$1M Needed For Conservation Group To Buy 564-Acre Redwood Forest

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Conservation group Save the Redwoods League has entered into a $9.6 million agreement to purchase the 564-acre Cascade Creek property, the group announced. The League is $1 million shy of its fundraising goal to seal the deal.

The property, between the Big Basin Redwoods and Año Nuevo state parks, stretches from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, the League said.

It is home to more than 100 acres of ancient coast redwoods, estimated to be between 420 and 528 years old, researchers from Humboldt State University found last year. A younger grove researchers studied grew unusually fast and is taller than the ancient redwoods studied, according to the League

Cascade Creek is currently owned by Larry and Bronia Holmes, who used the family property for recreation. The space has been well-maintained and the League hopes to transfer it to a state park.

“This is a piece of property my parents bought in 1978,” said Larry Holmes in a press release. “It’s a piece of property that should be a part of the state parks. We’ve known that for many years. And then when you realize that 95 percent of the old-growth redwoods were cut at one time, it’s very important to save the redwood trees.”

The Holmes family previously sold the League an adjacent site, the 145-acre Peters Creek property.

Donate to help preserve the property here.