1. Teaching The Environment Through Writing:
Aldo Leopold’s Concepts on Conservationism
April 18, 2017
S.L. Rottschafer, Ph.D.
Student Contributors to the Collaborative Project:
Hailey Kingele (2020) My Land Ethic
Lilia Thomas (2020) The Need to Develop a Personal Conservation Esthetic

2. Inquiry and Expression: Environmental Focus Spring 2016

3. Expression
The “Expression” portion of the course involves developing one’s ability both in writing and public speaking. My Spring semester section took another approach by delving into the Climate Change Debate. Our tasks gathered information regarding present-day environmental issues.

4. Inquiry
Our Inquiry developed an understanding of our responsibility to protect our BIOTA which includes the Great Lakes, the hardwood forests, trout streams; as well as our backyard communities. Our Expression creates a voice for ourselves and our environs.

5. The Journey

6. My Land Ethic
Hailey Klingele

7. “It is inconceivable to me that an ethical relation to land can exist without feelings of love, respect, and admiration”.
-A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold (223)

8. In Relation...
I believe all people crave to do the good, righteous actions in life, especially when it comes to nature. This is the beginning of a land ethic. Another important component of my own land ethic is my perception of dominion. I think that true power is derived from charity. That when you extend a helping hand to any living thing, you are acting from a place of power. In today’s world, people often think power comes from the ability to “control” nature, but my understanding of power is different- and it allows me to treat the biota with feelings of love, respect, and admiration as written by Leopold.

9. The Need to Develop a Personal Conservation Esthetic
Lilia Thomas

10. Conservation Ethic
“Conservation esthetic” is the process of building around certain landmarks in order for people to observe and appreciate what nature has created
(Leopold 280).

11. Therefore,
We all have a role in conservationism. Our role as part of the biota is to respect nature, to create places where the concept of “conservation esthetic” can be developed without ignoring or leaving behind the true definition of that which is natural.

12. To reiterate:
Julianne Lutz Warren states in Aldo Leopold’s Odyssey. 10th Ed. Washington: Island Press, (2016):
“Conservation… was about the relationship between human thoughts and actions and their effects on the land. A civilization functioning in concert with the land’s conservation,... would be not only good for land but also more productive of rich human lives, which were interwoven with it. To best integrate human ways with nature’s, however, would first require understanding how the parts of the land - its soils, waters, plants, and animals - interacted to sustain life (Lutz Warren 177).

13. An “Ecological Story”
“It was therefore critical to conservation… for people to understand land as an integrated whole…. [S]unlight, air, rock, soil, water, plant, and animal emerged in Leopold’s understanding as interacting parts… which spelled out an ecological story…. It was this story - this ecological odyssey… that needed telling and retelling for conservation to succeed” and to be understood
(Lutz Warren ).

14. We can be ethical
Humanity becomes involved in conservation, “only in relation to something we can see, feel, understand, love or otherwise have faith in” as such, when land is conceived as community it makes sense to consider its well-being (Lutz Warren 320).
What can we do to protect the biota’s stability, integrity, and beauty?
Use less water Recycle Reuse
Think and act locally Be mindful of our global presence

15. Congratulations to these students:
Our collaborative work will be published in the following text
Beach, Richard; Jeff Share and Allen Webb. Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents: Reading, Writing, and Making a Difference. London: Routledge Press, Print.