John is a Southern farm boy who grew up and spent much of his life in the Colorado Rockies though he has now lived in the foothills of the Sierra since 1999. John earned degrees in geology, forestry, and economics. Before retiring from the National Park Service in 2014, John spent over 41 years working for that agency as a social scientist, natural scientist, planner, construction project supervisor, division chief, and program manager; all fun jobs. He spent the last part of his Park Service career working for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks as a natural resource program manager and jack-of-all-trades.That often included working with the park’s partners in regional and watershed planning. In his spare time, he has spent the last five years researching the Tulare Lake Basin’s flood, drought, and water use history. The 500-page book that came out of that effort earned a five-star rating from Amazon. This is one of five peer-reviewed publications for which John was the sole author.