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Join Naturalist and sustainability advocate, Martin Ogle, for a fascinating exploration of 20th century conservationist, Aldo Leopold and the great relevance of his work in the 21st century. Although today’s ecological challenges are of a greater scale and sometimes a different type than what the world faced in Leopold’s day, his landmark treatise, The Land Ethic, speaks to our situation remarkably well. In his 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold wrote: “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace." When the book was written over half of all Americans lived on farms, whereas, today that figure is less than 1%.  But the premise of the quote, updated in modern language is as relevant as ever.  

Also included in this program will be a short history of “The Shack,” the rehabilitated chicken coop that Leopold and his family stayed in during retreats at the worn out Sand County, Wisconsin farm they rehabilitated in the 1930s and 40s. Lafayette Open Space’s new mini education station, The Shack, is the namesake of Leopold’s retreat and symbolizes the same spirit of restoration, exploration and discovery.