After pulling off a notable second act of reinvention, the Canaans, in Litchfield County, Conn., may be on the verge of a third. For centuries, the neighboring towns of Canaan and North Canaan rumbled with iron foundries that turned out wagon wheels, anchors, and cannons. But in digging mines, firing furnaces, and stripping the hills of trees — all for the important ingredient of charcoal — the industry had left the terrain ragged by the early 20th century. @nytimes