Synopses & Reviews
In 1935, in the midst of relentless drought, Aldo Leopold purchased an abandoned farm along the Wisconsin River near Baraboo, Wisconsin. An old chicken coop, later to become famous as the Leopold andldquo;Shack,andrdquo; was the propertyandrsquo;s only intact structure. The Leopold family embraced this spent farm as a new kind of laboratoryandmdash;a place to experiment on restoring health to an ailing piece of land. Here, Leopold found inspiration for writing
A Sand County Almanac, his influential book of essays on conservation and ethics.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Living a Land Ethic chronicles the formation of the 1,600-acre reserve surrounding the Shack. When the Leopold Memorial Reserve was founded in 1967, five neighboring families signed an innovative agreement to jointly care for their properties in ways that honored Aldo Leopoldandrsquo;s legacy. In the ensuing years, the Reserveandrsquo;s Coleman and Leopold families formed the Sand County Foundation and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. These organizations have been the primary stewards of the Reserve, carrying on a tradition of ecological restoration and cooperative conservation. Author Stephen A. Laubach draws from the archives of both foundations, including articles of incorporation, correspondence, photos, managersandrsquo; notes, and interviews to share with readers the Reserveandrsquo;s untold history and its important place in the American conservation movement.
andmiddot; Finalist, Nature category of the Midwest Book Awards, Midwest Independent Publishers Association
andmiddot; Finalist, History category of the Midwest Book Awards, Midwest Independent Publishers Association
Review
and#147;A significant and important story about how a small group of landowners, inspired by Aldo Leopold, pioneered private conservation and ecological restoration. It offers an insightful reflection on what it means to live the and#145;land ethicand#8217; that is quite relevant to todayand#8217;s growing conservation challenges.and#8221;and#151;Tia Nelson
Review
and#147;Two generations after Aldo Leopoldand#8217;s passing, his legacy lives on through his readers, his family, and his students, and through the policies he promoted, the organizations he shaped, and the ideas he fostered. But it lives on most tangibly in the many places he worked to conserve. And of these, no place was so intimately essential to his life and thought as the Leopold Shack and the surrounding Leopold Memorial Reserve. In
Living a Land Ethic, Steve Laubach explores the many-layered natural and cultural history of the Leopold Reserve, and recounts the innovative efforts to protect and steward its diverse landscape. He shows us that the land ethic continues to evolve in the very place where Leopold conceived it. The land endures, and the story continues.and#8221;and#151;Curt Meine, author of
Aldo Leopold: His Life and WorkReview
and#147;A compelling case study of the challenges and rewards in creating a sustainable landscape. One imagines it is the type of book Aldo Leopold would have written himself had he lived for another decade.and#8221;and#151;Mark Madison, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Review
andldquo;An excellent, full-length biography of a figure central to the environmental history of the United States.andrdquo;andmdash;Science
Review
andldquo;Aldo Leopold is laboriously researched, masterfully synthesized, and felicitously written. . . . Through Meineandrsquo;s fascinating and lively narrative, we can at last . . . become better acquainted with one of the most important minds in the history of conservation.andrdquo;andmdash;The Bloomsbury Review
Review
andldquo;Meine has done a masterful job in presenting to his reader the family man, sportsman, natural resource manager, administrator, professor, philosopher, and poet.andrdquo;andmdash;Western Historical Quarterly
Review
andldquo;This is a story well worth reading and, happily, itandrsquo;s good fun to boot. The author has skillfully captured Leopold the man, the scientist, the philosopherandmdash;furthermore, anyone who begins to read it will soon be captured, too.andrdquo;andmdash;Gaylord Nelson, former U.S. Senator and founder of Earth Day
Review
andldquo;At this time no writer is better situated in place or time than Meine to understand and to put into practice Leopoldandrsquo;s ideas about man and nature. . . .Meineandrsquo;s biography of Leopold remains our best account of Leopoldandrsquo;s exemplary evolving ethical journey.andrdquo; andmdash;Jim Ballowe, North Dakota Quarterly
Synopsis
This biography of Aldo Leopold follows him from his childhood as a precocious naturalist to his profoundly influential role in the development of conservation and modern environmentalism in the United States. This edition includes a new preface by author Curt Meine and an appreciation by acclaimed Kentucky writer and farmer Wendell Berry.
About the Author
Curt D. Meine is director for conservation biology and history with the Center for Humans and Nature; senior fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation; research associate with the International Crane Foundation; and associate adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsinandndash;Madison. He is coeditor of The Essential Aldo Leopold, also published by the University of Wisconsin Press.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrationsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Foreword by Stanley Templeand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Acknowledgmentsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;
Introductionand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
1 Settlement and Changing Land Health in the Central Sands Areaand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
2 Sowing the Seeds of the Leopold Memorial Reserve Ideaand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
3 Implementing a Management Planand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
4 Growth in Research and Education Programsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
5 Conservation's Next Generationand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Conclusion: The Legacy of the Leopold Memorial Reserveand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Afterwordand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;
Notesand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Bibliographyand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Index