The Beasts of the East: The Fall and Rise of America’s Eastern Wilderness

“In order to restore the charismatic megafauna of the American East, conservationists have needed to not only reimagine the land, but also to remake it,” contends environmental journalist Moore (Pawpaw) in this captivating account of efforts to return animals to their native landscapes. The eastern U.S. was once filled with forests and all sorts of wildlife, he explains, including large mammals typically associated with the West like bison and elk, until unregulated hunting and industrialization led to their decline. But conservationists have been working in recent decades to reassemble the wild east. Moore examines three case studies: elk, bison, and red wolves. After being reintroduced to eastern Kentucky in the late 1990s, elk, a species once locally extinct due to hunting and habitat loss, grew into a sustainable herd. The reclamation of tall grass prairies in Illinois enabled the return of bison in the 2010s, who in turn support the ecosystem by grazing. In North Carolina, efforts to recover one of the world’s rarest mammal species, the American red wolf, have sparked conflict between conservationists and landowners who question the carnivores’ right to exist. Moore’s deep research and often cinematic storytelling reveal the power individuals have to shape public policy. It’s an inspiring portrait of ecological recovery. (June)