Paleobotanists Howard Schorn and Dr. Diane Erwin examine on a map one of the fossil localities I had plotted in the Middle Eocene Ione Formation, Ione Basin, Amador County, California. Fossil plants at this site occur in dark to pale-brownish feldspar-rich sandstones of the Ione Formation. I recovered several quality fossil leaves from this specific site during my occasional visits to the Ione Basin in the mid to late 1990s. Image snapped on October 19, 1999.

My late father and I rendezvoused with Howard Schorn and Dr. Diane Erwin at the famous Ione Shopping Center in Ione on the morning of Saturday, October 19, 1999. After a brief rest break from our respective drives, we headed out to the first leg of our excursion. We had permission from the land owners to enter an environmentally sensitive area well off the proverbial beaten track, so to speak--a rare opportunity to drive directly to important fossil plant localities that would have been impractical to hike to during a day's outing in the field.

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.