Bob Wick, whose work captured the beauty and majesty of the nation’s diverse natural wonders, retired from his position as a photographer for the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in July.
A press released issued by the BLM July 29 stated that Wick’s portfolio consisted of images of the red rock canyonland lands of Utah, the tundra of Alaska and the intimate rainforests of Northern California and Oregon.
Among his notable photographs is that of the Carrizo Plain National Monument in California.
"The super bloom has migrated north to California's Central Valley and the show is simply indescribable at the Carrizo Plain National Monument,” Wick said in the release. The valley floor has endless expanses of yellows and purples from coreopsis, tidy tips and phacelia, with smaller patches of dozens of other species. Not to be outdone, the Temblor Range is painted with swaths of orange, yellow and purple like something out of a storybook. I have never seen such a spectacular array of blooms. Ever."
The DOI describes the Carrizo, which is a few hours from bustling Los Angeles, as "one of the best kept secrets in California."
“Some visitors say you can ‘hear the silence,’” the agency said in the release. “The plain is home to diverse communities of wildlife and plant species including several listed as threatened or endangered and is an area culturally important to Native Americans.”
Aside from eye-catching landscapes, Wick has also photographed rare wildlife, including the northern elephant seal in California and the marmot in Alaska.
The BLM will miss Wick and his work dearly.
“Bob, who is now officially retired, will always be a legacy to us, sharing his stunning photographs of some of the most remote places in the United State so that we can all partake in the beauty,” the release said.
