Aldo Leopold

Rand Aldo Leopold was born in Burlington, Iowa, on January 11, 1887. His father, Carl Leopold, was a businessman who made walnut desks and was first cousin to his wife, Clara Starker. Charles Starker, who was Carl's father and Clara's uncle, came to the United States from Germany and studied engineering and architecture. Rand Aldo was named after two of his father's business partners—C. W. Rand and Aldo Sommers—although he eventually dropped the use of "Rand". The Leopold family included younger siblings Mary Luize, Carl Starker, and Frederic. Leopold's first language was German, although he mastered English at an early age. Aldo Leopold's early life was highlighted by the outdoors. Carl would take his children on excursions into the woods and taught his oldest son woodcraft and hunting. Aldo showed an aptitude for observation, spending hours counting and cataloging birds near his home. His sister Mary later said that even as a young child, "He was very much an outdoorsman, even in his extreme youth. He was always out climbing around the bluffs, or going down to the river, or going across the river into the woods." He attended Prospect Hill Elementary, where he ranked at the top of his class, and then, the overcrowded Burlington High School. Every August, the family vacationed in Michigan on the forested Marquette Island in Lake Huron, which the children took to exploring. ==Schooling==

Sheffield Scientific School yearbook, 1908 In 1900, Gifford Pinchot, head of the new Division of Forestry in the Department of Agriculture, donated money to Yale University to begin one of the nation's first forestry schools. Hearing of this development, teenage Leopold decided he wanted to become a forester. His parents agreed to let him attend The Lawrenceville School, a preparatory college in New Jersey, to improve his chances of admission to Yale. The Burlington High School principal wrote in a reference letter to the headmaster at Lawrenceville saying that Leopold was "as earnest a boy as we have in school... painstaking in his work.... Moral character above reproach." He arrived at his new school in January 1904, shortly before he turned 17. He was considered an attentive student, although he was again drawn to the outdoors. Lawrenceville was suitably rural, and Leopold spent much time mapping the area and studying its wildlife. Leopold studied at the Lawrenceville School for a year, during which time he was accepted to Yale. Since the Yale School of Forestry granted only graduate degrees, Leopold first enrolled in Sheffield Scientific School's preparatory forestry courses for his undergraduate studies, in New Haven, Connecticut. While Leopold was able to explore the woods and fields of Lawrenceville daily, sometimes to the detriment of his studying, at Yale he had little opportunity to do so; his studies and social life made his outdoor trips few and far between. Leopold graduated from the Yale Forestry School in 1909. ==Career==

In 1909, Leopold was assigned to the Forest Service's District 3 in the Arizona and New Mexico territories. At first, he was a forest assistant at the Apache National Forest in the Arizona Territory. In 1911, he was transferred to the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. Leopold was stationed in New Mexico until 1924 because he was developing the first comprehensive management plan for the Grand Canyon, writing the Forest Service's first game and fish handbook, and proposing Gila Wilderness Area, the first wilderness area in the Forest Service system. Furthermore, Leopold encouraged many changes within New Mexico and Arizona through his time spent in the region developing these plans. Game Protection Association initiatives In 1916, Leopold conducted a speaking tour across New Mexico to encourage the formation of wildlife protection associations among local sportsmen. The tour began in Silver City, where Leopold met Miles W. Buford, who went on to establish the Sportsmen’s Association of Southwestern New Mexico. Leopold proposed the creation of a statewide organization, the New Mexico Game Protection Association (NMGPA), which gained support in several cities including Rincon, El Paso, Alamogordo, Cloudcroft, Carlsbad, Roswell, and Albuquerque. In March 1916, the NMGPA held its first convention, attracting over 1,000 members. The association adopted three goals: removing game warden appointments from political influence, establishing game refuges within national forests, and implementing a balance of predators. Following the formation of the NMGPA, Leopold returned to his duties with the U.S. Forest Service. After the passage of the Term Permit Act, he began siting and surveying locations in Arizona for private recreational development. During this time, he also promoted and helped establish Game Protection Associations in Arizona towns such as Flagstaff, Springerville, Tucson, and Payson. He felt that there needed to be a control of commercial enterprises, such as shops and concessions because he described them as "repugnant" to the canyon's natural character. He suggested there should be designated areas for visitor facilities to minimize environmental disruption. Additionally, He advocated for the cleanup of garbage and sewage to restore the Colorado River's water quality. Previously, there was history of people dumping garbage in the river. In the handbook, Leopold detailed a section on wildlife population management where he provided a guideline for monitoring and regulating game species, such as deer, elk, and fish, to prevent overharvesting. He defined wilderness as “a continuous stretch of country preserved in its natural state, open to lawful hunting and fishing, big enough to absorb a two weeks’ pack trip, and kept devoid of roads, artificial trails, cottages, or other works of man.” As a Forest Service supervisor in District 3, Leopold worked with colleagues like Fred Winn and Don Johnston to survey the Gila and develop a management plan. In 1924, he accepted transfer to the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, and became an associate director. Leopold and other members of the first Arboretum Committee initiated a research agenda around re-establishing "original Wisconsin" landscape and plant communities, particularly those that predated European settlement, such as tallgrass prairie and oak savanna. Under the Oberlaender Trust of the Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation, Leopold was part of the 1935 group of six U.S. Forest Service associates who toured the forests of Germany and Austria. Leopold was invited specifically to study game management, and this was his first and only time abroad. His European observations would have a significant impact on his ecological thinking, leading him to view the German policies in favor of blocks of monoculture trees in straight lines as a cautionary tale leading to soil degradation and an overall loss of biodiversity. After 1935, Leopold was no longer working for the U.S. Forest Service; he had left the agency in 1928 to work independently and later became a professor at the University of Wisconsin. ==Family life and death==

