Synopses & Reviews
Foreword by Nina Bradley Leopold
From an internationally recognized restoration ecologist, the twenty-first-century sequel to the best-selling classic A Sand County Almanac
Renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold once wrote, “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it does otherwise.” Years after his passing, his land ethic as embodied in these words is a centerpiece for the modern conservation and ecological restoration movement in America and around the world.
Few have taken Leopold’s vision more to heart than Steven Apfelbaum, who has, over the last thirty years, transformed his 80-acre Stone Prairie Farm in Wisconsin into a biologically diverse ecosystem of prairie, wetland, spring-fed brook, and savanna. Nature’s Second Chance is the story of that transformation as well as of the work of the firm Apfelbaum started, first restoring neighboring farms, then neighboring states, and now land in countries around the world.
Nature’s Second Chance breathes with a refreshing air of ecological possibility, drawing from the author’s personal story of how he has, with help, succeeded in turning back the clock on development to give nature—and humanity—a second chance at sustaining healthy ecosystems. Apfelbaum’s story demonstrates how humans might play a starring role in healing the planet by implementing Leopold’s land ethic, one farm, lot, or brownfield at a time.
"In A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold struggled to define a ‘land ethic.’ In Nature's Second Chance, Steven Apfelbaum documents the struggle to put it into practice, and explores the application and implications of becoming part of the land community. Although the reader will see some parallels among the plethora of ‘back to the land’ books, none come even close to the insight provided in the pages of Nature's Second Chance. With the keen eye of a naturalist and the pragmatic perspective of a practitioner, Apfelbaum has picked up where Leopold left off, and carries the reader to the next level of land ethics. " — Dr. Alan Haney, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, co-editor of Ecosystem Management
“Living with the land, and not just simply on it, has never been more imperative - and Steven Apfelbaum is the perfect guide to that new symbiosis. Nature's Second Chance is part memoir, part road map for a more sustainable future, drawn from Apfelbaum's three decades of hard-won experience restoring the ecological links on his Wisconsin farm.” —Scott Weidensaul, author of Of a Feather and Return to Wild America
“Steeped in the tradition of Leopold’s land ethic, this volume chronicles the maturation of a young environmental idealist into successful ecological entrepreneur. While Leopold pleaded that we disassociate economic gain from our valuation of natural lands, this volume expands the land ethic to embrace the economic drivers that, if properly harnessed, can help restore our planet. This account of personal transformation confirms that we, the greater restoration community, can and must engage the greater economy while remaining true to our core ecological values. This is the rebirth of nature for which the author labors.” —John A. Shuey, Director of Conservation Science, Indiana Office of the Nature Conservancy
Synopsis
Renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold once wrote, "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it does otherwise." Years after Leopold's passing, his "land ethic" is a centerpiece for the modern conservation and ecological restoration movements in America, and around the world.
There are few who have taken to heart Leopold's vision more than restoration ecologist Steven Apfelbaum, who, over thirty years, transformed his eighty-acre Stone Prairie Farm in Wisconsin into a biologically diverse ecosystem of prairie, wetland, spring brook, and forest. In Nature's Second Chance, the author captures the intimate relationship he has created with the land and shows how the restored farm is serving as a model for the human community around him. Opening with his very first walk on the farm, this deeply personal account relates how Apfelbaum and his family worked to restore acres of native wildflowers and wildlife on land he found depleted after years of corn farming. The traditional agricultural community around him was at first deeply suspicious, he explains, but most of them came around to Leopold's beliefs, as lived by the author, after seeing the benefits of restoration at Stone Prairie Farm.
Nature's Second Chance offers unique insights into the biological world, the processes of ecological recovery, and how humans might play a starring role in healing a planet by implementing Leopold's land ethic, one farm, lot, or brownfield at a time.
Synopsis
Foreword by Nina Bradley Leopold
From an internationally recognized restoration ecologist, the twenty-first-century sequel to the best-selling classic A Sand County Almanac
Renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold once wrote, A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it does otherwise. Years after his passing, his land ethic as embodied in these words is a centerpiece for the modern conservation and ecological restoration movement in America and around the world.
Few have taken Leopold's vision more to heart than Steven Apfelbaum, who has, over the last thirty years, transformed his 80-acre Stone Prairie Farm in Wisconsin into a biologically diverse ecosystem of prairie, wetland, spring-fed brook, and savanna. Nature's Second Chance is the story of that transformation as well as of the work of the firm Apfelbaum started, first restoring neighboring farms, then neighboring states, and now land in countries around the world.
Nature's Second Chance breathes with a refreshing air of ecological possibility, drawing from the author's personal story of how he has, with help, succeeded in turning back the clock on development to give nature--and humanity--a second chance at sustaining healthy ecosystems. Apfelbaum's story demonstrates how humans might play a starring role in healing the planet by implementing Leopold's land ethic, one farm, lot, or brownfield at a time.
In A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold struggled to define a 'land ethic.' In Nature's Second Chance, Steven Apfelbaum documents the struggle to put it into practice, and explores the application and implications of becoming partof the land community. Although the reader will see some parallels among the plethora of 'back to the land' books, none come even close to the insight provided in the pages of Nature's Second Chance. With the keen eye of a naturalist and the pragmatic perspective of a practitioner, Apfelbaum has picked up where Leopold left off, and carries the reader to the next level of land ethics.
-- Dr. Alan Haney, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, co-editor of Ecosystem Management
About the Author
Steven I. Apfelbaum is founder, president, and senior ecologist of the firm Applied Ecological Services, known for its international science-based ecological design and restoration work. He lives in Juda, Wisconsin, on Stone Prairie Farm.