This is a book I should have read 30 years ago. Intensely philosophical and driven toward an encompassing outlook on the environment and the stewardship thereof. Strongly leaves one considering one's footprint on both society and nature. ( )

Wow. Even though my parents owned few books and yet did own this, I never got around to it. And maybe as a child I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much. But now, goodness, I recognize that it belongs on the same shelf as Thoreau, [a:Rachel Carson|15332|Rachel Carson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1397487410p2/15332.jpg], [a:Bernd Heinrich|3350977|Bernd Heinrich|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1303824616p2/3350977.jpg], and [a:Michael Perry|2772479|Michael Perry|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1231631186p2/2772479.jpg]. The man is indeed a hero for the conservation movement, and writes beautifully.

Wisconsin's wilderness, and the nation's perception of the value wilderness and of diverse ecosystems, owes much to him. We have made progress since his day. Yes, much has been lost with our increasing material wealth and population growth, but much has been gained in our attempts to live more in harmony with nature and to let some of it remain free.

"Like many another treaty of restraint, the pre-dawn pact lasts only as long as darkness humbles the arrogant. It would seem as if the sun were responsible for the retreat of reticence from the world. At any rate, by the time the mists are white over the lowlands, every rooster is bragging... and every corn shock is pretending to be twice as tall as any corn that ever grew. By sun-up every squirrel is exaggerating some fancied indignity to his person, and every jay proclaiming with false emotion about suppositious dangers to society, at this very moment discovered by him."

"Hard years, of course come to pines as they do to men, and the are recorded as shorter thrusts, i.e. shorter spaces between the successive whorls of branches. These spaces, then are an autobiography that he who walks with trees may read at will."

The book is not perfect, as there are references that need bibliographic notes and there are a few unfinished thoughts or incomplete conclusions. Some modern readers might object, too, to the bits about hunting (though Leopold himself seemed a bit ambivalent, as he himself hunts but doesn't approve the methods or aims of most others who do). But it is a classic, and still relevant. ( )

63. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold
Illustrator: Charles W. Schwartz
OPD: 1949
format: 226-page paperback from 1968
acquired: 2009 read: Sep 5-21 time reading: 8:20, 2.2 mpp
rating: 4½
genre/style: nature essays theme: TBR
locations: Wisconsin
about the author: 1887–1948: An American writer, philosopher, naturalist, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, environmentalist and professor at the University of Wisconsin. He was born in Burlington, Iowa.

It was about time I finally read this naturalist classic. It's been in the house 15 years, and I've wanted to read it a lot longer than that. It reads oddly slow, or did for me. But it reads nicely. It's not turgid, but clean, simple, often with a poetic efficiency, and my edition was full of the original illustrations.

There are three parts. The opening is a long, sustained time track through a year on the author's property in a central Wisconsin, with its seasonal extremes. The second section, Sketches, lacks the continuous wholeness of the Almanac section, but has some beautiful natural and poetic moments. The last essay - on the western grebe in Manitoba - is especially poetic. The last section is a series of essays that are essentially a naturalist's manifesto, circa 1949. He's writing mainly to naturalists and wildlife experts. He's pleading for a naturalist morality, for us not to leave everything up to the government, for a look broader than the money-first perspective of landowners.

He's in tune with hunters, but not comfortable with the destruction wrought in the name of tourism - especially roads. And he takes time to think about purity vs the artificially created sporting environments where fish or other animals are supplied by stock. He foresees a lot that has actually happened, and actually I think things are worse than he predicts. His thinking is more or less common sense, if a common sense spun from extensive experience.

Recommended especially to those with an interest in the naturalist literary tradition, and anyone in Wisconsin.

2024
https://www.librarything.com/topic/362165#8628632 ( )

Oh, man; I'm only through the first (and probably most famous) essay, and I've already got such mixed feelings, I had to write about them: https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/a-naturalist-and-his-barbs/

Later: Finally pushed through this one and got it done. "The Land Ethic" was probably the best chapter in this collection. As a whole, the book was representative of the conundrums that come with solid arguments and spot-on critique combined with the way in which that critique is delivered. I think the best I can say is that I've no desire to sit down and have a chat with the ghost of Aldo Leopold.