Leopold married Estella Bergere, the daughter of a well known ranching family in New Mexico, in northern New Mexico in 1912 and they had five children together. They lived in a modest two-story home close to the UW–Madison campus. His children followed in his footsteps as teachers and naturalists: Aldo Starker Leopold (1913–1983) was a wildlife biologist and professor at UC Berkeley; Luna B. Leopold (1915–2006) became a hydrologist and geology professor at UC Berkeley; Nina Leopold Bradley (1917–2011) was a researcher and naturalist; Aldo Carl Leopold (1919–2009) was a plant physiologist, who taught at Purdue University for 25 years; and daughter Estella Leopold (1927–2024) was a noted botanist and conservationist and professor emerita at the University of Washington. Leopold purchased 80 acres in the sand country of central Wisconsin. The once-forested region had been logged, swept by repeated fires, overgrazed by dairy cows, and left barren. He put his theories to work in the field and eventually set to work writing his best-selling A Sand County Almanac (1949) which was finished just prior to his death. Aldo Leopold died from a heart attack on April 21, 1948, while helping his neighbors control a grass fire by his farm in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Leopold's home is an official landmark of the city of Madison. ==Ideas==

Early on, Leopold was assigned to hunt and kill bears, wolves, and mountain lions in New Mexico. Local ranchers hated these predators because of livestock losses, but Leopold came to respect the animals. One day after fatally shooting a wolf, Leopold reached the animal and was transfixed by a "fierce green fire dying in her eyes." That experience changed him and put him on the path toward an ecocentric outlook. He developed an ecological ethic that replaced the earlier wilderness ethic that stressed the need for human dominance. His rethinking the importance of predators in the balance of nature has resulted in the return of bears and mountain lions to New Mexico wilderness areas. In one essay, he rhetorically asked, "Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" Leopold saw a progress of ethical sensitivity from interpersonal relationships, to relationships to society as a whole, to relationships with the land, leading to a steady diminution of actions based on expediency, conquest, and self-interest. Leopold thus rejected the utilitarianism of conservationists such as Theodore Roosevelt. Science writer Connie Barlow says Leopold wrote eloquently from a perspective that today would be called Religious Naturalism. Though often forgotten, thinking about population dynamics and consumption also shaped Leopold’s ecological vision in profound ways. By studying wildlife population fluctuations, Leopold extended many of the ideas about carrying capacity and environmental degradation that Raymond Pearl and Edward Murray East had articulated, and these ideas, in turn, shaped his path-breaking ideas of ecological interconnection. Moreover, although later readers associate Leopold with wildlife ecology, his career helps show how Malthusian ideas of human society intertwined and overlapped with ideas of nature. He was greatly influenced by ecologists who themselves gleaned ideas from Malthusian models of human society, and himself often thought of human events—especially the Great Depression and World War II—in terms of the models of population and consumption that he was developing for animals. One of the most influential books for Leopold during that period was Our Vanishing Wildlife by William Temple Hornaday. As one of the earliest works dedicated entirely to the threats facing wild game populations this book significantly shaped Leopold's views. The book sharpened his focus on the importance of game protection, a concern that would remain central to his thinking for many years to come. ==Nature writing==

