Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story by Thomas E. Yezerski (2011) is a true story about the destruction and revival of a tract of land in New Jersey. It’s a written and pictorial history beginning hundreds of years ago. “The Meadowlands was 20,000 acres of marshes, swamps, and bogs that were home to many different plants and animals.” Dutch explorers in 1609 hunted animals for fur and felled the cedar swamps for lumber and farming. This kind of exploitation continued through the 1800’s. Eventually, the Meadowlands became a dumping ground for chemicals, sewage, and garbage. “By the 1960s, there were only 11,000 acres of wetlands left in the Meadowlands.” In 1985, this dropped to 7,000 acres after developers built homes, stores, stadiums, and apartments on the land.
On the bright side, when the dumping stopped, the wetlands began to heal. A wide variety of creatures gradually moved back in. “In July 2007, for the first time in fifty years, a young osprey–a bird of prey–leaped out and took flight from a nest its parents had built in the Meadowlands.”
An author’s note, selected bibliography and websites closes the book. The illustrations in this book are outstanding. This is a story of hope.