★★★★★ on the "Almanac" part, weaker (and more dated) though still monumental for Parts 2-3. ( )

A wonderful book. Well written, thoughtful, poetic, demonstrating a deep understanding of the natural world and its importance to us, not just to help us survive but to help us to live well alongside our cousins the duck, the otter, the tamarack and the oak. Essential reading for anyone who cares about the natural world, and even more essential for those who don't. ( )

Mark Twain said, “A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.” If you spend any time at all reading ecological literature, you will see A Sand County Alamanc referred to as one of the classics in the genre. But in this case, Twain is wrong. This is a wonderful book. Leopold has a wry style; never out-and-out funny, but enough to keep my smiling throughout much of the book. He also deploys references historical, philosophical, religious, and literary, giving the text a rich texture. But Leopold also has a deadly serious point to the book. And he makes his case well, which is why people have been reading this book for 70 years. I highly, highly recommend the book. ( )

Beautifully written. I can't believe this was written in the 1940s. Essential reading for those interested in conservancy or anything to do with the natural world around us. I will be returning to this book often to reexamine the world around us. ( )

A poetic book of observational science, and ideal reading for scientists, business people and politicians accustomed to different languages. ( )

I really felt I got to know Leopold, the part of himself he presented in this book. ( )

This collection of essays published in 1949 has become a classic of conservation and nature writing. It reflects Aldo Leopold's deep love of nature, especially for America's vanishing parries, and emphasizes the importance of preserving predators like wolves.

The first extended essay is a month-by-month journal of a year in Sand County Wisconsin. He marvels at the value he sees in the county despite it being regarded by so many people as worthless land since it will not support traditional agriculture. He then moves on to Arizona where he, in his essay Thinking Like a Mountain, speaks about the damage to the nature on a mountain resulting from the elimination of the wolves that kept the deer population in check. Most of his essays describe the damages to nature introduced by the practices of the earliest settlers to the region. Finally, the book concludes with a long essay calling for a "land ethic" where people learn to value land and the wilderness for its non-economic aspects.

The book is recommended to anyone interested in nature, ecology and the environment. One challenge in reading the book is the number of plant and animal species that are referenced that many people will never have heard of. Despite this challenge, the book is very readable. ( )

Very nice. Must have seemed radical at the time it was written. This book is called "A Sand County Almanac", I don't know why the title is screwed up in Goodreads. ( )

A classic. As we rush into brave new environmental worlds where angels fear to tread, and as our kids grow up plugged in rather than playing in the dirt, this should be required reading in all schools (and required for the parents, too). Besides presenting a compelling and important argument, it’s also a very good book. ( )

“Conservation is getting nowhere because it is incompatible with our Abrahamic concept of land. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity, belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”

Published in 1949, Aldo Leopold is an early conservationist, following in the footsteps of John Muir. The book is arranged seasonally in the essay format of an almanac. It is focused on the natural region of the author’s home in Wisconsin. It features lovely nature writing:

“On motionless wing they emerge from the lifting mists, sweep a final arc of sky, and settle in clangorous descending spirals to their feeding grounds. A new day has begun on the crane marsh.”

I very much enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone interested in the history of conservation.
( )

from cover When Aldo Leopold was named to the National Wildlife Federation's Conservation Hall of Fame in September, 1965, the Wisconsin State Journal wrote: 'Aldo Leopold died in 1948, but he stands tall today, like a giant pine tree, visible from the remote corners of the land and from the concrete racetracks of civilization. His shadow has come to be the conscience of the monster ambition to make a great pinball machine of the world.' 'We can place this book on the shelf that holds the writings of Thoreau and John Muir.'--San Francisco Chronicle 'A notable book of discovery, a book whose beginning is fashioned for naturalists and artists, and whose conclusion is a far-seeing challenge to statesmane and philosophers.'--The Land 'It is safe to assume that A Sand County Almanac will be read for decades, and probably centuries to come.'--William Vogt 'The book is a revelation of the initmate feelings of a man who fully senses sthe wonders of nature. Fkurther, it sings with Aldo Leopold's very special and rare sense of ethics and philosophy.'--Stirling North 'The late Aldo Leopold...was both a better writer and a better naturalist than Thoreau.'--alan Devoe, Commonweal 'Every reading countryman will want to add this thoughtful and lovely book to his library.'--Alan Devoe, Commonweal Aldo Leopold was born in Iowa in 1887. His professional career began in 1909, when joined the U.S. Forest Service. In 1924 he became Associate Director of the Fokrest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin; and in 1933 the University of Wisconsin created a chair of game management for him. His death in 1948, fighting a grass fire on a neighbor's farm, cut short an assignment as an adviser on conservation to the United Nations. Contents Part I: A Sand Couknty Almanac January--January Thaw February--Good Oak March--The Geese Return April--Come High Water; Draba; Bur Oak; Sky dance May--Back from the Argentine June--The Alder Fork July--Great Possessions; Prairie Birthday August--The Green Pasture September--The Choral Copse October--Smoky gold; Too Early; Red Lanterns November--If I Were the Wind; Axe-in-Hand; A Mighty Fortress December--Home Range; Pines above the Snow; 65290 Part II: Sketches Here and There Wisconsin--Marshland Elegy; The Sand Counties; Odyssey; On a Monument to the Pigeon; Flambeau Illinois and Iowa--Illinois Bus Ride; Red Legs Kicking Arizona and New Mexico--On Top; Thinking Like a Mountain; Escudilla Chihuahua and Sonora--Guacamaja; The Green Lagoons; Song of the Givilan Oregon and Utah--Cheat Takes Over Manitoba--Clandeboye Part III: The Upshot Conservation Esthetic Wildlife in American Culture Wilderness The Land Ethic