Aldo Leopold’s place in the world of nature writing is poised at a pivotal juncture in history, drawing from the writings of Henry David Thoreau and other 19th century thinkers, while also laying the groundwork for contemporary authors such as Kathleen Dean Moore, Wendell Berry, and Scott Russell Sanders; according to Sanders, "Aldo Leopold remains a vital figure for us today … because he analyzed the sources of ecological damage with unprecedented clarity, and he wrote about possible remedies as compellingly as any American ever has.” Leopold's nature writing is notable for its simple directness. His portrayals of various natural environments through which he had moved, or had known for many years, displayed impressive intimacy with what exists and happens in nature. This includes detailed diaries and journals of his Forest Service activity, hunting and field experience, as well as observations and activities at his Sand County farm. He offered frank criticism of the harm he believed was frequently done to natural systems (such as land) out of a sense of a culture or society's sovereign ownership over the land base – eclipsing any sense of a community of life to which humans belong. He felt the security and prosperity resulting from "mechanization" now gives people the time to reflect on the preciousness of nature and to learn more about what happens there; however, he also wrote, "Theoretically, the mechanization of farming ought to cut the farmer's chains, but whether it really does is debatable." A Sand County Almanac In A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold’s beautiful prose gives voice to his heartfelt wonder of the natural world, as well as an urgent conviction to preserve it, by way of a writing style that is “poetic, succinct and inspiring.” The book was published in 1949, shortly after Leopold's death. It was structured in a series of monthly essays where he went in depth about land ethics and nature. Several of these monthly essays were accompanied with sketches from the different landscapes and plants he found. Additionally, he would have philosophical segments that would contribute to his land ethic concepts. One of the well-known quotes from the book which clarifies his land ethic is, A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. (p. 262) The concept of a trophic cascade is put forth in the chapter, "Thinking Like a Mountain", wherein Leopold realizes that killing a predatory wolf carries serious implications for the rest of the ecosystem — a conclusion that found sympathetic appreciation generations later: Thinking Like a Mountain was originally written during World War II and shows that Leopold's thinking was shaped by that global cataclysm. Land ethic In "The Land Ethic", a chapter in A Sand County Almanac, Leopold delves into conservation in "The Ecological Conscience" section. He wrote: "Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land." He noted that conservation guidelines at the time boiled down to: "obey the law, vote right, join some organizations, and practice what conservation is profitable on your own land; the government will do the rest." (p. 243–244) Leopold explained: Aldo Leopold’s contributions to conservation, particularly his role in establishing the Gila Wilderness Area, are deeply intertwined with the evolution of his philosophical views. In the early 20th century, Leopold’s work with the U.S. Forest Service in the American Southwest was grounded in the agency’s utilitarian ethos, which prioritized resource extraction and economic productivity. At the time this essay was written Sandhill Cranes had dwindled to merely 25 breeding pairs in Wisconsin, luckily since then the crane population has recovered with the midwest now being home to over 15,000 sandhill cranes. These efforts were inspired by this essay and carried out by the Aldo Leopold foundation. These efforts give a positive example to be looked to for future conservation efforts. Game Management Game Management was published in 1933, establishing Leopold as one of the leaders and founders of wildlife preservation and ecology.This book was used in his teachings at The University of Wisconsin and led the groundwork for describing methods of how to restore and manage ecosystems using the same tools and methods that were used to destroy them. Game Management is deemed Leopold’s most important work as it founded a new science by combining the likes of agriculture, biology, ecology, and other sciences. This book brought about a revolution within conservation and placed Leopold as the founder of the Department of Game Management at The University of Wisconsin. For more than 40 years after its publication, it was the leading textbook in the field of wildlife management. The River of the Mother of God and Other Essays Published nearly 45 years after the death of Leopold, The River of the Mother of God, includes 59 essays drawn from Leopold’s unpublished manuscripts found at The University of Wisconsin and Leopold’s overlooked published work. This collection is titled after one of Leopold’s most popular essays from 1924, “The River of the Mother of God,” but it spans Leopold’s life discussing themes of wilderness preservation, ecology, agriculture, land ethics, and natural esthetics from his teenage years until his last years. This work dives into a deeper view of Leopold and shows the lasting impact he made on the field of conservation. A Man's Leisure Time In A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold’s essay “A Man’s Leisure Time” provides us with a thoughtful examination of how leisure enriches our lives by deepening our connection with nature. Leopold believed that how one spends their free time is a good indicator of one’s intelligence and character. Leopold states, “How miserable are the idle hours of the ignorant man!” contributing to his idea that leisure time is meaningful and it is important to take in the nature around when present with the opportunity. According to Leopold, leisure activities should not be relaxing time but ways to achieve personal growth and understanding. He describes hobbies as "a defiance of the contemporary," suggesting that they allow individuals to step away from the relentless pace of modern life and engage in activities that are rewarding and enriching. Leopold highlights that such pursuits, whether it's collecting fossils or cultivating a garden, can lead to a profound appreciation of the land and how important and amazing nature is. In this chapter, Mr.Leopold encourages the reader to consider what they do with their free or leisure time in their life. Leopold advocates for activities that promote a deeper understanding of the natural world. == Legacy ==

