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Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac & Other Writings on Conservation and Ecology
Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac & Other Writings on Conservation and Ecology: (Library of America #238) | Aldo Leopold
18 posts | 3 read | 3 to read
Since his death in 1948, Aldo Leopold has been increasingly recognized as one of the indispensable figures of American environmentalism. A pioneering forester, sportsman, wildlife manager, and ecologist, he was also a gifted writer whose farsighted land ethic is proving increasingly relevant in our own time. Now, Leopolds essential contributions to our literaturesome hard-to-find or previously unpublishedare gathered in a single volume for the first time. Here is his classic A Sand County Almanac, hailedwith Thoreaus Walden and Carsons Silent Springas one of the main literary influences on the modern environmental movement. Published in 1949, it is still astonishing today: a vivid, firsthand, philosophical tour de force. Along with Sand County are more than fifty articles, essays, and lectures exploring the new complexities of ecological science and what we would now call environmental ethics. Leopolds sharp-eyed, often humorous journals are illustrated here for the first time with his original photographs, drawings, and maps. Also unique to this collection is a selection of over 100 letters, most of them never before published, tracing his personal and professional evolution and his efforts to foster in others the love and sense of responsibility he felt for the land.
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Tamra
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Pickpick

Over a couple of years I‘ve read bits and pieces of Leopold‘s dedication to & love of the land, i.e. the “biotic community.” The best selections for me were the intimate descriptions of his plot of Wisconsin land & surrounding area.

Leopold succeeds in “building receptivity into the still unlovely human mind” for the environment. Does the environment have intrinsic moral value? I whole heartedly agree with him that it does.

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Tamra
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Written in the 60‘s, Leopold is urgently calling for a shift to an eco/biocentrist perspective & conservation. But not the “beautification” projects or compromise of empty gestures that make us feel better, i.e. creating toothless agencies.

“The land is one organism. Its parts, like our own parts, compete with each other and cooperate with each other....To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent thinking.”

Tamra He suggests profit must be redefined to include a livable environment for future generations, just as we perceive the value of education. 4y
ChasingOm I read this in college for a Environmental Policy course. 4y
Tamra @ChasingOm lovely writing! 4y
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Tamra
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Can‘t judge a country scape by the paucity of “monumental” natural landmarks. I love the stark and often vast beauty of open plains, meadows, & tundra, which might to a passerby seem empty and lonely.

Christine Love his language about this (and yours)! ❤️ 4y
Tamra @Christine I do love his observations! 4y
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Tamra
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I just read Leopold‘s insightful chapter on the difference between land and country. I have to share two excerpts. 🐿

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Tamra
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Pondering the element of beauty in natural landscapes.

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Tamra
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Reflection after the government in all its wisdom killed the last grizzly on Escudilla mountain in AZ. They made it safe for cattle, despite the bear only killing one cow each spring. Certainly seemed a fair enough price for sharing the same space.

Related, but from a different book, today I read the Hopis (AZ) traditionally plant more corn than needed for human consumption because animals need to eat too. Seems a reasonable solution to me.

Tamra Well that was a depressing note to end my nature reading this morning. I will have to focus on the WI - FL crane conservation efforts which amazingly are paying off and made me giggle to think of people in white suits jumping around like cranes for hatched chicks. 😆 (edited) 5y
wanderinglynn It‘s sad how short-sighted that was. The Hopis has the right idea. Ecosystems suffer when the big predators are missing. Just look how Yellowstone thrived after grey wolves were reintroduced: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.yellowstonepark.com/.amp/things-to-do/wolf-rein... 5y
Tamra @wanderinglynn exactly! 5y
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Tamra
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1947

Seems the pace of environmentalism is glacial. My one glimmer of hope is that my kids are learning a great deal more about stewardship than I did in school.

GingerAntics I‘m glad some schools are teaching that. I‘ve seen plenty of schools refuse to talk about it because so many of the parents don‘t believe in climate change like it‘s a bloody ghost or something. 5y
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Tamra
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Truth!

