A lot of the news about wildlife and the environment can seem apocalyptic as if the world is about to lose all its animals. This can drown out the major conservation and habitat successes, like the miraculous recovery of the American Bison and the Bald Eagle, which were close to extinction until people took action.

Now, they are thriving.

However, with a hyperfocus on environmental harms and climate change, it can be hard to keep up with how the Dixie Valley Toad or the Alabama Sturgeon are doing in their efforts for survival.

It can also feel like another world in which we have no say. When we think about wildlife conservation, it can seem like a distant endeavor led by highly educated scientists in prairies or remote mountain ranges in places we may never set foot.

But there’s a lot to be hopeful about, and contrary to what you might believe, there’s a lot you can do.

Reckon spoke to Dr. Rob Pringle, a professor with the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, about the state of wildlife in the U.S.

What is the general state of U.S. wildlife in this era of greater environmental awareness?

I’m realistic and pragmatic about our environmental and wildlife challenges but also hopeful about our capacity to mitigate them. U.S. wildlife is a good case in point where legislation and private action, pushed by popular sentiment, are helping many species that were once struggling.

There are species that were much more threatened 40 years ago than they are now. That’s evidence that the Endangered Species Act works and animals are resilient, which I think should motivate people to keep thinking about how we can not just conserve but also restore wildlife and wild areas.

There are bright and dark spots, but the nature of that landscape is always evolving.

Is it wrong to think all species can be saved?

There are many species globally that are vanishingly rare and unlikely to survive in perpetuity. No species lasts forever. But there are also many species out there that are breathtaking and amazing and probably won’t last another 100 years, even with conservation.

The black rhinoceros is a good example. They’ve got several thousand individuals across Africa and an immense amount of resources flowing into conservation. But if pressure for horns coupled with the pressure on the large wild areas that rhinoceroses need to survive by our growing and rapidly developing population, the human population, those two things could easily end up with a situation where black rhinos are not viable in the wild.

That’s a bright and dark spot. It’s an abundance thing that translates into diversity because the fewer individual animals there are, the fewer different populations there can be.

We’re seeing a lot of population growth and industrial development in areas of rich biodiversity, especially around the Gulf of Mexico. Does that concern you?

Populations and cities are growing, but when cities grow, large concentrations of people are moving from one place to concentrate in cities. That suggests larger areas can be more wild.

It’s difficult to watch development happen. But it’s important to keep an eye on the big picture and the net change.

Wildlife species are recovering across large areas where they had been destroyed. Today, people are more tolerant, and we understand more about how to mitigate conflict. We almost extinguished Bison. Bald eagles were nearly extinct in the early 1960s. They now routinely visit my backyard in Princeton. The American Prairie Reserve in Yellowstone has also been a big success.

There’s a lot to be very hopeful about if you’re willing to look past the depressing stories.

You seem adamant that we should be hopeful. I think that’s great, but is there space for negativity if it’s truthful and necessary?

That’s genuine. I want to get that across because we’re constantly reading these depressing stories, and I think they are demotivating on some level. There are all these really hopeful stories out there, not just in the U.S. and Europe but also in Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.

We have the American prairie reserve in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It’s very positive.

It’s a story when someone says there’s a crisis, catastrophe, or disaster. I don’t mean to single out the media. Scientists are also contributing to that message with slants in the scientific literature, but it is starting to change in both popular media and the scientific literature to emphasize restoration and recovery.

What is the big threat right now with regard to wildlife, habitat and us humans?

The big threat is not caring. We live increasingly digital lives, and it’s a scary thought that we have lost our connection to nature and that no one cares enough to notice it’s disappearing.

Studies show that fewer people are camping, birdwatching, hunting, and fishing. That’s a worrying decay in outdoor engagement. Everything is turning into online and artificial intelligence, the future, and colonizing space.

Hunters and anglers are some of the most vocal conservationists. I worry about that going away.

Where are you seeing success in this country?

We’ve seen the recovery of so many species. The fact that bison are not extinct yet. The fact that wolves, black bears and pumas are not gone from the continent. Grizzly bears are still here. Bald eagles are recovering all over the country.

The restoration of wolves in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Scientists in my field are arguing about exactly how to understand the sort of broader ecological impacts of all that, but there’s absolutely no question that it’s a great conservation success story. That’s nice.

The American Prairie Reserve Project is cooperating with tribal governments. That’s great progress.

How can people who live in regular neighborhoods in the United States participate in this kind of effort in their daily lives, whether in their yard work or their interactions with nature?

There are millions of things. Getting together to make green space can be like a magnet for birds and insects. Be careful about how we use resources.

We are embedded in a society that is prolifically consumptive and we’re all doing it almost without choice. Plastic pollution is something people could reduce. Recycling is not the golden answer to that since vast amounts of plastic we use end up in the dumpster or the ocean. I’m not lecturing anybody, just being conscious of those things. Try to make an effort to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Psychologically speaking, don’t let recycling be an excuse to not worry about it or let ourselves off the hook. I’m not anti-recycling, but the real challenge is figuring out how to reduce plastic usage.