Summary Of A Sand County Almanac By Aldo Leopold

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold is a detailed primary source that offers the reader an extensive viewpoint on the relationship between humans and nature. Aldo Leopold’s desire in his thesis is to present his infamous theory on Land Ethics, which states the preservationist viewpoint about the obligation humans have of protecting the land in which they inhabit. Specifically, Leopold makes an observation about the harm of recreational activities and the impact of human nature that he wants his readers to note. Even though the relationship between humans and nature has been conjoining, society continues to do more harm than it does good. While nature works with humans in order to survive, humans attempt to dominate what they can control and

destroy what they cannot.
Using an autobiographical style, Leopold divides his book into three parts.

The first and second part, taking a natural history approach to the subject of relationships between humans and nature, discuss his experiences on the family farm in Wisconsin and other various portions of the world. Furthermore, the detailed accounts of various flora and fauna species, how harmful farming has been to the soil and the destruction of nature from recreational activities, introduce Leopold’s argument that humans, even unconsciously, have been harming nature for a multitude of years. The third part, applying a philosophical approach, takes these events into account and analyzes the various destructions that humans have caused. In the chapter “Thinking Like A Mountain,” Aldo Leopold recounts the hunting trip that he took part in when he was younger. As he watched the light fade from the Wolf’s eyes, his group of friends believed that they had helped the deer population’s chance of survival. Instead, by destroying the top predator of the mountain, the deer population grew out of control and harmed the mountain’s ecological environment. From this example, Leopold uses the situation of the she wolf to explain to his audience that man’s influence in nature, no matter how beneficial it is to one species’ survival, always has consequences to

others.
Aldo Leopold continuously reinforces his thesis through various personal accounts and examples of how flora and fauna species have been affected by human contact. However, the major issue at hand is that conservationists encourage human interaction with nature. For conservationist, to appreciate nature is to gain a better understanding of the world humanity lives in. However, as Leopold presents his Land Ethic theory, he deliberates the concern that humans have been more harmful than good. Similar to John Muir’s and Whitman’s argument for the preservation of Hetchy Hetch Valley, Leopold discusses that recreational activities, such as camping or hiking, are bad for the environment. Recreation leads to structures being built, which allow humans to gather in mass groups, and leave behind a destructive ecological footprint in return. This problem, including encouragement for society to enjoy nature, leads to humanity’s innate desire to dominate anything they can physically control; nature included. In the terms of Utilitarianism, humans consider nature an important issue as long as nature provides subsistence and natural resources. However, society’s real dilemma should be to take responsibility not only when nature is useful, but for when it needs healing from our destruction. Although Roderick Nash’s theory on Island Civilization is on the conservative side, there should be a balance between conservation and preservation. Humans need to enjoy the nature that surrounds them, but they also need to learn and understand the ecological footprint and damage that they leave behind. As Aldo Leopold learned from his encounter with the she wolf, society should learn that approaching nature with a conservative set of mind not only hinders the environment from growing, but establishes a dominating mindset. Preservation is the key which allows humans to develop away from their desire for domination and to embrace the ideology and obligation to preserve nature in its wilderness form.