Mariah M. Garr works in paradise, and she knows it. As wetlands manager for the Cosumnes River Preserve, the biologist-cum-farmer’s daughter sees brilliant sunrises, hears the ancient, piercing cries of the Blue Heron, sees coyote pups darting into the cover of an oak forest.

“I am so lucky,” she said recently, while giving a glimpse of her world on a tour of the preserve’s main holdings. “I absolutely love my job.”