In 2024, Linda and Tom returned to Linda's Indiana, and even discovered that Tom has ancestral roots not far from where they bought 30 acres! They are currently restoring 24 acres of former cornfield to prarie, protecting the 5 acres of woods and robust ditch rows from mowers and pesticides, and building a solar-powered little house...little house on the prarie! Linda is learning everything she can about saving our plummeting insects and Tom is trying to lure and harbor a few endangered prarie birds. More rescue dogs and other endeavors are in their future, but Operation Pachamama continues to save rhinos and other big critters - and hold a very big piece of their hearts. They appreciate your help.
Meet Tom and Linda Rawles
Despite diverse upbringings, Operation Pachamama’s founders, Linda and Tom Rawles, share an unending concern for the planet and an abiding love for its many creatures. After their third trip to South Africa, they decided they had to do something to help save the iconic animals of the African continent. Operation Pachamama, dedicated to saving the planet one animal at a time, is the result.
Linda grew up in the shadows of the steel mills in Northwest Indiana. Attending the Law School, University of Chicago, she graduated and moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to practice law. Soon she diverted into academia, teaching justice studies, ethics, and political science. She then returned to the practice of law as a higher education regulatory lawyer. Recently she has "semi-retired", devoting much of her time to projects like OP, the prairie project described below, reading and writing, and the like
Tom was reared on a sheep ranch in northern California, where nature was never more than a few steps out the back door. He graduated from Arizona State University’s Law School in the Phoenix area. With the occasional interruption to get involved in politics, as both a staffer and elected official, Tom practiced law for 39 years before his retirement in 2015. He now spends his time trying to get his novels published and overseeing the logistics of Operation Pachamama, and rewilding a prairie.
