Paleobotanist Howard Schorn greets the backhoe operator at Lygodium Gulch, Ione Basin, California. This image was snapped during the late morning of July 30, 2002. After agreeing to a reasonable fee to hire the backhoe's services, Howard directed the operator to our fossil quarry. And in a matter of minutes, the backhoe had ripped open a trench longer, wider and deeper than anything Howard and I could have accomplished in several weeks of hard labor.

Please note: All fossil localities in the Ione Formation of Amador County, California, presently occur on private property; explicit permission from the land owners must be secured before collecting fossils there.