In 1933, Aldo Leopold became Professor of Game Management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the first position of its kind in the country. Through his contributions to and knowledge of the field, he developed curricula and ran the program, which was eventually redubbed Wildlife Ecology. "Game Management" during this time meant the scientific study and the practical application of techniques for maintaining a healthy wildlife population, especially those that are hunted for sport. Through his expertise, the area of wildlife management grew from just managing populations within life to a larger egocialcal approach to managing wildlife population. Game management was a branch of conservation biology to Aldo Leopold. He was concerned about the whole ecological balance of the environment and not just one species. He created a field that was hit every area ecology, policy, forestry, and ethics. He even published a textbook for his class titles "Game management", also published in 1933. In 1950 The Wildlife Society honored Leopold by creating an annual award in his name. The Aldo Leopold Foundation of Baraboo, Wisconsin, was founded in 1982 by Aldo and Estella Leopold's five children as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit conservation organization whose mission is "to foster the land ethic through the legacy of Aldo Leopold". The Aldo Leopold Foundation owns and manages the original Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm and 300 surrounding acres, in addition to several other parcels. Its headquarters is the green-built Leopold Center where it conducts educational and land stewardship programs. The foundation also acts as the executor of Leopold's literary estate, encourages scholarship on Leopold, and serves as a clearinghouse for information regarding Leopold, his work, and his ideas. It provides interpretive resources and tours for thousands of visitors annually, distributes a curriculum about how to use Leopold's writing and ideas in environmental education. The center maintains a robust website and numerous print resources. In 2012, in collaboration with the United States Forest Service, the foundation and the Center for Humans and Nature released the first full-length film about Leopold, titled Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time. The film aired on public television stations across the nation and won a Midwest regional Emmy award in the documentary category. The Aldo Leopold Wilderness in New Mexico's Gila National Forest was named after him in 1980. The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture was established in 1987 at Iowa State University in Ames. It was named in honor of Leopold. Since its founding, it has pioneered new forms of sustainable agriculture practices. The U.S. Forest Service established the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute at the University of Montana, Missoula in 1993. It is "the only Federal research group in the United States dedicated to the development and dissemination of knowledge needed to improve management of wilderness, parks, and similarly protected areas." The Aldo Leopold Neighborhood Historic District, which includes Leopold's former home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The Aldo Leopold Legacy Trail System, a system of 42 state trails in Wisconsin, was created by the state in 2007 to honor Leopold's contributions to the conservation and outdoor recreation. This trail covers more than 1,700 miles across the state of Wisconsin. Many of the trails pass through forests, scenics natural areas, and state parks. There are signs, along the trails, to showcase information about Leopold's life, his conservation work, and natural information about the surrounding area. The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Iowa, created through the 1987 Iowa Groundwater Protection Act is committed to "new ways to farm profitably while conserving natural resources as well as reducing negative environmental and social impacts". An organization, the Leopold Heritage Group, is "dedicated to promoting the global legacy of Aldo Leopold in his hometown of Burlington, Iowa." This groups preserves and shares Leopold's legacy by providing local events, educational programs, and conservation projects. The "Leopold Heritage Group", supports efforts to maintain Leopold-relates sites around the area for example, his childhood home and many places that he has explored as a child. In 1985, Leopold was inducted along with John Muir, a naturalist and preservationist, as the first inductees to the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is located in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, it was created to recognize the individuals who have made important contributions to conserving the natural state of resources around the state. The Leopold Residence Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was named after him. It opened in 2013. Leopold's Preserve in Haymarket, Virginia was established in 2014. This preserve is a 380-acre park that is committed to preserving diverse ecosystems, natural scenes, and protecting threatened land from industrial and commercial development. Aldo Leopold is well known for being the founder of wildlife management, he played a key role in establishing ethics in the wildlife world. He was a driving force behind the creation of the Gila National Forest Wilderness, and his legacy lives on today as the Gila National Forest has been standing strong since 1924, when the National Forest was created. == Works ==

• Report on a Game Survey of the North Central States (Madison: SAAMI, 1931) • Game Management (New York: Scribner's, 1933) • A Sand County Almanac (New York: Oxford, 1949) • Round River: From the Journals of Aldo Leopold (New York: Oxford, 1953) • A Sand County Almanac and Other Writings on Ecology and Conservation (New York: Library of America, 2013). ISBN 9781598532067 ==See also==