Chapter Events

Presented by Martha (Marty) MacCleery, Wild Ones River City Chapter Education Chair on Zoom.

The audience will be drawn into the life and contributions of Aldo Leopold, the father of the Land Ethic. He authored the landmark book, "A Sand County Almanac", published in 1949, that proposes that land is a community of living things to be loved and respected, a core tenant of his term land ethic. When one loves and respects the land, then one appreciates it as living circulating system that can nurture all forms of life, not just humans.    

Follow Aldo Leopold as he joins the U.S. Forest Service in 1909 and begins working around the country, all the while observing and thinking about what he saw and experienced. In 1935 he purchased a worn out sand county farm near Madison, Wisconsin. He and his family slowly turned the old farm into a beautifully restored landscape with abundant wildlife. That experience along with a lifetime of rich work experiences, became the basis of his landmark book, "A Sand County Almanac", considered to be the basis of the conservation movement of the 20th century.

The presenter will challenge audience members to envision a bold modern conservation movement for our time. Together they will explore some modern interpretations of landscape stewardship in the 21st century, all the while honoring Aldo Leopold’s legacy.  Such reasons for hope include David Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park™ and emphasis on keystone native plants, leveraging right-of-way corridors by including native shrubs and understory trees, and landscaping with the needs of birds in mind, thereby preserving the food web for all animals, including us!