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California

A landscape in peril

Greg Asner works in his Dornier 228, a twin turboprop. Toggling between a map of the area and a special grid he constructed of the state, Asner sets the aircraft's course as it passes over forest areas.

Greg Asner works in his Dornier 228, a twin turboprop. Toggling between a map of the area and a special grid he constructed of the state, Asner sets the aircraft’s course as it passes over forest areas.

  (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)

Dying forests

The air about 21 miles west of Ukiah is hazy with smoke, eventually forcing researchers looking for signs of stress in the landscape to return to Sacramento.

  (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)

Dying forests

Standing outside the Dornier 228 turboprop, Greg Asner meets with aircraft engineer Sheldon DeCosse. DeCosse helped convert the aircraft to an observatory with more than 1,500 pounds of specialized computers and scientific equipment.

  (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times)

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