New England Abandoned 12 Million Acres of Farmland — What Grew Back Changed Everything

In 1850, 80 percent of New England was cleared farmland. Today, 80 percent is forest. Nobody replanted it. No government programme funded it. The farms were simply abandoned — and 12 million acres of wilderness grew back over the stone walls. Black bears are in forests that didn't exist when their great-grandparents were shot. This is how it happened.