Aldo Leopold Foundation

“The sturdiest pillars of human morality are compassion and a sense of justice.” —Frans de Waal

Through studying the social lives of chimps, bonobos, and other primates, Dutch-American primatologist Frans de Waal dispelled the notion that humans are inherently different from other animals—that we share emotions and even the foundations of morality. The land ethic asks us to extend these shared moral pillars of compassion and justice to the nonhuman world, recognizing the common threads that bind us all together.

As a young forest ranger in the early 1900s, Leopold didn't question the policies on predator extermination. In fact, he rejoiced at the opportunity to kill a wolf.

It wasn't until later that Aldo started to "think like a mountain" and appreciate the interconnected webs of the ecosystem—the critical role predators play and the critical role humans, too, play within the land community.

Read Ben Goldfarb's new article on Leopold, featured in Smithsonian Magazine's special issue, "America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark." Then stay tuned for our upcoming Land Ethic Live! with Goldfarb as we further explore Leopold's revolutionary conservation ideas.

https://ow.ly/AGaO50ZfhBA

In the Early 1900s, a Young Ecologist Shot a Wolf and Watched the Life Leave Its Eyes. That Changed His Position on Conservation Aldo Leopold’s writing reconsidered the place of humans in the natural world and challenged people to be less conquerors of the land and more citizens of it