Carl Leopold Biography

Although Leopold’s love of great expanses of wilderness is readily apparent, his book does not cry out in defense of particular tracts of land about to go under the axe or plow, but rather deals with the minutiae, the details, of often unnoticed plants and animals, all the little things that, in our ignorance, we have left out of our managed acreages but which must be present to add up to balanced ecosystems and a sense of quality and wholeness in the landscape.

Both Henry David Thoreau and Christopher McCandless ventured out into the woods to get away from the dreariness of everyday society and to find themselves. Only one lived to tell the tale. What was the fatal flaw of the man who didn’t continue on? The only way to find this is to analyze the differences and similarities between the two. McCandless, while embracing some of the same values as Thoreau, was ultimately a different man. While they led very contrasting lives in very distant times, both McCandless and Thoreau sought a type of freedom that can only be achieved when immersed in nature. Thoreau’s entitlement and cozy cabin in the woods is a far cry from McCandless’s constant struggle during his expedition, however, certain parallels

In the pieces, “Thinking like a mountain” by Leopold and “Big mac and Tropical forests,” by Skinner both demonstrate a clear message through their writings. Although Leopold used strong points to get his message across, Skinner grabs his audience's attention by using factual evidence instead of a personal experience. In Leopold's “Thinking like a mountain” the author discusses a big issue today involving wildlife and deforestation, trying to convince his audience about how to realize the issue at hand. On the other hand, Skinner’s “ Big mac and Tropical forests” talks about how in today’s day and age the economy is more focused on making money from putting in unnecessary fast food chains in the spots of Tropical forests. Even though these writings are very different they still

Aldo Leopold is another American environmentalist who was dominant in the development of modern environmental ethics. Aldo was more for holistic ethics regarding land. According to him, “An ethic, ecologically, is a limitation on freedom action in the struggle for existence. An ethic, philosophically, is a differentiation of social from anti-social conduct.” He describes in his article that politics and economics are advanced symbioses in which free-for-all competition has been replaced by co-operative mechanism with an ethical content.” He thought that ethics direct individuals to cooperate with each other for the mutual benefit of all. Also he believes that community should be

Karl Jacoby. Crimes against Nature: Squatters, Poachers, Thieves, and the Hidden History of American Conservation. Berkley: University of California, 2001.

1. What is more effective – what will get more results for protection of the environment – changing people’s hearts and minds (land ethics) or economic incentives or disincentives. Where and how did Leopold address these things in his text? Explain.

John Muir was a muckraker who protested against the expansion of people and animals that would ruin our soon to be national parks. Muir was a man that loved to explore natural formations in nature and traveled around the world to see as much natural land as possible. As he traveled around the world, he found out that California was his place to live. In California, his favorite places to explore and watch were the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Yosemite. As more and more settlers moved West, the land that Muir loved was soon to be destroyed by herds of animals and people looking for a place to build their homes. Muir wrote most of his 300 articles and 10 major books in Oakland, California. In Muir’s writings, he elegantly

John Muir, a brilliant Transcendentalist, has written hundreds of enlightening environmental essay to emphasize the adamant need to save these sacred kings of the forests, the Redwoods. Within Muir’s vivid and emotional entries, specifically “Save the Redwoods”, John utilizes rhetorical devices such as personification, analogy, and Religious allusion in order to express the vital need to save the trees.

The relationship between people and their environment in A Land Remembered is one where the profit from land exploitation is naturally corrupting and exponentially increases the exploiters lust for larger profit, leading to the exploiter planning larger scale endeavors in the future. The author, Patrick D. Smith (1984), suggests the idea that communities naturally grow in a hedonic cycle to crave more resources to fuel loftier endeavors that require even more resources from the environment, an idea that is also discussed by Aldo Leopold in the Land Ethic as wholly negative, and that is also part of my world view that is rather more optimistic.

