The Roots Of Leopold's Concept Of A "land Ethic" Can Be Traced To His

The roots of Leopold's concept of a "land ethic" can be traced to his birthplace on the bluffs of the Mississippi River near Burlington, Iowa. As a youngster, he developed a zealous appreciation and interest in the natural world, spending countless hours on adventures in the woods, prairies, and river backwaters of a then relatively wild Iowa. This early attachment to the natural world, coupled with an uncommon skill for both observation and writing, lead him to pursue a degree in forestry at Yale.
Often credited as the founding father of wildlife ecology, Leopold's cornerstone book Game Management (1933) defined the fundamental skills and techniques for managing and restoring wildlife populations. This landmark work created a new science that intertwined forestry, agriculture, biology, zoology, ecology, education and communication. Soon after its publication, the University of Wisconsin created a new department, the Department of Game Management, and appointed Leopold as its first chair.
Early natural historian writers such as Muir, in writing in an informal, inclusive, intensely local, experiential, eccentric, nativist, and utilitarian style, in a formative period of US history established an environmental philosophy regarding the notion of wilderness which remains true in the modern era. David Brower, for example, was kicked out of the Sierra Club for his radicalism in 1969 and subsequently founded Friends of the Earth, today the largest environmental group in the world. Friends of the Earth eventually kicked him out, too. But his motto for the organization, Think globally, act locally, lives on. This philosophy essentially underpins Agenda 21 and current trends in sustainable development. He fought for trees, for porpoises, and against nuclear power and pesticides. He was, without peer, the most important environmentalist of the 20th century. Brower is famous for saying, We do not inherit the earth from our fathers, we are borrowing it from our children. The sentiments he wished to be remembered for were more extreme: We're not just borrowing from our children, we're stealing from them and it's not even considered to be a crime.
The religious, philosophical, literary, scientific, and ethical dimensions of the writings from the likes of Muir and Leopold combined to forge a set of wilderness ideas that became embedded in American history and culture. As the nation was in early formation their texts offered a unifying wholeness that united the America people. The image of the American front porch with a rocking chair in the corner evokes an image of America and wilderness that many Americans still relate to.
Bibliography
Hildebidle. J. Thoreau: A Naturalist's Liberty (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983).
Leopold, A.