21st-century resource offers glimpse into ancient past

Available for sale in late April

Trying to find easy to read information on conifers in the Klamath-Siskiyou  region? Maybe you've heard that the area has tons of conifers, but you don't know what to look for, or even where to look.

Well, search no longer. It can all be found at Conifercountry.com, the best, most concise and accessible resource on the natural history of conifers in Northern California and Southern Oregon.

Check out the Conifers tab to locate dozens of PDF field guides that feature top-notch photos, maps, and identification pointers for each Klamath-Siskiyou conifer. Study the PDFs at home, and for field use download them onto your mobile device or print them out. Conifercountry.com also features hikes, interactive maps, a blog and much, much more.

The website's creator, Michael Kauffmann, 38, of Kneeland, CA, has taken the Klamath-Siskiyou's complexity, condensed it, and wrapped it up into a user-friendly website. That's a breath of mountain-fresh air for those of us that love the Siskiyou, but find scientific literature technical to read, dry and wordy. 

And Kauffmann has done it all on his own. His work isn't backed by well-funded environmental organizations or big research grants. It's backed by passion.


"It is a labor of love that will soon be a book," says Kauffmann. "It will be printed in an accessible format for aspiring and expert botanists alike -- anyone who's interested in learning more about the regional conifers and where to go in the field to see them." he adds. 


His book, Conifer Country, will be available for sale in late April. "I decided to self-publish so I could learn about the publishing business and how to lay out a book. I plan to offer traditional books printed on recycled paper as well as an eBook for mobile devices. This way I can also retain the rights to all my text, figures, and images." 


When Kauffmann isn't working on publishing information on conifers, he is busy teaching science at Fortuna Union Elementary School and Humboldt State University. The next project on his plate is Conifers of the Pacific Slope, a field guide on conifers of Washington, Oregon and California.


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