Chaparral, Maquis, Bosque Esclerófilo, Fynbos, The Bush, the Elfin Forrest, are all found within 30-40 north and south latitude located on lands adjacent to cold oceans. The Mediterranean climate supports a thick green canopy of trees, shrubs, and plants. The plants support a rich tapestry of birds, mammals, reptiles, fungi, and insects. However, due to the perfect climate for agriculture and city building, some of the worlds greatest cities are also found in this biome: Athens, Los Angeles, Santiago de Chile, Capetown, Perth. Thus, the need to protect these regions is great, they not only provide close contact with nature to hundreds of millions of people, they help to clean the air and water near these great centers of civilization. We can only repay this through the conservation of these majestic wildlands that are all too often overlooked in favor of far off national parks and exotic lands far away from where people actually live. I was fortunate to be able to know many defenders of the Chaparral of California through my work as a park ranger there. On my own time, I wondered the same hills and canyons that I worked to protect. I went there again and again for many things; to learn, to find adventure, and to find peace. And also to breathe in the moist air after a spring rain, to find shade amongst the canopy of giant shrubs during the hot hot summer, and to hear the song of the Wrentit bounce back and forth through the coastal canyons.