A Sand County Almanac
Encyclopedia
A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There is a 1949 non-fiction book by American ecologist, forester, and environmentalist
Aldo Leopold
. Describing the land around the author's home in Sauk County, Wisconsin
, the collection of essays advocate Leopold's idea of a "land ethic
", or a responsible relationship existing between people and the land they inhabit. Edited and published by his son, Luna
, a year after Leopold's death, the book is considered a landmark in the American conservation movement
.
The book has had over two million copies printed and has been translated into nine languages. It has informed and changed the environmental movement and stimulated a widespread interest in ecology
as a science.
: "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." The original publication format was issued by Oxford University Press in 1949. It incorporated a number of previously published essays that Leopold had been contributing to popular hunting and conservation magazines, along with a set of longer more philosophical essays. The final format was assembled by Luna Leopold shortly after his father's death, but based closely on notes that presumably reflected Aldo Leopold's intentions. Subsequent editions have changed both the format and the content of the essays included in the original.
In the original publishing, the book begins with a set of essays under the heading "Sand County Almanac," which is divided into twelve segments, one for each month. These essays mostly follow the changes in the ecology on Leopold's farm near Baraboo, Wisconsin
. (There is, in fact, no "Sand County" in Wisconsin. The term "sand counties" refers to the a section of the state marked by sandy soils). There are anecdotes and observations about flora
and fauna
reactions to the seasons as well as mentions of conservation topics.
The second section of the book, "Sketches Here and There," shifts the rhetorical focus from time to place. The essays are thematically organized around farms and wilderness
es in Canada
, Mexico
and the United States
. Some of these essays are autobiographical. "Red Legs Kicking," for example, recounts Leopold's boyhood experience of hunting in Iowa. The seminal essay "Thinking Like a Mountain" recalls another hunting experience later in life that was formative for Leopold's later views. Here Leopold describes the death of she-wolf killed by his party during a time when conservationists were operating under the assumption that elimination of top predators would make game plentiful. The essay provides a non-technical characterization of the trophic cascade
where the removal of single species carries serious implications for the rest of the ecosystem.
The book ends with a section of philosophical essays grouped together under the heading "The Upshot". Here Leopold explores ironies of conservation: in order to promote wider appreciation of wild nature and engender necessary political support, one encourages recreational usage of wilderness that ultimately destroys it. Musings on "trophies" contrasts the way that some need a physical specimen to prove their conquest into the wilderness, though photographs may be less damaging that a trophy head to be mounted on the wall. He suggests that the best trophy is the experience of wilderness itself, along with its character building aspects. Leopold also rails against the way that policy makers need to find an economic motive for conservation. In the concluding essay, "A Land Ethic", Leopold delves into a more appropriate rationale for conservation. In "The Ecological Conscience" section, he wrote: "Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land." Leopold felt it was generally agreed that more conservation
education was needed; however quantity and content were up for debate. He believed that land is not a commodity
to be possessed; rather, humans must have mutual respect for Earth in order not to destroy it. He also puts forth the idea that humans will never be free if they have no wild spaces in which to roam.
Leopold's home, Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm
, was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The book has had immense popular influence and has been described as: "one of the benchmark titles of the ecological movement", "a major influence on American attitudes toward our natural environment", "recognized as a classic piece of outdoor literature, rivaling Thoreau's Walden
".
The book has also had great influence on environmental thinkers: "along with Walden and Rachel Carson
’s Silent Spring
, one of the main intellectual underpinnings of environmentalism
in America". Leopold, through his book, is cited as one of the founders of Deep Ecology
. The book has "attracted such overwhelming attention from environmental philosophers as a source of inspiration and ideas". Leopold himself has been described as: "a visionary who still influences American conservation policy".
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold was an American author, scientist, ecologist, forester, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac , which has sold over two million copies...
. Describing the land around the author's home in Sauk County, Wisconsin
Sauk County, Wisconsin
Sauk County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 55,225. Its county seat and largest city is Baraboo. Sauk County is included in the Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area and in the Madison Combined Statistical Area....
, the collection of essays advocate Leopold's idea of a "land ethic
Land ethic
A Land Ethic is a philosophy that guides your actions when you utilize or make changes to the land. This specific term was first coined by Aldo Leopold in his book A Sand County Almanac . Within this work, he wrote that there is a need for a "new ethic", an "ethic dealing with man's relation to...
", or a responsible relationship existing between people and the land they inhabit. Edited and published by his son, Luna
Luna Leopold
Luna Bergere Leopold was a leading U.S. geomorphologist and hydrologist, and son of Aldo Leopold. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1936; an M.S. in Physics-Meteorology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1944; and a Ph.D...
, a year after Leopold's death, the book is considered a landmark in the American conservation movement
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
.
