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Mary Bergeron (graduate of the December 2012 Land Ethic Leader program) created this presentation about Leopold, the land ethic, and the Observe, Participate, Reflect model of connecting people to the natural world. Please note, the images used in this presentation are included here without explicit permission to redistribute. So please, if you use some form of this talk, modify it with your own images or use discretion in sharing.
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Developing Land Ethic Leadersfor South Louisiana
Louisiana State UniversitySchool of the Coast & Environment
http://www.mixcloud.com/CEGO/louisiology-wetland-loss-restoration-and-management/
Today’s Approach to Environmental Issues:
Identify Problems and Find Solutions FAST
• Global climate change• Air and water pollution• Loss of biological diversity• Rising human population• Coastal erosion
Prescriptive v. Reflective Approaches
A Very Different Approach: Develop a Land Ethic
• Weave reflections on history, social trends, and ethics into deliberation of ecological issues
• Create opportunities for dialogue about humanity’s relationships to the natural world that is not bounded by a need to produce solutions to specific problems
• Generate new ideas and inspiration for active engagement
• Explore, question, and reaffirm beliefs and values, deepen commitment to conservation and communities—get people to talk about environmental problems in deeper, more meaningful ways
About Aldo Leopold“That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics.”
Yale Forest School 1909
US Forest Service in Arizona & New Mexico until 1924
1924 Transferred to Wisconsin.
1933 published first textbook on wildlife management and was hired by University of Wisconsin as nation’s first professor in wildlife ecology and management
“Nothing so important as an ethic is ever written. It evolves in the minds of a thinking community.”
“A thing is right if it tends to preserve the
beauty, stability, or integrity of a piece of
land. It is wrong if it tends
otherwise.”
Themes in Leopold’s Work
The Land Ethic
Wilderness
“There are two things that interest me; the relationship of people to each other and the relationship between people to land.”
1935: The Shack
“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
REFLECT
PARTICIPATE
OBSERVE
Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone?
Joni Mitchell, 1970, Big Yellow Taxi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJesFraW1Lo
They charged the people
a dollar and a half just to see ‘em.
They took all the trees, and put ‘em in a tree museum.
3 minutes to prep & exchange
Tree MuseumAdmission $1.50
10 minutes to share
Axe-in-Hand Essay
15 minutes review & discuss
When it comes to environmental issues, what guides our decision-making processes?
• Greatest Common Good• Utility• Return on investment (ROI)• Sentimentality / Tradition• Expediency• Longevity• Trade-offs• Ethical Considerations
Are decision-making processes different when we’re talking about Aldo Leopold’s trees, Louisiana’s coastal regions, or projects in “my back yard”?
“Nothing so important as an ethic is ever written. It evolves in the minds of a thinking community.”
“A thing is right if it tends to preserve the beauty, stability, or integrity of a piece of land. It is wrong if it tends otherwise.”
So, what is a Land Ethic?
“A land ethic…reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land. Health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal. Conservation is our effort to understand and preserve this capacity.”
Think About It:Land Ethic Leaders
• In general, how would you define or describe a Land Ethic Leader?
• What do you think it means to
be a Land Ethic Leader in South Louisiana? What characteristics or actions would you see in this person?
• Are you a Land Ethic Leader? Do you want to be?
Thank You!
LSU School of the Coast & Environment