Clear, concise, and convincing argument for land ethic / conservation. ( )

This should be required reading for everyone because he was sounding alarms for the environment long before the idea of global warming. I wonder what Leopold would think of the climate change deniers today. Beautifully written and compelling. ( )

A Sand County Almanac was published several years after Aldo Leopold's death from writings he left behind. Parts were new and others were first published elsewhere. This book reads as if it were much more current than something written before I was born. Leopold was writing about the science of ecology and the natural health, or lack of health, in natural systems long before most people though about it. Leopold tried to tell his readers that there were dire consequences to disrupting the natural balances of the natural world. Now we should all be seeing that clearly as our climate is dangerously warming due to human causes. Aldo Leopold was not just a scientist but also an ethicist and philosopher too. He wrote about a need for a land ethic and a conservation ethic. He observed that ethics and morality are not static but evolving along with humanity. At one time he pointed out it was ethically to own and even execute slaves. Our ethics have evolved to the point that things that were accepted in the past are with argument immoral. I read this book for the first time when I was still in school. It helped form my understanding of the world. Rereading it I am reminded of how important Aldo Leopold was, and still is. ( )

“Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?”
—Aldo Leopold, “A Sand County Almanac”

If there is something similar in the heart and structure of Sand County Almanac and [b:Desert Solitaire|214614|Desert Solitaire|Edward Abbey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1399583343l/214614._SY75_.jpg|234706], the two are contrasted by the distinct perspectives of Abbey and Leopold. Leopold's heart belongs to the Wisconsin land he first describes, but his descriptions of other places he has tended and lived and explored fill the reader with the same kind of reverence. Abbey has the aspect of a desert martyr, a hermit and a wanderer who believes that anyone who tries to approach the wilderness in a different way is twice sinning: first, for interrupting his reverie, and second, for doing the whole thing all wrong. Leopold leans more towards the quiet, spiritual, and hyper-local perspective of Wendell Berry, but is more stringent in his views: he espouses a more conservative faith that would respect the land at all costs.
All three authors offer maybe the best or only real environmental lesson: to look closer. But they ask more, they ask action: to be careful, but actively careful, not passively so; to be a caretaker. ( )

wisconsin

I first read this in the early 1950s. One of the best books I've read in over three quarters of a century, and I've reread it numerous times over the years. Sad how we can read, and fail to grasp the simplest truths. ( )

This book was the beginning of my environmental awareness. The author is not fanatical, but extremely practical. His insights are very personal, not academic. His writing borders on poetry. A very inspirational book! ( )

There are certain books in the world you can't help but try to read all in one sitting. They draw you in and you can't find your way out of the pages until you reach the final words of The and End. A Sand County Almanac is one such book, especially as an audio read by Cassandra Campbell. Hour after hour would rush by as I got lost in Aldo's world. I could hear the calling of the birds in the fields, the rattle of dried leaves in the oak trees signifying winter is on its way, and the gurgling rush of the stream as it stubbed its toes on rocks worn smooth. Leopold's observations were so warm I couldn't help but think if he were alive today, he and Josh Ritter would be friends. ( )

I first read this in the early 1950s. One of the best books I've read in over three quarters of a century, and I've reread it numerous times over the years. Sad how we can read, and fail to grasp the simplest truths. ( )

A Sand County Almanac (1949) is a landmark book in modern environmental literature. It is personal and cozy, reminiscent of Peter Wohlleben (Hidden Life of Trees), the kind of book that leaves you feeling a bit changed looking at the world in a new and better way. The ideas expressed, that the environment is intertwined, was first observed by Alexander von Humboldt in the early 19th century. His ideas of rewilding are becoming more popular, Monibot's book Feral (2013) can be seen as a direct heir.

It's only amazing that given everything we know so little has changed. Leopold makes a strong case for personal responsibility and ethics ie. not mandated by the government, he was a conservative vision of environmental stewardship ca 1949. However 21st century conservatives have gone so far to the right not only do they disagree with environmentalism on the face of it, they actively encourage and seek outright environmental destruction, while disparaging sane and rationale classic American books like this one. ( )