Aldo Leopold’s Legacy
A film celebrating Aldo Leopold’s life history and thoughts was just screened at the NM Land , Office, with our beloved public lands commissioner, Ray Powell, giving his nod. The film is named “Green Fire” which is derived from a moment in time when Leopold was in his 20s and a forest ranger in Arizona or New Mexico and his party had just shot (as they routinely did) a Mexican Grey Wolf and he saw a “green fire” in the dying wolf’s eyes. What the movie makes clear is that it took a lifetime of experience being in close contact with our government, our culture and the land itself to come to some powerful conclusions about what, I think, he coined, a “Land Ethic”. What he came up with was a forward thinking notion that our relation to the land needs some rethinking and redoing. This was very interesting to me as I begun an experiment similar to his Sand County, Wisconsin one some 31 years ago out here along the Galisteo Creek , in Spirit Valley. The experiences here and the lessons I have drawn through this and my resulting thoughts and research has led me to pretty much the same conclusions as Leopold’s; that our connection to the land is critical for the survival of our culture; that the quality of the soil is the ultimate goal and concern; that the interaction and view of nature as a complex dynamic which depends on diversity; that the aesthetics of our solutions is a critical part of the formula for “correct behavior” ; that developing a “Land Ethic” is what needs to be done. How does this play out in my life? I, first of all, have consciously understood that what I have attempted to do here on our 40 acre property surrounded by wilderness with ½ mile of creek through our property; is an experiment that not everyone would feel comfortable doing but my background had let me do it without the kinds of modern cultural constraints that are often stumbling blocks. It was coming from a family of artists and early pioneers in alternate life styles and being a part of the “back to the land” movements that had a surge in the 60s and 70s and was strong in New Mexico; we were able to learn to build our own house out of adobe or other interesting techniques and materials; laying brick on brick or whatever materials we could find to make a shelter in the time honored tradition as embodied by Henry David Thoreau or my stepfather, Ken Kern. We were wanting to integrate ourselves more into the land, as embodied by John Muir and our American heritage. We were beginning to realize that our connection with nature was very important and powerful as exemplified by a lot of the Native American cultural thinking. I begun to see by shepherding donkeys for nearly twenty years – all kinds of connections to the natural world as we maneuvered on the land; doing controlled grazing; working the ranch from top to bottom to keep them and the land sustained. The creek and water changed from day to day, the quality of the soil determined the health of the plant life, the varieties that were either here and were planted here became a consuming interest, the animals around were mesmerizing, the seasons and floods and droughts became intense and very real and how they affected our lives. How to “work” the land became the challenge; what to harvest, when, how, how intensely. But what I drew from Leopold was a knowledge that what was desired was not pure wilderness without humans, not a carefully tended and rowed “garden” like , perhaps, an English landscape, not a purely engineered set of solutions that involved lots of concrete and steel, but the goal in my eyes was deeply related to the aesthetics of the solutions. I have, for instance, an aversion to the amputated look of cut limbs and tree trunks and make a special point of not cutting things in a way that blare out that zero look everywhere. I try to use materials and methods that blend in with the landscape as I try to reduce erosion and assist the banks of the river, for instance. The roads tend to curve and be blending into the visual look of the place, etc. etc. I believe that this lack of attention to the aesthetics is very often a stumbling block in our society. For some reason our sense of aesthetics is not as refined as I have seen in Japanese culture, for instance, where concepts of wabi sabi and natural beauty are present. I have developed concepts such as: use native rocks and materials for landscaping, be very careful what signs look like, front and back, be careful not to obscure the grand views of the cliffs and hills, do not put just any kind of gravel down, be careful not to pull just every weed and grass that seems not civilized as those weeds are often the prettiest things around. Kochia, for instance, our most ubiquitous plant/weed was originally brought here as an ornamental known for its wonderful red look in the fall. The plant is desired by horses and donkeys for food and is often the first placeholder in disturbed soil.
Tamarisk is a wonderful source of colorful twigs in rustic furniture design. Keep the invaluable bone yard somewhat contained in one area so as not to spread the junk all over the land. Some items of aesthetics are very personal, though, and so what might pass as fine in my eyes might be a terrible eyesore in yours, so that needs to be understood. I have also taken a very different course of thought in regards to the so-called alien species of plants, valuing them in a way much different than the garden variety environmentalists do. In fact I take a quite different stance than most environmentalists I have encountered; being often more in touch with using and living in the landscape as opposed to wanting to , for instance, just hike in it or camp in it or photograph it (although being a photographer can be a great tool for examining the aesthetics of a place).
So, there is no end to the subjects that can be addressed and Aldo Leopold helps address them in many ways that I enjoy as I work on my “Land Ethic”.
I close with an excerpt from something I copied a few years ago:
“Government has pursued constant programs to reduce or eliminate locoweed. We favored cattle without realizing we were making a choice. It was the great University of California scientist Starker Leopold that noted that loco weed was essential to the reproduction of quail. It was Starker’s father, Aldo Leopold. Who made the key statement on caution, “The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to keep all the pieces”. My own thinking can be quite biased. I tend to consider the invasive plant tamarisk as unredeemed evil. Yet, in the last issue of Desert Reporter we had an article pointing out that sometimes an endangered bird, the Southwest willow flycatcher, will choose to nest in tamarisk. The author, Pat Tennent, told us how to be cautious when removing tamarisk. Our hunting laws still place few or no restrictions on the hunting of varmint (foxes, coyotes, badgers, etc.) because varmints will catch and eat the farmer’s chickens. Intelligent farmers have learned that if all the varmints were killed, the varmints’ prey –rodents- would eat all the crops.”
