Understanding Leopold's thought

Aldo Leopold’s thinking about the land, by which he meant the whole biota, changed greatly over his lifetime.  A concise summary of this evolution is found in The River of the Mother of God and Other Easays by Aldo Leopold edited by Flader and Callicott. In the Introduction they note three common themes of The Sand County Almanac as conservation ecology, natural esthetics and environmental ethics. They also list professional and public policy themes of wildlife management, conservation economics, sustainable agriculture and wilderness.  The essays are then presented chronologically.  As you read them, keeping in mind that his thinking would change quite radically helps one get through the 1915 The Varmint Question (kill all predators so there will be more “wildlife” like deer) or Piute Forestry vs. Forest Fire Prevention (suppress all fires so there will be more trees).

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