Friday, January 11, 2013

Aldo Leopold: Born January 11, 1887


Today we recognize the birth date of Aldo Leopold.  Born in Burlington, Iowa on January 11, 1887. His legacy with the modern conservation movement he helped launch is still felt strongly 126 years later.  Here's a quote on conservation to consider today:

"Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. By land is meant all of the things on, over, or in the earth. Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators; you cannot conserve the waters and waste the ranges; you cannot build the forest and mine the farm. The land is one organism. Its parts, like our own parts, compete with each other and co-operate with each other. The competitions are as much a part of the inner workings as the co-operations. You can regulate them—cautiously—but not abolish them."
(Leopold, Aldo: Round River, Oxford University Press, New York, 1993, pp. 145-146.)

To learn more about Aldo Leopold and conservation consider the following:
 
Visit The Aldo Leopold Foundation's website here
View the work of The Conservation Fund and possibly contribute here
View the work of The Nature Conservancy and possibly contribute here
Read our recent AquaLog post about the Aldo Leopold themed documentary Green Fire here