Aldo Leopold, in his essay collection A Sand County Almanac explores the natural world, and the symbiotic relationship that’s shared between plant and animal, while also insinuating how humans live in opposition to that fragile synchrony, for we live to reshape our environment for contemporary gains. Leopold is able to write the essay as an ecological historian, who’s knowledge comes from the topography of the Wisconsin landscape, the rings of an Oak tree, or a single atom entombed in a limestone ledge. The first two sections of the book gravitate around two opposing forces conservation and modern progress (scientific advancement, economical growth.…
The land ethic In Leopold’s view, humans see themselves as conquerors of the environment, and this is the key fault we all begin with in achieving this symbiosis with nature. This can be referred to as the conqueror role- we think we know what makes a community “tick.” We think we can manage it, and be “kings” of the land. But we don’t know as much as we think we do. He persists there is an instrumental value to nature, and this is one of the reasons we have no choice but to preserve it, we cannot survive as a species without its resources.…
For their time, Gifford Pinchot, John Muir, and Aldo Leopold held to beliefs that would influence conservationist ideals for many years to come. These pioneers of the concept of "harmony between men and land" (Leopold, 1949, p. 217) constructed a new wave of thinking towards conservation. Their work provided the foundations of contemporary thinking, which is more concerned with globalization and education than moral obligation. Although conservation is still a well discussed issue, many steps have yet to be taken to align society with the goals necessary to preserve a lush natural world. Pinchot held that the natural world exists for the sole "benefit of the people who live [on the Earth]" (Pinchot, 1910, p.33).…
After reading “The Land Ethic” by Aldo Leopold I found that his research and understanding of land ethics is very thorough and he makes valid points that should be read by everyone in our society. He gives a different outlook on land that makes sense and creates a vivid image of the way that we as human should view land. He describes land as not just soil that lies beneath our feet or below the plants that we walk on, cut, or eat, but as the first layer in a community of which each piece is dependent on one another. If one piece of the community were to fall or not do what it is intended, it would in turn make it difficult for the rest of the community the thrive as it should. When thinking of land it makes it easier if it is thought of as…
A ‘land ethic’ is a philosophy that guides and regulates the actions humans take when they attempt to change or use the land. I feel that people over use and over-work the land and resources that we have in the world. Sure, I like to have fancy things but when I think about the fact that everyone in the world likes to have these things they don’t need at all it makes me sick. We are killing our planet every day. I don’t like saying ‘we’ need to come up with a cheaper and cleaner form of energy because I feel hypocritical, but that is definitely something that has got to happen. It is imperative that we meet the needs of society today in such a way that we are still able to meet the needs of future generations.…
In my generation, I am able to catch what is relatively the tail end of this slow extinction. And to be quite honest, I had not devoted a moment of thought to this phenomenon until I read Leopold's passages. In fact, I am always the first one to compliment a new highway project that saves me five minutes of driving or even a tidy farmstead as I pass. Now, more than ever, my thoughts are in limbo. It was just last week when my dad pointed out an area off the highway that displayed miles of slowly rolling cornfields. His reaction was to the beauty of the countryside. Mine was to question his. I found myself thinking about all of the hard work that created that beauty, and then how much more beautiful it was fifty, a hundred, or even two centuries ago. Only the mind's eye can create this beauty now, and that is exactly why Leopold's concerns are validated.…
David Scharf, a university student, takes a creative approach on explaining the difficulty of dealing with the real world and the depression brought about by it, in a short animated film called "The Forest". The video starts out with a 12 year old girl narrating her life. She doesn't like school; she feels alone among people; her father pushes her very hard. To escape the pressures and sadness of the real world, the girl spends much of her time daydreaming about a beautiful forest, her happy place. She gets in trouble at school and her father then becomes fed up with her “distantness” and seeks the help of a professional. The specialist straps the girl to a machine and sucks out all of her creativity. She began…
Aldo Leopold was a conservationist, forester philosopher, educator, writer and outdoor enthusiast and was among the founding fathers of the North American conservation movement during the first half of twentieth century (Leopold, 1981). He argues that humans are part of a community that includes the land, from the soil to the rivers and seas (Leopold, 1981). According to Leopold (1981), until humans recognize that they are part of the land and act accordingly, they will continue to negatively impact the environment and their own health by extension (Leopold, 1981)…
