Historical accounts of California tell of flocks of birds so dense in the sky that they cast a shadow on the ground, and of thunderous rivers of geese, ducks, and swans moving down the state to the lagoons of Mexico and beyond. In 1999, citizens and travellers in California take for granted skies empty of almost everything but the contrails of airplanes. But far more than wildlife is missing. In text and photographs, this text documents the stark contrast between the California landscape of this past and what it has become, as it traces the evolution of the California environment and looks ahead to what the future holds.