50 State Quarters Program
The California Quarter 
 
 This year's first state quarter celebrates the Golden State of California. The coin - which is the 31st coin of the 50 State Quarters Program - was officially released on January 31 in a ceremony in Sacramento.

 The quarter's design depicts naturalist and conservationist John Muir admiring Yosemite Valley's Half Dome as a California condor soars amid the scene. The coin also bears the inscriptions "California," "John Muir," "Yosemite Valley," and "1850," which is the year that California was admitted to the Union.

 "I am proud that these three images will show California's wildlife," said California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, "our majestic landscape, and our commitment to preserving our golden state for future generations.

 John Muir was devoted to the conservation of natural beauty, and in 1892 he helped form the Sierra Club to protect the recently established Yosemite National Park. 

 "Muir lit the torch of conservation in our state," Schwarzenegger said, "and he has inspired generations of Californians to preserve our natural beauty, and this is what makes him so special. Because Yosemite would not be the cathedral that it is today, and the California condor would be extinct, if it hadn't been for John Muir. He was the original environmentalist. He was an incredible man."

 Later this year, quarters honoring Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, and West Virginia will be issued.