Welcome.  From an early age, my parents instilled in me a deep love of nature and an insatiable curiosity.  I have recorded many years of observations in illustrated field journals. In 2001 I began an ambitious project to create a new and fully illustrated guide to the natural history of the Sierra Nevada.  After six years of research, 2,710 original watercolor illustrations and over 1,700 species, the book is complete and The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada is available either through contacting me (signed copy) or in bookstores near you.  I am now working to create a series of innovative field guides and to develop original programs and curricula  which explore,  explain, and advance the public understanding of biodiversity and its related science.  

I am currently coordinating the Sierra Nevada Classroom Project, using the field guide as the basis for writing biodiversity curricula that link to California’s science, math, language, and social studies standards.  I am also working to secure funding to donate sets of field guides to schools throughout the Sierra Nevada.  Please consider becoming a sponsor of this education project through the non-profit Heyday Institute. 

I also lecture and teach field sketching and illustration classes throughout the state.  You are invited to join me in any of these. I hope to see you in the field.

Congratulations to Stewards of the Sierra  Congress has passed and sent to the president a bill to protect over 700,000 acres of wilderness additions and wild rivers in California including:

115,000 acres of public land within Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, including Redwood Mountain Grove and Old Hockett Trail.
200,000 acres in Riverside County including additions to Joshua Tree National Park and the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains National Monument.
More than 500,000 acres in Inyo, Mono, and northern Los Angeles counties including the Eastern Sierra and White Mountain ranges, and a 29,000 acre Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and Glass Creek Meadow!

This act designated over two million acres of wilderness in nine states, create a new 26 million acre National Landscape Conservation System, protect over a thousand miles of free-flowing rivers, and establish four new national conservation areas.  Included in this legislation are wilderness additions and Wild & Scenic Rivers in the Eastern Sierra, the mountains and deserts of Riverside County and Sequoia National Park.  The bill also designated wilderness in Colorado, Oregon, Utah, Idaho and many other states, and protects parks and historic sites throughout the country.  The bill also contains other important land and water provisions that will benefit rural communities.

This is the largest designation of new wilderness since 1994! Thank you Sally Miller and all those who worked so hard to get this through. We should all take heart and inspiration from this. Call your representatives, this time to say thank you!

In other news, the Sierra wolverine has been spotted again! Enjoy the video clip on the stewardship link.

Thank you,