Books that Change Your Life

I'm not sure I was ever told point blank that reading would open the door to an extraordinary life. I'm not sure that the phrase "you are what you read" ever actually came out of my mother's mouth, but lets just say that the not-so-subliminal messaging was everywhere. In short, I was brain washed. Maybe it was the book-of-the-month club in elementary school or the summer vacation to Laura Ingalls Wilder's home in junior high. It could also have been the Friday night family outings to Barnes and Noble in high school. I was lured in with coffee drinks and cheese cake only to find myself, with the rest of my family, paying homage to the written word. This is by no means a complaint. That's why it seems fitting to make this, my first actual blog, a book review. But it's not just any book....I would like to share with you my very favorite book: A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold.

Originally copyrighted in 1949, this book has undergone more publications than I care to guess. To this day, it is the undisputed foundation of modern conservation ethics. I'm not just saying that; it's actually true. I was first introduced to Leopold by my college roommate, but I didn't delve into it until required to do so by my wildlife management professor.  From then on, I was hooked.  I have met a few so called "wildlifers" who aren't big fans of Leopold, and I don't claim that it's by any means a requirement of the profession. None the less, I do think that this book articulates with unique grace what many of us feel about nature and conservation. That's not to imply that this book is for the professional wildlife manager only. No, this book is for every land owner, nature lover, and voter sharing planet earth; because, as Leopold noted, conservation is affected by both the pen and the axe.

The first twelve chapters of A Sand County Almanac are relatively light reads. They are a month by month account of Leopold's observations of nature on his weekend farm in rural Wisconsin. They are beautifully written narratives of the natural environment, past, present, and future. The book progresses to a series of essays written about Leopold's experiences working in other ecosystems.  These experiences would indelibly shaped his land ethic and management practices later in life. If you can't "connect" with the Midwest landscape described in the first twelve chapters, there's bound to be something for you in these latter works. They all have the unique quality of subtly adding ever progressive undertones of ethical theory. One of my favorites quotes comes from the section titled Chihuahua and Sonora:

"Man always kills the thing he loves, and so we the pioneers have killed our wilderness. Some say we had to. Be that as it may, I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?"

And finally, the reader comes to the Upshot. This section of the book summarizes with both eloquence and force the meaning and importance of a sincere land ethic. Leopold tells his readers "We asked the farmer to do what he conveniently could to save his soil, and he has done just that, and only that. The farmer who clears the woods off a 75 percent slope, turns his cows into the clearing, and dumps its rainfall, rocks, and soil into the community creek, is still (if otherwise decent) a respected member of society...Obligations have no meaning without conscience, and the problem we face is the extension of the social conscience from people to land. No important change in ethics was ever accomplished without an internal change in our intellectual emphasis, loyalties, affections, and convictions. The proof that conservation has not yet touched these foundations of conduct lies in the fact that philosophy and religion have not yet heard of it. In our attempt to make conservation easy, we have made it trivial."

Need I say more? This book moves me every time I pick it up. It never gets old. If, however, you have already read A Sand County Almanac and are looking for something new to check out, I do have one more suggestion: Wilderness and the American Mind by Robert Nash. This book is in its third edition and makes a chronological study of the views of North American society toward the concepts of wilderness and conservation. If you like Leopold, I practically guarantee that you'll like this one too.
I would also like to note that there is a program called the Leopold Education Project. Much like Project WET, Project Wild, and Project Learning Tree, the Leopold Education Project is about training teachers to instruct their students in environmental (and in this case land ethic) topics. The program provides information, training, and activity guides for all levels. I've been to trainings for all of the above mentioned programs. I'll admit that the LEP wasn't quite as flashy as the other three, but there is definite substance, especially for secondary teachers and students. Of course, homeschooling parents and instructors are always welcome at these trainings, and I would encourage anyone and everyone to check them out. Go to http://www.lep.org/ for more information.