Courtesy of the Aldo Leopold Fou
Aldo Leopold the man, not the myth.
With conservation and ecology politicized at state, national and international levels, it’s important to remember our connection to the physical world, says Jessica Courtier.
“There’s an ever-growing sense of urgency about talking about human relationships to nature,” says Courtier, outreach specialist at the Division of Continuing Studies at the UW-Madison. From Jan. 25 through June, the division will offer a wide-ranging public series of classes, workshops, tours and other events, looking at the life and legacy of favorite son Aldo Leopold.
“The father of wildlife ecology,” Leopold was a scientist, philosopher, UW-Madison professor and author. He’s perhaps best known for his book A Sand County Almanac. Leopold died of a heart attack while fighting a wildfire near his land in Sauk County in 1948.
“Why Leopold now? Leopold is a clear and obvious path into current environmental controversies, no matter where you are in the country,” says Courtier. “But obviously it’s especially important and relevant here in Wisconsin because of his work here.”
“There are degrees of awareness of Leopold’s contributions,” says his biographer, Curt Meine. “He’s [become] almost a mythical figure that bears little resemblance in some ways to the actual human being,” says Meine. “But that’s what happens with authors who write classic books; you think of them primarily in that role.”
Keeping in touch with the Leopold the man, instead of Leopold the icon, is increasingly difficult.
“It’s especially hard as generations fade and there aren’t too many living people anymore who knew him,” says Meine. “Back when I was a lad, there were a lot of people, especially here in southern Wisconsin, who knew and worked with Leopold personally, so he wasn’t a mythical figure. He was a neighbor and a friend and a colleague and a teacher and a hunting buddy.”
Jeff Miller
Students will tour Leopold’s famous “shack” outside Baraboo.
The UW program series reintroduces the real Leopold. It’s not just a bunch of lectures, but classes designed to get students into nature and doing the kind of observations and actions that Leopold did.
“A number of the classes are about emulating Leopold’s observational process, as a kind of foundation,” says Courtier. For instance, one of the visual arts classes is about nature journaling. “Anybody who’s read Sand County Almanac knows he was quite a journalist himself.”
The Leopold series begins Jan. 25 with Writing Nature: Signatures in the Wild, offered by longtime creative writing instructor Christopher Chambers. The class will read and discuss a wide range of nature writing, including Leopold’s.
“We’ll also be taking short excursions into the Arboretum for inspiration, and apply the techniques and styles of the featured writers in our own essays,” says Chambers. “We will share our writing and ideas about our place in nature and about the writing process.”
Walking Leopold’s Legacy takes participants on a trip May 6 to the Aldo Leopold Foundation in Baraboo. The daylong event, led by Curt Meine, begins with a special tour of Leopold’s homestead, the famous “shack,” and its environs. A workshop and discussion follow lunch.
Other writing classes focusing on observation and the practice of being present in nature include: Nature’s Music: Knowing the Natural World Through Sound (Feb. 23-March 16); Contemplative Walks with Nature (May 3-June 21); and Artful Observation: Nature Journaling at the Arboretum (May 12-June 2).
Jens Jensen: A Pioneer in American Landscape Design and Conservation (March 1-15) surveys the work of one of Leopold’s conservation colleagues, an innovative landscape architect who brought inspiration from the natural world — especially native plants — to the realm of cultivated landscapes. Jensen’s work can be found on campus and at Glenwood Park on the city’s near west side.
Bryce Richter
The Arboretum will serve as inspiration for writers.
Coinciding with the annual UW Writers’ Institute, Wisconsin nature writer Blair Braverman on March 25 reads from Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North, which explores her travels in arctic Norway and Alaska.
Another highlight will be Meine’s class Aldo Leopold’s Legacy: The Land Ethic in Today’s World, April 6-27.
“We’ll look at his ideas, his legacy, his literary, scientific and policy work,” he says. “We’ll look back on it and how it’s changed — how his core concept of the land, for example, has continued to inform conservation action, even as it’s evolved and been challenged.”
Such issues as water ethics and environmental justice have gained steam since Leopold’s time. “It may not seem directly relevant,” says Meine, “but there’s a strong thread that connects Leopold’s work to modern activities, whether it’s the Standing Rock events in North Dakota or concern about urban communities.”
Meine wants to inspire others to take a look at Leopold’s “living legacy.”
“What you hope is that at least some people will follow the path and learn more and that it helps to inform their own work and interests.”
For more information about the continuing education series, see go.wisc.edu/aldoleopold or contact Jessica Courtier 608-890-3626.
