20 Creatures That Vanished from U.S. Forests—And 5 That Are Quietly Coming Back
They were once everywhere—until they weren’t. Wolves howled in the distance. Woodpeckers drummed through ancient trees. Elk thundered across meadows. Then, almost overnight, silence fell. From coast to coast, forests across the U.S. lost more than just trees—they lost their wild heart. Hunting, habitat loss, and human expansion drove dozens of species to the edge, …