Aldo Leopold (1986) is considered one of the fathers of conservationism, especially for the radically new "land ethic" he promotes in his book about his experiences at his summer "shack" along the banks of the Wisconsin River, A Sand County Almanac. As he writes, "The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land" (Leopold, 1986, p. 239). This review will provide an analysis of some of the main theories offered by Leopold in A Sand County Almanac. A conclusion will offer his solution for creating more sustainable uses of land.
Considered the first book dealing with conservation, A Sand County Almanac demonstrates Leopold's love of "the land" and his ideology with respect to fashioning a new perspective of its relationship to human beings that involves aesthetics and ethics as well as efficiencies of use. Protecting biodiversity, what Leopold (1986) calls the "biotic community" in this groundbreaking work, is one of the main goals of achieving a new relationship between humans and the land which, in the author's view, requires a new way of thinking about it (p. 262). As Leopold (1986) writes, "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" (p. 240).
Leopold's (1986) experiences and observations in conserving the biotic community of his sand county "shack" property form the basis of his ideas in the book, but so, too, do his experiences as a professor of wildlife and his U.S. Forestry Service experience. As such, Leopold (1986) is not arguing for complete protectionism with respect to natural resources or the land. Instead, he argues that a new land ethic views the land as having the right to sustenance, "A land ethic cannot prevent the alteration, management...