A film celebrating Aldo Leopold’s life history and thoughts was just screened at the NM Land , Office, with our beloved public lands commissioner, Ray Powell, giving his nod. The film is named “Green Fire” which is derived from a moment in time when Leopold was in his 20s and a forest ranger in Arizona or New Mexico and his party had just shot (as they routinely did) a Mexican Grey Wolf and he saw a “green fire” in the dying wolf’s eyes. What the movie makes clear is that it took a lifetime of experience being in close contact with our government, our culture and the land itself to come to some powerful conclusions about what, I think, he coined, a “Land Ethic”. What he came up with was a forward thinking notion that our relation to the land needs some rethinking and redoing. This was very interesting to me as I begun an experiment similar to his Sand County, Wisconsin one some 31 years ago out here along the Galisteo Creek , in Spirit Valley. The experiences here and the lessons I have drawn through this and my resulting thoughts and research has led me to pretty much the same conclusions as Leopold’s; that our connection to the land is critical for the survival of our culture; that the quality of the soil is the ultimate goal and concern; that the interaction and view of nature as a complex dynamic which depends on diversity; that the aesthetics of our solutions is a critical part of the formula for “correct behavior” ; that developing a “Land Ethic” is what needs to be done. How does this play out in my life? I, first of all, have consciously understood that what I have attempted to do here on our 40 acre property surrounded by wilderness with ½ mile of creek through our property; is an experiment that not everyone would feel comfortable doing but my background had let me do it without the kinds of modern cultural constraints that are often stumbling blocks. It was coming from a family of artists and early pioneers in alternate life styles and being a part of the “back to the land” movements that had a surge in the 60s and 70s and was strong in New Mexico; we were able to learn to build our own house out of adobe or other interesting techniques and materials; laying brick on brick or whatever materials we could find to make a shelter in the time honored tradition as embodied by Henry David Thoreau or my stepfather, Ken Kern. We were wanting to integrate ourselves more into the land, as embodied by John Muir and our American heritage. We were beginning to realize that our connection with nature was very important and powerful as exemplified by a lot of the Native American cultural thinking. I begun to see by shepherding donkeys for nearly twenty years – all kinds of connections to the natural world as we maneuvered on the land; doing controlled grazing; working the ranch from top to bottom to keep them and the land sustained. The creek and water changed from day to day, the quality of the soil determined the health of the plant life, the varieties that were either here and were planted here became a consuming interest, the animals around were mesmerizing, the seasons and floods and droughts became intense and very real and how they affected our lives. How to “work” the land became the challenge; what to harvest, when, how, how intensely. But what I drew from Leopold was a knowledge that what was desired was not pure wilderness without humans, not a carefully tended and rowed “garden” like , perhaps, an English landscape, not a purely engineered set of solutions that involved lots of concrete and steel, but the goal in my eyes was deeply related to the aesthetics of the solutions. I have, for instance, an aversion to the amputated look of cut limbs and tree trunks and make a special point of not cutting things in a way that blare out that zero look everywhere. I try to use materials and methods that blend in with the landscape as I try to reduce erosion and assist the banks of the river, for instance. The roads tend to curve and be blending into the visual look of the place, etc. etc. I believe that this lack of attention to the aesthetics is very often a stumbling block in our society. For some reason our sense of aesthetics is not as refined as I have seen in Japanese culture, for instance, where concepts of wabi sabi and natural beauty are present. I have developed concepts such as: use native rocks and materials for landscaping, be very careful what signs look like, front and back, be careful not to obscure the grand views of the cliffs and hills, do not put just any kind of gravel down, be careful not to pull just every weed and grass that seems not civilized as those weeds are often the prettiest things around. Kochia, for instance, our most ubiquitous plant/weed was originally brought here as an ornamental known for its wonderful red look in the fall. The plant is desired by horses and donkeys for food and is often the first placeholder in disturbed soil.
Tamarisk is a wonderful source of colorful twigs in rustic furniture design. Keep the invaluable bone yard somewhat contained in one area so as not to spread the junk all over the land. Some items of aesthetics are very personal, though, and so what might pass as fine in my eyes might be a terrible eyesore in yours, so that needs to be understood. I have also taken a very different course of thought in regards to the so-called alien species of plants, valuing them in a way much different than the garden variety environmentalists do. In fact I take a quite different stance than most environmentalists I have encountered; being often more in touch with using and living in the landscape as opposed to wanting to , for instance, just hike in it or camp in it or photograph it (although being a photographer can be a great tool for examining the aesthetics of a place).
So, there is no end to the subjects that can be addressed and Aldo Leopold helps address them in many ways that I enjoy as I work on my “Land Ethic”.
I close with an excerpt from something I copied a few years ago:
“Government has pursued constant programs to reduce or eliminate locoweed. We favored cattle without realizing we were making a choice. It was the great University of California scientist Starker Leopold that noted that loco weed was essential to the reproduction of quail. It was Starker’s father, Aldo Leopold. Who made the key statement on caution, “The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to keep all the pieces”. My own thinking can be quite biased. I tend to consider the invasive plant tamarisk as unredeemed evil. Yet, in the last issue of Desert Reporter we had an article pointing out that sometimes an endangered bird, the Southwest willow flycatcher, will choose to nest in tamarisk. The author, Pat Tennent, told us how to be cautious when removing tamarisk. Our hunting laws still place few or no restrictions on the hunting of varmint (foxes, coyotes, badgers, etc.) because varmints will catch and eat the farmer’s chickens. Intelligent farmers have learned that if all the varmints were killed, the varmints’ prey –rodents- would eat all the crops.”
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