If everyone thought this way our wildlife, animals, nature, and environment would be in better the way you would want them to be treated. This saying is simply stating to people love to have nice things and when we get them we like to keep it that way. So in relation to Leopold we have a nice beautiful environment in which we should keep it that way. Think of our environment as a condition than what it is now. Aldo Leopold was right when he said “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and the beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”(Sand CountyAlmanac, pg. 224-225). It is important for people to reach and follow the values of Leopold explaining that beauty is not just scenery, stability does not mean unchanging for change is essential to nature and the natural world and integrity is wholeness, having all the parts. These three simple values will change our perspective of the

Roderick Frazier Nash’s book, Wilderness and the American Mind, compiled contemporary debates about wilderness by outlining the changing positions concerning wilderness throughout history. In chapter 11, “Aldo Leopold: Prophet,” Nash discuses Aldo Leopold’s house metaphor. Here, Leopold refers to six vacant lots and what it would mean to build houses on all six lots. He describes how the first few houses might make sense; however once you build upon all six lots you no longer remember the meaning of the homes. He argues that they somehow the sixth house would become “stupidity.” Conversely, I disagree with this theory. I feel each house, so to speak, is built differently and suits different needs and wants. Just as in the wilderness,

Imagine voluntarily getting into a cage with wild Grizzly Bears, and having nothing to defend yourself. This is what Timothy Treadwell did, except he upped the ante and chose to live alongside the Grizzly Bears of Katmai National Park in Alaska. The last 13 years of Treadwell’s life, he spent the summer months living with the bears. Grizzly Man is a film that was created by Werner Herzog. The film show contains content that Treadwell filmed himself, as well as portions filmed after his death, that have Werner interacting with people who knew Timothy very well. I believe that this film is very well put together and does a great job of showing Treadwell’s interactions with the bears, with minimal input from the narrator. I enjoy this part of the film because it allows you to form your own opinion of Treadwell and see what he thinks is best for himself and the bears. In this paper, I will be touching on how Treadwell’s actions throughout the film relate to writings done by; Michael Nelson, J. Baird Callicott, and Reed Noss. Some of Nelson’s wilderness preservation arguments fit right alongside what Treadwell is doing on his expeditions. Calllicot and Noss focus on wilderness alternatives and the impact that humans have on the environment.

I read a few of the essays published by Aldo Leopold from 1998 to 2001 in a book of collective essays called For the Health of the Land. The collection is a plea from Leopold for the development of land ethic. He believes that humans have the responsibility to interact with the land in ways that promote its good being. Even though the essays were published over 50 years ago, progress in Leopold’s concept of land health has just begun.

In 1949, Aldo Leopold published the book “A Sand County Almanac”, a book which written as a firsthand explanation of the natural resources and beauties that the Earth has to offer. This book dives into the issues surrounding the disregard for natural wildlife and the need for conservation in order for the natural world to progress and keep thriving. Leopold also talks about different seasons and the beauty of individual animals he comes across, and how their survival is a feat in itself. The importance of environmental conservation and the need to treat nature with care is a vibrant concept that will be explained throughout this paper, as well. This accounting of “A Sand County Almanac” will accurately describe

It is something I have learned about in class but I like Leopold’s perspective of it. This is when he shot a wolf and watched the fire in her eyes die. Back then it was very okay to shoot wolves because they were only looked at negatively, and the same thing is happening to this very day. After shooting the wolf he looked in her eyes right before she died and said “there was something new to me in those eyes-something known only to her and the mountain”. He shot her because fewer wolves meant more deer which is desirable for hunters. But he then realized how everything on that mountain connected, and that more deer meant the mountain would be browsed to death. More deer means less vegetation on the mountain meaning a less diverse ecosystem and less native plants, which we learned about in class that those are very important. Under Thinking Like a Mountain, “I now suspect that just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer”. He sees the interconnectedness of relationships to the mountain back in the early 1900’s and I am taught about it in classes to this day because he is realizing the different trophic levels and how they are all