Where are the Santa Cruz Mountains, anyway?

Sempervirens Fund focuses all of its redwood preservation efforts on just a single "bio-region", the Santa Cruz Mountains. Many San Francisco Bay Area residents and visitors know about the Santa Cruz Mountains, but not everyone knows them by name. These mountains are part of the Coast Range of California, and they extend from San Francisco southward to the Pajaro River at the northern edge of Monterey County. (Also see our Completed Projects Map.)
Location: The Santa Cruz Mountains run through four different counties in the greater Bay Area: Santa Cruz County, Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and the County of San Francisco.
Size: The range of the Santa Cruz Mountains covers some 1,400 square miles. It is about 74 miles long and is between 6 and 29 miles across
High point: At 3,791 feet, Loma Prieta, south of San Jose
Geology: The underlying geology of the Santa Cruz Mountains has been created in part by molten rock emerging from the Earth's interior, and also in part by marine sediments deposited by the ancient seas that once covered the area. The entire region is crisscrossed by a series of active fault lines, including the San Andreas fault, epicenter of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and the Loma Prieta fault, epicenter of the 1989 Loma Prieta quake.
Natural communities: The region hosts a unique set of ecological and aesthetic contrasts: the coastal bluffs are pounded by the relentless Pacific surf; the rolling hillsides are interspersed with oak woodland and grasses; the rocky heights are blanketed by aromatic chaparral, the deep canyons and fog-covered slopes are blessed with the majestic serenity of coast redwood forests.
The coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) of this region are the southernmost representatives of the species. These trees are found naturally only along the Pacific coast from southern Oregon to the Monterey Bay area.
Biodiversity: The Santa Cruz Mountains have long supported a rich tapestry of plants and animals: nearly 1,800 species of plants, some 400 vertebrates, and many thousands of invertebrate species. But over the last two centuries, many of these native species have become locally extirpated, including the California condor, tule elk, grizzly bear, and Swainson's hawk, to name a few.
What's at risk: Many remaining residents of the Santa Cruz Mountains are in danger: hundreds of native plants and animals are on the verge of disappearing from the region. Thirty-eight animals and twenty plant species are listed as threatened or endangered; more than two hundred additional species are considered to be sensitive or otherwise requiring special attention. The coast redwood is not on a list of endangered species, but Sequoia sempervirens in the Santa Cruz Mountains still face relentless threat from forces that are both natural and man-made.
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