“Like winds
and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away
with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher "standard of
living" is worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free.” ~Aldo Leopold
Iowa native Aldo Leopold is considered by many to be the “father” of wildlife management and of the United States wilderness system. Born in 1887 in Burlington, Iowa Leopold’s interest in nature started at an early age. He spent countless hours exploring his natural surroundings and recording his observations in journals and sketches. Leopold’s father was an avid outdoorsman and took his children hunting, fishing, exploring, and camping.
Leopold attended Yale Forest School graduating in 1909 and pursued a career with the U.S. Forest Service. Leopold also completed Iowa’s first statewide biological survey, and created the nation’s first Department of Wildlife Management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Leopold was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, dedicated teacher, writer, and outdoor enthusiast. He was influential in the development of modern environmental ethics. Leopold's goal in his popular wildlife ecology course was "to teach the student to see the land, to understand what he sees, and enjoy what he understands."
Leopold’s powerful writings have made a significant contribution to modern views and values about wildlife and our natural resources. Leopold’s most popular writings, A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There, was first published in 1949 and remains in print today. It is a collection of essays written by Leopold describing the land around his home in Wisconsin. The essays are philosophical in nature and explore the relationship between people, land and wildlife. It was a call for a land ethic and written with the hope that readers would begin to treat the land with love and respect. A Sand County Almanac has had far reaching influence, over two million copies have been published and it has been translated into twelve languages.
Examples
of Project Learning Tree, Project WILD, and Project WILD Aquatic activities to
use with a study of Aldo Leopold:
Project
Learning Tree
Poet-Tree – Students write
and share poems to express their thoughts, values, and beliefs about the
environment.
Who Works in
this Forest? – Students explore forest-related careers.
Project
WILD
Enviro-Ethics – Students
develop and use a “personal code of environmental ethics.”
Philosophical
Differences – Students select a wildlife or environmental issue and visit with the
community about their views and opinions.
Wildwork – Students
explore wildlife-related careers.
Project
WILD Aquatic
Dragonfly Pond – Students evaluate
the effects of different kinds of land use on wetland habitats.
Living
Research: Aquatic Heroes and Heroines – Students identify people who have made
contributions to conserving or preserving aquatic environments.
Related Links
The Aldo
Leopold Foundationhttp://www.aldoleopold.org/
The
Leopold Archives
http://www.aldoleopold.org/AldoLeopold/archives.shtml
Using
Leopold in Teaching
http://www.aldoleopold.org/AldoLeopold/teachingtools.shtml