Return to Wild America by Scott Weidensaul

In 1953, birding guru Roger Tory Peterson and noted British naturalist James Fisher set out on what became a legendary journey – a 100-day trek over 30,000 miles around North America. They traveled from Newfoundland to Florida, deep into the heart of Mexico, through the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, and into Alaska’s Pribilof Islands. Two years later, Wild America, their classic account of the trip, was published.

On the eve of that book’s fiftieth anniversary, naturalist Scott Weidensaul retraces Peterson and Fisher’s steps to tell the story of wild America today. How has the continent’s natural landscape changed over the past fifty years? How have the wildlife, the rivers, and the rugged, untouched terrain fared?

Led by RTPI Scholar-in-Residence, Jenn Lodi-Smith, founder and director of The Spark Bird Project (www.spark-bird.org), as well as authors Kenn Kaufman and Scott Weidensaul. This continuation of our four-part program is part of this year’s first main-floor exhibition, Art that Matters to the Planet: Wild America, which celebrated the 70th anniversary of this classic in environmental literature.

Zoom link will be provided with registration.