- Land ethic
The land ethic is a perspective on
environmental ethics first championed byAldo Leopold in his book "A Sand County Almanac ".The prevailing ethos for the
US Forest Service in his day, from the founder of the USFS,Gifford Pinchot , was economic andutilitarian , while Leopold argued for anecological approach, one of the earliest popularizers of this term created byHenry Chandler Cowles of theUniversity of Chicago during his early 1900's research at theIndiana Dunes . Conservation became the preferred term for the more anthropocentric model ofresource management , while the writing of Leopold and his inspiration,John Muir , led to the development ofenvironmentalism .fact|date=August 2008Leopold argues that the next step in the evolution of ethics is the expansion of ethics to include nonhuman members of the
biotic community , collectively referred to as "the land." Leopold states the basic principle of his land ethic as, "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."He also describes it in this way: "The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land... [A] land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such."
ee also
*
Agrarianism
*Southern Agrarians
*Ecology References
* [http://www.luminary.us/leopold/land_ethic.html The Land Ethic] from "A Sand County Almanac"
1948 External links
* [http://www.wilderness.org/AboutUs/LandEthicToolbox/Introduction.cfm?TopLevel=About Land Ethic Toolbox]
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