“Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast” is an excellent resource for visitors and residents alike who are interested in the natural history of this beautiful coastline. The well-illustrated book presents in a clear manner the geologic history of this coastal area.

This book opens up a very new perspective for this stretch of the Northern California Coast. The writing is conversational and, as I read, I could picture a walk with the author in the very places he writes about. The geologic perspective adds so much to an hour or a day visiting the places noted in the Road Log. Visitors (especially first-time visitors) will want to have a copy close at hand so as to answer the inevitable question, “How’d that rock get there?”

Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast is indispensable for those who come here with preconceived notions of what the California Coast looks like, and why it’s so different here in the Sonoma-Mendocino region. Locals will be delighted with a greater appreciation of features and landmarks we see everyday.  From the first page, the author makes it possible to see the coast in our mind’s eye, even imagining how the topography might have looked millions of years ago. It’s a delightful read and entirely readable. If I wasn’t already an environmentalist, I would be upon reading this book. Kudos!

“As someone who’s strolled our local coastline wondering to myself “Why does this look like that?” here’s a book supplying precisely those answers. There’s been a great need for an interpretative guide of this sort, one that doesn’t overwhelm the average person, but instead empowers them to interpret and understand the natural world. Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast is a valuable tool and will fill an important niche regionally. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially all the photos and diagrams…”

“Sonoma Land Trust has long known the Sonoma Coast as a special place to be protected. With his expertise, sense of curiosity, and investigation, the author came to know this place in-depth and has shared with us its story. It is a true gem to have this resource as a guide to understanding the forces that have shaped the land as we now see it. And the Road Log is an invaluable asset to our knowledge of the coast.”