Stephen McCabe and Live-forevers by JLT Connor
Take a close look at the picture of rock climber Stephen McCabe. Can you tell from his subtle smile if he’s exhilarated from the climb or from his search for rare plants? Perhaps both are factors in his important conservation work. In addition to rock-climbing skills, Stephen has the credentials and publications of a botanical scholar and a reputation as a dedicated environmentalist.
Stephen started young with interests in succulents and native plants in childhood. Those interests blossomed with time spent at Pinnacles, Año Nuevo, and Yosemite. He focused his graduate research at San Francisco State University on the live-forever succulents in the genus Dudleya and became an active member of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) in 1978.
Stephen brought his skills and enthusiasm to the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Arboretum in 1985. He also joined the board of our local chapter of CNPS that year and served as its president from 1989 to 1991. At UCSC, he taught and coordinated student research. As a CNPS volunteer, he helped restore local lands, including Quail Hollow County Park and Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve. His tireless efforts resulted in funding for the protection of Santa Cruz County sandhills and federal listing of seven endangered or threatened species for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
After the Springs Fire in 2013 burned nearly 24,000 acres of brush in Southern California, our rock-climbing botanist participated in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service project, locating rare Dudleya verityi survivors of the wildfire. “They’re extremely tenacious in the right spots,” he says. “You can see them hanging by a single root. You look at them and think, there is no way they can be alive, but they will somehow pull out one more season of flowering and seeds.”
Stephen McCabe launched an innovative approach to conservation of threatened Dudleya species with field work and propagation efforts. Many of his Dudleya seeds are preserved in seed banks for long-term preservation. He continues to propagate and distribute Dudleya plants to raise awareness of plant poachers and drive down the market value of wild plants illegally stolen from public lands. The community has benefited from his contributions of tens of thousands of responsibly propagated (not poached) Dudleya plants. A dynamic speaker and skilled writer, he spreads his ideas and impact to local and international venues, and in print and media outlets.
During his long, productive career, Stephen named five species of Dudleya and contributed the Dudleya section to The Jepson Manual. After 30 years at the UCSC Arboretum, he retired as the Emeritus Director of Research, while continuing his Dudleya research and his conservation efforts with CNPS. There is no end in sight for this labor of love. As tenacious as the wild Dudleya, Stephen McCabe’s lifework should live forever.
