Before They’re Gone

An examination of today’s biodiversity crisis, foregrounding the wisdom of the hunters and anglers who best understand the threats America’s fish and wildlife face today.

“Before They’re Gone is not only an urgent call to action to save America’s wildlife, it’s a detailed blueprint for how to win the fight.” —Steven Rinella, author and host of MeatEater

American wildlife is in crisis.

For centuries, millions of buffalo roamed the plains; trout and salmon filled rivers from bank to bank; and elk, bears, and deer thrived from sea to shining sea. Now, many of our nation’s species are in rapid decline. Amid this “sixth mass extinction,” conventional approaches to environmental activism have not worked.

To save America’s wildlife, we must turn to the unconventional wisdom of the hunters and anglers who are on the front lines of the biodiversity crisis, working tirelessly to protect the animals that sustain their communities. Mark Kenyon, an outdoorsman himself, embarks on a journey through wild terrains from Florida to Alaska, getting up close and personal with America’s most charismatic and threatened fish and wildlife, and the men and women fighting to save them. Through backcountry fishing trips, high alpine hunts, tropical snorkeling excursions, and more, Kenyon maps a route toward a better future for fish and wildlife in America.

A grand adventure, both urgent and inspiring, Before They’re Gone shows us how to rekindle a deep connection to the natural world and commit ourselves to concrete action in defense of it.

• “Mark Kenyon isn’t just some newcomer dipping his toes into the waters of wildlife conservation. As a hunter and angler, he’s spent his entire life fostering intimate, hands-on relationships to wild places, and he knows the pain of seeing those places disappear. Before They’re Gone is not only an urgent call to action to save America’s wildlife, it’s a detailed blueprint for how to win the fight.” 
  Steven Rinella, author and host of MeatEater
• “Who has contributed more to conservation than any other group? According to Mark Kenyon, it is hunters and anglers! Find out how and why in his engaging retrospective about the need to protect America’s remaining wild places.” 
  Douglas W. Tallamy, New York Times bestselling author of Nature’s Best Hope
• “Reading Before They’re Gone has made Mark Kenyon into a personal hero. From Florida to Alaska—and especially in Michigan, where he enacts his message and restores a damaged farm—Kenyon takes on our biodiversity crisis with urgency and fairness. This book compels us to care, pay attention, and act.” 
  Dan Flores, New York Times bestselling author of Coyote America
• “Mark Kenyon is a conservationist cut from Aldo Leopold’s cloth: a sportsman-philosopher who wields a pen as skillfully as he does a rod and rifle. Before They’re Gone adeptly diagnoses the many ailments that afflict our country’s wild creatures and offers a prescription for saving them—one that starts with hard-earned intimacy, acquired with boots on the ground in forest and stream.” 
  Ben Goldfarb, award-winning author of Eager
• “To some, it may seem paradoxical that hunters and anglers are the most effective conservationists of America’s wildlife. But it’s not, as Mark Kenyon’s important book brilliantly demonstrates. We protect what we love. And what we love needs more protection than ever. Before They’re Gone is the clarion call the nation desperately needs.” 
  Monte Burke, New York Times bestselling author of Lords of the Fly
• “The conservation of America’s wondrous and threatened wildlife isn’t a partisan issue but a collective responsibility. Mark Kenyon’s Before They’re Gone is a compelling portrait of what’s at stake—and a stirring call to join with our neighbors and get to work.” 
  Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts
• “A necessary book for a society that is hell-bent on chiseling the hard edges from every wild place in exchange for comfort and convenience. Before They’re Gone translates Mark Kenyon’s hunting and fishing knowledge into undeniable truths and, most importantly, forces us to consider what future Americans stand to lose.” 
  Randy Newberg, host, Fresh Tracks
• “At its core, Before They’re Gone is a story about a universal human truth: When you love something, you fight to protect it. Part history, part outdoor memoir, part playbook for saving wildlife, Mark Kenyon shows how fishing and hunting forge deep, intimate relationships with nature, rich with tradition and legacy. Those relationships shaped some of the most fervent and impactful wildlife conservationists of the past, and they are what give us hope for the future. You’ll want to get two copies: one to give to your parents and one to share with your kids.” 
  Simon Perkins, president, Orvis
• “Mark Kenyon’s vivid descriptions of America’s wild lands and wildlife will forever impact how I think about and interact with wild things. In some ways, Before They’re Gone is painful to read because of the clear, hard-to-swallow truth it delivers, but it’s a must-read for anyone who loves the land and has a soul. I learned so much. This book will earn its place with the great conservation literature of our time.” 
  Clay Newcomb, author of American Bear
• “Spirited and personable . . . A lively but cautionary survey of the great outdoors.” 
  Kirkus