10,000 years ago is young in geological history. This relatively small number seems counterintuitive when one encounters the vast space of white sands in the Tularosa Basin of southern New Mexico. The dunes here make up the world’s largest gypsum fields: at 275 square miles, they can be seen by astronauts from space.
The Auburn State Recreation Area, 40,000 acres of land along the Middle and North Forks of the American River, almost never existed.Once a major locus…