Hello BillF,
Thanks for stopping by.
Yep, you are right; they had no understanding of the environment back then. On the other hand I'm modifying a boat I have with a plexiglass viewing window and lights in the hull to cruise the river looking for the old bottles and relics. So I'll hopefully be cleaning out some of the "junk".
"What's one man's garbage ia another man's treasure"!
Speaking of Buffalo...did you see they are going to re-introduce woodland buffalo to Alaska! We have a great Elk program here in Pa. There are about 1600 Elk now. Bigger than the one's out West. Our DCNR while a lot of treasure hunters don't care for them have really protected our wild areas and brought back species that we once lost in Pa; Elk, Fishers, Eagles, Osprey and I'm hearing more about Mountain Lions and possibly wolves. We also have absolutely beautiful mountain streams with native trout. I hunt for the old ghost towns in the Northern Tier of Pa and the scenery and wildlife is just incredible; as good as anything that you see in the movies!