The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada

Written and Illustrated by John Muir Laws

The most comprehensive field guide to the natural wonders of the Range of Light!

In this groundbreaking and meticulously field-tested guide, the rich variety of Sierra life—trees, wildflowers, ferns, fungi, lichens, fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, and insects—comes alive.

Easy-to-use features include:

• Intuitive organization, color tabs, and simple keys
• Similar-looking species side by side
• Over 2,800 full-color illustrations
• Range maps of species that are otherwise difficult to distinguish
• Index of common and scientific names
• Lightweight and compact—ideal for backpacking

Impressively detailed and comprehensive, the guide includes:

• More than 1,700 species
• Descriptions of behavior, adaptations, and interactions between species
• Species and topics not found in most guides, including aquatic life, spiders and webs, plankton, plant galls, bark beetle galleries, animal tracks and evidence, seasonal star charts, weather patterns, and cloud formations

Published in conjunction with the California Academy of Sciences

CALLING ALL NATURE FANS!
Win original artwork and a chance to go on a personal hike with John Muir Laws. To become a fan of Bay Area nature and for more information about the giveaway, go to our Bay Area Nature Campaign page.

Reviews

"[A] fast, intuitive, accessible way to do snappy identifications in the field."—Washington Post

"If you have room for only one Sierra Nevada guidebook in your pack, make it this little gem....Dense with illustration, it's the perfect all-ages introduction to field guides. Well-researched natural history notes pull the reader more deeply into the story of these iconic mountains."—Sierra Magazine

"From fungi to forest to frogs and fish, the book is a small but powerful treasure of reference to nature."—The Sacramento Bee

About the Author

John Muir Laws is a naturalist, educator, and artist, with degrees in conservation and resource studies from the University of California, Berkeley; in wildlife biology from the University of Montana, Missoula; and in scientific illustration from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is a research associate with the California Academy of Sciences. Visit his website at www.johnmuirlaws.com.