FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A magnificently illustrated classic of California natural history, now updated in a long-awaited reissue
Laura Cunningham’s canonical magnum opus A State of Change returns by popular demand in an updated new edition in a fully re-styled package.
BERKELEY, CALIF. — Originally published in 2010, A State of Change: California’s Forgotten Landscapes by Laura Cunningham is widely considered a classic text of California natural history. Returning to print in a fully restyled package in fall 2026, this updated edition includes expanded content, Cunningham’s original oil paintings and field sketches, and a contemporary design that offers readers a firsthand look at pre-colonial California and the immense biodiversity that once reigned.
Melding science, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, stunning landscapes and species portraiture, artist-naturalist Cunningham takes a multi-field perspective to reenvision the West as it once was, before centuries of settlement reshaped the land and its native wildlife. Compiled over decades, A State of Change (on sale October 13, 2026) draws from fieldwork spanning the state and beyond, Indigenous oral histories and interviews with tribal elders, scientific research in biology and paleontology, and years of artistic study. This deep time exploration of Old California throws into stark relief the engineered landscapes we know today and the diminution of biodiversity already millennia in the making
“This book is my life’s work trying to understand California in the past so that we can protect and help restore the natural and cultural landscapes of this precious state into the future,” says Cunningham, whose acclaimed original publication garnered a California Book Award, a Northern California Book Award, was declared a Best Book of the Year by East Bay Express, and a finalist for Foreword’s Book of the Year.
Cunningham’s original publication predicted the explosive development of megafires in California and reacquainted readers with species long since absent from the landscape—from the extinct flightless marine diving goose to the Golden State’s banner grizzly, last seen a century ago. The 2026 edition of A State of Change reflects watershed ecological developments since the book’s original publication. These include the comebacks of California wolves and condors, the resurgence of salmon populations under tribal stewardship, and the gradual reimplementation of Indigenous fire management. Cunningham also challenges popular ideas about regenerative agriculture and livestock grazing, pointing toward pathways to restore native grasslands that underpin the state’s ecosystems.
Learning about the plight of species in the past has kindled Cunningham’s lifelong passion for saving species for the future—and with this galvanizing and visually immersive text she aims to alight a kindred spark in the reader.
“This wonderful book is a vivid reminder of how things began, and also as a vision of the rich and beautiful world we can work toward in our shared future,” says author Kim Stanley Robinson, “One of Heyday’s best.”
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Advance Praise for A State of Change
“Beautiful and enlightening . . . a California classic.” —SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“This wonderful book is a vivid reminder of how things began, and also as a vision of the rich and beautiful world we can work toward in our shared future. One of Heyday’s best.” —KIM STANLEY ROBINSON, author of The Ministry for the Future and The High Sierra: A Love Story
“A gorgeous book with much broader implications than for one state, for one country: Cunningham reminds us how we define our landscapes—and how they define us.” —KERRI ARSENAULT, author of Mill Town
“This brings a lost world straight back to life—and one hopes it will help us work to restore it in the real world.” —BILL MCKIBBEN, author of Here Comes the Sun
“Thanks to Laura Cunningham’s brilliant interweaving of science and art, I can now imagine what California looked like before colonization. Her vision not only informs how we understand the past, but also what a better future could look like.” —LIAM O’DONOGHUE, host of East Bay Yesterday
“Hundreds of Cunningham’s detailed, realistic paintings fill this huge coffee-table delight, whose text traces the evolution of a diverse region, once home to half-striped ancient horses and Pleistocene-era cheetahs.” —EAST BAY EXPRESS
“Skillful, evocative, and often stunning.” —SFGATE
“This book is a time machine that takes me on a journey into a land that I thought I knew. As an artist, naturalist, and armchair time traveler, I appreciate this kind of depth and genius.” —JOHN MUIR LAWS, author of The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling
“I wouldn’t be the artist-author I am today without A State of Change. I consider Cunningham’s work to be an original inspiration for all that I do.” —OBI KAUFMANN, author of The California Field Atlas and California Inside Out
“Laura Cunningham’s imaginative tour de force provides a time machine where pre-settlement California can be savored in all her splendor and magnificence. A remarkable vision.” —GRAHAM CHISHOLM, Former Executive Director, Audubon California
“An indispensable guide for anyone seeking to understand the ecological story of the Golden State.” —JOSH JACKSON, author of The Enduring Wild
“A tantalizing, informative, inspiring glimpse into something we all try to imagine: California before all of this.” —ROBIN M. GROSSINGER, San Francisco Estuary Institute
“A natural history masterpiece.” —SANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT
Art from A State of Change by Laura Cunningham (c)
Laura Cunningham is an artist-naturalist who studied paleontology and biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked field biology jobs for the California Department of Fish and Game, the United States Geological Survey, and various universities, gaining experience with such species as Owens Valley pupfish, salmon and steelhead trout, Yosemite toads, Panamint alligator lizards, and tule elk. Simultaneously, she taught herself the arts of sketching and oil painting and pursued studies of California’s historical ecology. She currently works in the conservation nonprofit field. Her studio is next to Death Valley National Park along the Amargosa River.
