The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Decades ago, few would have predicted that bald eagles would be a common sight throughout the nation in the 21st Century. But today, eagles represent one of the great success stories of modern conservation.

“Nature is resilient,” says M. Sanjayan, lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy. “With a little help, animals, landscapes and even the air that we breathe can come back from the brink of disaster. These amazing comeback stories give me hope for the future of our world.”

In Kentucky, the Conservancy works throughout the state to bring the landscape back to the way it functioned before urbanization, large-scale agriculture, dams and dikes, and paved roads and highways. Once much greener, Kentucky’s forests and wetlands did a better job at standing up to floods and absorbing rainfall before gradually releasing it to rivers, streams or groundwater. It’s a natural infrastructure the Conservancy is working to rebuild in the hopes witnessing the miraculous return of species making a comeback similar to what the nation witnessed with the bald eagle.