Deforestation has become an issue that is affecting our environment. Henry David Thoreau explains in his book “Walden” how to environment was conserved during his years of living in the forest. Thoreau brings up a point that we need to live within our means instead of building lavish homes, which impacts our environment and leads to deforestation. Over population is impacting our world like never before.…
The conservation movement was a controversial topic nationwide. Some people supported it, while others thought it was absurd to take away natural resources that were necessary to live. Regardless, whether you supported the movement or not, it did effect you because of the substantial change it brought to the United States. The conservation movement was founded for a plethora of reasons in order to better the country. The conservation movement was founded because of the questions about who should control the nation’s animal, mineral and timber resources.…
John Muir lived in the wilderness and was determined by the rapid deforestation he saw throughout North America and he believed the natural world would be treated with respect that is given to cathedrals. “He improved the preservation ethic, to protect our environment in a immaculate state. On the other hand Gifford Pinchot founded the United States Forest Service and also chief in Theodore Roosevelt administration.” (Withgott & Laposata, 2012). Pinchot wanted people to understand the importance of nature. He established the conservation ethic that obligates people to put natural resources to action and regulate carefully.…
1. Ecologically, ethics is a limitation on freedom of action in the struggle for existence. Philosophically it…
It is difficult to find writers more passionate about the natural environment than John Muir and Edward Abbey. Both Muir in a section from his book A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf and Abbey in a chapter titled Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks channel anger and frustration at the environmental policies of their time into literature that argues fervently for preservation of national parks and other areas of wilderness. In Hetch Hetchy Valley, Muir reverently describes in vivid detail the beautiful landscape of a river valley in Yosemite called the Hetch Hetchy Valley, condemning anyone who supports a government plan to dam the Hetch Hetchy River and flood the valley. In a famous quote Muir says, “no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man” (Muir 112). Abbey employs a highly sarcastic and satirical tone to outline the consequences of further expansion of roads and highways into national parks. He aims to incite anger with sharp language and insults to draw the reader in emotionally. “This is a courageous view, admirable in its simplicity and power… It is also quite insane” (Abbey 422). Both pieces easily stand alone, but when looked at together they suggest even more strongly that it is deceptive and dishonest to advertise industrialization of wilderness as any kind of favorable progress for society. This “progress” does not actually benefit anyone. Those who proclaim this as their reason for supporting industrial development are more likely motivated by the short-term economic benefits they will receive.…
Henry David Thoreau's life began on July 12, 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts. At a young age he began to show an interest in writing. In 1833, at the age of sixteen, Thoreau was accepted to Harvard University. Although his parents could not afford the cost of tuition, his family offered to help with the funds, and in August he entered Harvard. In 1837 he graduated and applied for a teaching position at a public school in Concord. However, he refused to flog children as punishment. He choose instead to deliver moral lectures. The community looked down upon this, and a committee was asked to review the situation. They decided that the lectures were not ample punishment, so they ordered Thoreau to flog disobedient students. With disapproval he lined up six children after school that day, flogged them, and handed in his resignation. He felt that physical punishment should have no part in education. In 1837, Henry David Thoreau began to write his journal. It started out as a literary notebook, but later developed into a work of art. In it Thoreau recorded his thoughts and discoveries about life. From 1841 to 1843 and again between 1847 and 1848 Thoreau lived as a member of the Emerson's household. In early 1845 Thoreau decided to make a journey to nearby Walden Pond, where Emerson had recently purchased a plot of land. He built a small cabin overlooking the pond, and from July 4, 1845 to September 6, 1847 Thoreau lived at Walden Pond (World Book 266). In that time period Thoreau attempts to understand something's about man's struggle with nature, society, and oneself in his writings of Walden and "Civil Disobedience."…
American ecologist Garrett Hardin claimed “the good of the many outweigh the good of the individual” in his article “The Tragedy of the Commons.” In his quote, Hardin was referencing a current challenge and conflict society faces today. The “commons,” which are the shared lands and…