Giant bison, mammoths, and eagles: a deep history of the American continent
66 million years ago an asteroid struck earth, causing the fifth mass extinction of species on earth. With the dinosaurs gone, new species proliferated all over the planet. Now we’re in the sixth extinction––this time caused by people. But when did it start? And what happened on on this continent in particular?
Dan Flores‘ new book, Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals & People in America, explores the deep history of the North American continent, which was once populated by giant bison and mammoths, massive eagles and condors, ground sloths and dire wolves––all of whom were here when human beings first arrived tens of thousands of years ago––and how people affected their environment and its animals, from the first migrating bands to the wildly destructive European colonizers.
Dan Flores is Professor Emeritus of Western History at the University of Montana. He’s the author of eleven books, and he lives outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
More Episodes
Episode 132 – Innovative approaches to regeneration on a California ranch
The land and its creatures looked very different when the first people arrived on this continent. Dan Flores‘ book Wild New World traces human impact up to the present––and the choices we’re looking at now.
Episode 130 – Sustainable development, climate mitigation, and biochar
For decades Brando Crespi has been working in communities damaged by extractive industries. He makes the case that biochar can and should be part of a global strategy do reverse climate change and grow more food with less water.
Episode 129 – Bringing dead land back to life: a filmmaker’s perspective
In 1995 John Liu began documenting the Loess Plateau in China, a landscape ruined by poor agriculture practices. Over decades he documented its return to vibrant life, and filmed many other restoration projects worldwide.