration and management the areas designated for recreation. The logging plan was submitted to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in October 2014 for review. The plan calls for relatively low offtake and low-impact methods, and it excludes old-growth forest.[5]

References
  1. Hoppin, Jason (9 June 2014). "In nod to past, future park renamed". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Archived from the original on 13 June 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  2. Rogers, Paul (8 December 2011). "Five conservation groups to buy Cemex property in $30M deal". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  3. "About the Collaboration". Peninsula Open Space Trust. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  4. Kurtis Alexander (September 2, 2014). "Conservation groups try to save redwoods: Funding helps keep San Vicente project safe from development". San Francisco Chronicle. p. C4.
  5. Clark, Samantha (17 October 2014). "Conservation groups submit San Vicente Redwoods timber harvest plan". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  6. Cassidy, Joshua (13 September 2013). "Chasing Pumas". Science on the SPOT. KQED. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  7. Diehl, Janet (3 October 2013). CEMEX REDWOODS CONSERVATION EASEMENT ACQUISITION AND PUBLIC ACCESS PLAN (PDF) (Report). California Coastal Conservancy. 13-016-01. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  8. PlaceWorks (26 August 2014). San Vicente Redwoods Public Access Plan Public Review Draft (PDF) (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  9. PlaceWorks (20 March 2018). San Vicente Redwoods Public Access Plan Public Review Draft (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  10. Slade, Stephen (18 April 2018). "Let's Cheer – San Vicente Trail Plan Done!" (Press release). Land Trust of Santa Cruz County. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  11. Krieger, Lisa (January 3, 2023). "San Vicente Redwoods, a Forest Reborn, Opens After a Century Off-Limits". Bay Nature magazine.
  12. Brooks, Eric (January 3, 2023). "San Vicente Redwoods in Santa Cruz County is tribute to wildfire resilience". SFGate.
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