The book has had over two million copies printed and has been translated into nine languages. It has informed and changed the environmental movement and stimulated a widespread interest in ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
as a science.
Overview
A Sand County Almanac is a combination of natural history, scene painting with words, and philosophy. It is perhaps best known for the following quote, which defines his land ethicLand ethic
A Land Ethic is a philosophy that guides your actions when you utilize or make changes to the land. This specific term was first coined by Aldo Leopold in his book A Sand County Almanac . Within this work, he wrote that there is a need for a "new ethic", an "ethic dealing with man's relation to...
: "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." The original publication format was issued by Oxford University Press in 1949. It incorporated a number of previously published essays that Leopold had been contributing to popular hunting and conservation magazines, along with a set of longer more philosophical essays. The final format was assembled by Luna Leopold shortly after his father's death, but based closely on notes that presumably reflected Aldo Leopold's intentions. Subsequent editions have changed both the format and the content of the essays included in the original.
In the original publishing, the book begins with a set of essays under the heading "Sand County Almanac," which is divided into twelve segments, one for each month. These essays mostly follow the changes in the ecology on Leopold's farm near Baraboo, Wisconsin
Baraboo, Wisconsin
Baraboo is the largest city in, and the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, USA. It is situated on the Baraboo River. Its 2010 population was 12,048 according to the US Census Bureau...
. (There is, in fact, no "Sand County" in Wisconsin. The term "sand counties" refers to the a section of the state marked by sandy soils). There are anecdotes and observations about flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
reactions to the seasons as well as mentions of conservation topics.
The second section of the book, "Sketches Here and There," shifts the rhetorical focus from time to place. The essays are thematically organized around farms and wilderness
Wilderness
Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...
es in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Some of these essays are autobiographical. "Red Legs Kicking," for example, recounts Leopold's boyhood experience of hunting in Iowa. The seminal essay "Thinking Like a Mountain" recalls another hunting experience later in life that was formative for Leopold's later views. Here Leopold describes the death of she-wolf killed by his party during a time when conservationists were operating under the assumption that elimination of top predators would make game plentiful. The essay provides a non-technical characterization of the trophic cascade
Trophic cascade
Trophic cascades occur when predators in a food web suppress the abundance of their prey, thereby releasing the next lower trophic level from predation...
where the removal of single species carries serious implications for the rest of the ecosystem.
The book ends with a section of philosophical essays grouped together under the heading "The Upshot". Here Leopold explores ironies of conservation: in order to promote wider appreciation of wild nature and engender necessary political support, one encourages recreational usage of wilderness that ultimately destroys it. Musings on "trophies" contrasts the way that some need a physical specimen to prove their conquest into the wilderness, though photographs may be less damaging that a trophy head to be mounted on the wall. He suggests that the best trophy is the experience of wilderness itself, along with its character building aspects. Leopold also rails against the way that policy makers need to find an economic motive for conservation. In the concluding essay, "A Land Ethic", Leopold delves into a more appropriate rationale for conservation. In "The Ecological Conscience" section, he wrote: "Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land." Leopold felt it was generally agreed that more conservation
Conservation ethic
Conservation is an ethic of resource use, allocation, and protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world: its, fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity. Secondary focus is on materials conservation and energy conservation, which are seen as important to...
education was needed; however quantity and content were up for debate. He believed that land is not a commodity
Commodity
In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services....
to be possessed; rather, humans must have mutual respect for Earth in order not to destroy it. He also puts forth the idea that humans will never be free if they have no wild spaces in which to roam.
Leopold's home, Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm
Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm
Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm is a historic site in Baraboo, Wisconsin that was listed as Aldo Leopold Shack on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2009....
, was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Importance and influence
In a 1990 poll of the membership by the American Nature Study Society, A Sand County Almanac and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring stand alone as the two most venerated and significant environmental books of the 20th century. The book was little noticed when published but, during the environmental awakening of the 1970s, a paperback edition turned into a surprise bestseller. It still sells about 40,000 copies a year.The book has had immense popular influence and has been described as: "one of the benchmark titles of the ecological movement", "a major influence on American attitudes toward our natural environment", "recognized as a classic piece of outdoor literature, rivaling Thoreau's Walden
Walden
Walden is an American book written by noted Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau...
".
The book has also had great influence on environmental thinkers: "along with Walden and Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement....
’s Silent Spring
Silent Spring
Silent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin on 27 September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement....
, one of the main intellectual underpinnings of environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
in America". Leopold, through his book, is cited as one of the founders of Deep Ecology
Deep ecology
Deep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
. The book has "attracted such overwhelming attention from environmental philosophers as a source of inspiration and ideas". Leopold himself has been described as: "a visionary who still influences American conservation policy".