After Lewis and Clark, America nearly destroyed its wildlife - here's what saved it.

222 years ago, Lewis and Clark passed through this stretch of Pennsylvania and documented a wilderness still rich with wildlife: gray squirrels crossing the Ohio by the thousands, passenger pigeons dense enough to darken the sky. We set camera traps on a farm along their route to see what's living there now. What we found is the opening chapter of America's wildlife conservation miracle, a story of near total collapse, public investment, and recovery that most people have never heard. This is Episode 1 of Return of the Wild, a series retracing the Lewis and Clark route from Pittsburgh to the Pacific to compare the wildlife they recorded with what camera traps are finding today. Subscribe to follow the full route. Next stop: St. Louis. Tags Lewis and Clark expedition, wildlife conservation success story, camera trap wildlife research, fisher reintroduction, deer reintroduction history, Pittman-Robertson Act, North American wildlife conservation model, hunting and conservation, Pennsylvania wildlife recovery, beaver reintroduction, sandhill crane recovery, wildlife management history, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, conservation documentary series, wildlife resurvey