North American Wilds

About the North American Wilds

North America's wild country runs from Arctic tundra through boreal forest, mountain and prairie to desert, and the animals people picture — bison, wolves, grizzlies, elk — belong mostly to the temperate middle of that range. Much of what happened here in the last two centuries is a story of removal and, more recently, partial return: bison reduced from tens of millions to hundreds, wolves eradicated from most of the lower states, beavers trapped out of entire river systems, and all three since recovered to some degree. The Great Plains were shaped by grazing and fire in the same way the African savanna was, and their bird and plant communities still show it. The continent's remaining conservation problem is less about protecting single places than about keeping them connected.