The hope of the future lies not in curbing the influence of human occupancy - it is already too late for that - but in creating a better understanding of the extent of that influence and a new ethic for its governance. Aldo Leopold More Quotes by Aldo Leopold More Quotes From Aldo Leopold The problem, then, is how to bring about a striving for harmony with land among a people many of whom have forgotten there is any such thing as land, among whom education and culture have become almost synonymous with landlessness. This is the problem of conservation education. Aldo Leopold land culture people My favorite quote: The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land. In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such. Aldo Leopold land animal water Our tools are better than we are, and grow better faster than we do. They suffice to crack the atom, to command the tides, but they do not suffice for the oldest task in human history, to live on a piece of land without spoiling it. Aldo Leopold atoms tasks land For us in the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television. Aldo Leopold nature important opportunity I have purposely presented the land ethic as a product of social evolution because nothing so important as an ethic is ever 'written'… It evolves in the minds of a thinking community. Aldo Leopold community land thinking Mechanized recreation already has seized nine-tenths of the woods and mountains; a decent respect for minorities should dedicate the other tenth to wilderness. Aldo Leopold mountain woods minorities It is inconceivable to me that an ethical relation to land can exist without love, respect, and admiration for land, and a high regard for its value. By value, I of course mean something far broader than mere economic value; I mean value in the philosophical sense. Aldo Leopold philosophical land mean I do not imply that this philosophy of land was always clear to me. It is rather the end result of a life journey. Aldo Leopold land journey philosophy One of the anomalies of modern ecology is the creation of two groups, each of which seems barely aware of the existence of the other. The one studies the human community, almost as if it were a separate entity, and calls its findings sociology, economics and history. The other studies the plant and animal community and comfortably relegates the hodge-podge of politics to the liberal arts. The inevitable fusion of these two lines of thought will, perhaps, constitute the outstanding advance of this century. Aldo Leopold animal two art Your woodlot is, in fact, an historical document which faithfully records your personal philosophy. Aldo Leopold records historical philosophy Conservation viewed in its entirety, is the slow and laborious unfolding of a new relationship between people and land. Aldo Leopold new-relationship land people Land health is the capacity for self-renewal in the soils, waters, plants, and animals that collectively comprise the land. Aldo Leopold land self animal The most important characteristic of an organism is that capacity for internal self-renewal known as health. There are two organisms whose processes of self-renewal have been subjected to human interference and control. One of these is man himself (medicine and public health). The other is land (agriculture and coservation). The effort to control the health of land has not been very successful. Aldo Leopold successful self men There are two things that interest me: the relation of people to each other, and the relation of people to land. Aldo Leopold land two people Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. Aldo Leopold conservation quality art We Americans, in most states at least, have not yet experienced a bear-less, eagle-less, cat- less, wolf-less woods. Germany strove for maximum yields of both timber and game and got neither. Aldo Leopold yield eagles cat The government tells us we need flood control and comes to straighten the creek in our pasture. The engineer on the job tells us the creek is now able to carry off more flood water, but in the process we have lost our old willows where the owl hooted on a winter night and under which the cows switched flies in the noon shade. We lost the little marshy spot where our fringed gentians bloomed. Aldo Leopold winter jobs night Wilderness is a resource which can shrink but not grow. Invasions can be arrested or modified in a manner to keep an area usable either for recreation, science or for wildlife, but the creation of new wilderness in the full sense of the word is impossible. It follows, then, that any wilderness program is a rearguard action, through which retreats are reduced to a minimum. Aldo Leopold wildlife retreat invasion What conservation education must build is an ethical underpinning for land economics and a universal curiosity to understand the land mechanism. Conservation may then follow. Aldo Leopold curiosity land may Wilderness is 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. Aldo Leopold hunting men country
