"I don't have much money but my experiences have been priceless!" It may sound like a trite credit card commercial saying, but it really describes much of my life. Although, as is said in the public land management profession, "sunsets don't pay the mortgage," I have witnessed some incredible events and lived and worked in some wonderful places. I've met and worked with some great people and lived in places that have enriched my life.

I've been a Mono County, California resident since 1981. In 1975 I graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Bachelor of Science in forestry. My career in the U.S. Forest Service was on four National Forests, including the Kaibab, Cibola, Toiyabe, and Inyo National Forests. I have lived in Flagstaff, Arizona; Magdalena, New Mexico; Bridgeport, California; and Mammoth Lakes, California. I spent four years in fire management and twenty two years in recreation and lands management (acquisition, exchanges, and special use permits).

My last job, on the Mammoth Ranger District of the Inyo National Forest was the best of my career. Lots of outstanding employees around me, who were not just co-workers but friends. The Inyo National Forest is incredibly fascinating and beautiful country, and is part of one of the most heavily visited regions in the U.S. The Mammoth Ranger District , as one of four ranger districts on the Inyo National Forest, had more use in its developed recreation sites (campgrounds, picnic areas, historical sites, scenic vistas, etc.) than the #2 National Forest in the National Forest System. My job was as a field supervisor of "frontcountry recreation" (accessible by road and very short trails). I tried to keep this tiger by the tail but I could not always keep up. As if this wasn't enough I was an on call personnel misconduct investigator, a accident/claims investigator, and was qualified for 6 positions in the Incident Command System, the U.S. standard system for managing large fires, floods, disasters, large events, and many other incidents, including the events of September 11, 2001.

I logged 5,500 hours on 108 fires in 8 states including the incredible fires at Yellowstone National Park in 1988. Fires were my "self-guided, all expense paid tours of the western U.S." Most of my travels have been as a result of my employment as I didn't often manage to have time when there was sufficient money for travel and when I've had time I've had little money. One of the reasons I did not have much time is that I worked about 3,500 hours of uncompensated overtime in my career as I took on jobs and places that were increasingly complex with heavier workloads.

I retired in 1999 due to medical reasons and am now seeing the light at the end of that tunnel. I have worked at two full time jobs in the interim, but have not continued in them for various reasons.

My pictures are taken with a variety of cameras, including a Minolta 9000, Olympus XA, a couple of Forest Service Canon cameras, and my first camera, one that used 126 format cassette film. Many of my photos are taken in field conditions where hauling the Minolta around was not possible. As a result the resolution of many of my pictures is not the best.

I have a collection of 14,000 slides and a slide scanner purchased 5-8 years ago. When I finally get around to using it I will have a lot of pictures to post, some of which I find quite interesting. One of these years I will get a start on this huge project and add them to my small photo stream.