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Tamra
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I have neglected monthly readings from Sand County Almanac with life happenings since July. I pulled it back out to read Leopold‘s December entry. 🐇🌲

rockpools Love this! And the uni library actually has a copy - wonder if I still have borrowing access... 5y
Tamra @RachelO you can get used copies inexpensively online too. I enjoy the meditative quality of nature writing in general. I also read through this one alongside since it as monthly entries too. 5y
rockpools @Tamra Thanks! I have to admit, I started something else by JLS and didn‘t get on with him too well. This one actually sounds much more readable, so maybe I should give hima second chance! 5y
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Tamra @RachelO do you recall which? I‘m tempted to read this one about him living off only what he could catch & gather for a year on his farm. 5y
rockpools Go for it! Mine could‘ve been a problem with audio, but I wasn‘t keen on the attitude I got from this. He was working an acre of land in traditional ways, which sounds great - but he was also giving farmers a lot of grief for using chemicals when he wasn‘t. Tho‘ I‘m fully in favour of organic, it felt quite uncomfortable & unrealistic to me - like he was playing at farming, without needing to earn a living. Sure I‘m being unfair, but it grated! 5y
Tamra @RachelO ahhhhh, yes that could definitely be off-putting. I can totally see that. 5y
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Tamra
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It‘s June in Wisconsin and Leopold spent a morning hunting trout, but it‘s much more than just fishing.

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Tamra
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Sharing May Day with Leopold and the upland plover.

It‘s been an especially long MN winter, so today the scent of the first light spring shower and chit chattering of nesting birds is very welcome.

Tamra I got to thinking my kids wouldn‘t know what “dial” is - do we dial anything anymore? Everything is swipe & scroll & click & tab & tap. 6y
Leftcoastzen I bought a 70s Sansui amplifier/tuner just to get my dials and knobs back. 6y
Leftcoastzen Leopold is terrific!Nature writing in the spring is so inspiring. 6y
Tamra @Leftcoastzen good for you! I saw a radio from probably the 60s in a thrift shop a couple of weeks ago and compulsively played with the knobs. 😆 (edited) 6y
Tamra @Leftcoastzen it is! I like it all year round. Perhaps I‘m nature deprived...... 6y
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Tamra
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April with Aldo Leopold: “It is fortunate, perhaps, that no matter how intently one studies the hundred little dramas of the woods and meadows, one can never learn all of the salient facts about any one of them.”

Fortunate indeed!

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jessamyngrace
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If we think we are going to learn by cruising round the mountains in a Ford, we are largely deceiving ourselves...

Eggs 🤗😂🤣 6y
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Tamra
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I get the excitement of a crisp & glossy new book, but I also adore an old one that has been often read and carried, with its soft cover & pages, yellowing & fading, smell of decaying paper, and evidence of travels near & far.

Carolyn11215 An old favorite. Time to reread! 6y
Tamra @Carolyn11215 this is my first read and I plan to dole out each chapter at the beginning of the month. 😊 This edition contains the Almanac & Round River Essays. (edited) 6y
[DELETED] 3803335244 I love old books too. I have a few really old botany books & poetry books! I totally agree ❤️ 6y
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Tamra
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This morning Aldo bore witness to history in the rings of a century Oak and geese prophesied the unfurling of spring.

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Tamra
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This is going to be treasure often revisited. 🌿

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Tamra
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This morning I followed Leopold tracking a skunk awakened by a January thaw.

We just had one of those thaws and every year I think they are odd & unusual, but clearly they are not.

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Tamra
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I miss check-out cards and their little histories.

BookNAround I miss these and old fashioned card catalogs. 6y
merelybookish Agreed! 6y
EvieBee Me too! 6y
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Jerdencon Me too! 6y
Simona Me too ... I take them when I find them 🤭🤫🤗 6y
BluestockingDuchess I LOVE to look at the dates on them 6y
Colleenma Me too. I loved looking at who else checked out the book 6y
[DELETED] 3803335244 I miss them too! I also miss the older card catalog. I‘m sure it‘s a lot easier for librarians now but I miss it! I need to put these in our home books, that way we can keep a record of when each person read it & when. That would be neat. Just my mind rambling. 6y
CoverToCoverGirl Sadly a thing of the past.. 6y
Tamra @ForeverNerdy what a great idea! I know home kits like that are made for sale, but it could be fun to make them as a project too. 6y
[DELETED] 3803335244 I saw them on Etsy as download & print not too long ago. I‘ll have to see if I favorited it. 6y
LeahBergen Me, too! 😕 6y
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