Flood waters cover a county highway and acres of farm fields
outside of Baraboo, Wisc. (Taken June 13,2008)
June 12, 2008 -- As many of you might have heard, the Baraboo area has received now in excess of 12” of rain since noon last Saturday. Much of this actually fell in an 18 hour window severely stressing regional river and drainage systems. In our area the Baraboo River has taken the brunt of the damage as its watershed has basically received 10+” across its entirety. This lead to the weakening of several dams including two on Dell Creek which ultimately drains into the Wisconsin River upstream from the Leopold Shack. On Monday, June 9th there was a breach on Lake Delton which precipitated the complete drainage of the lake. Fortunately the Wisconsin River was not near full capacity, and because much of its watershed is in Northern Wisconsin which has not received as much rain, it was able to handle this volume without threatening the Shack, the Legacy Center, or the Bradley Study Center.
If you live or work in the area we hope you are safe and well, and if you are, find a way to help out!
Candidates: Ignite a ‘Greenfire’ to
Rebuild Our Great Nation
By Nina Leopold Bradley
Almost one hundred years ago, as a young forester, my father had an encounter with a she-wolf on a mountain in New Mexico that was to shape the course of his conservation ethic and, in turn, that of millions of others.
My father was Aldo Leopold, known mainly for A Sand County Almanac and his land ethic philosophy. One of the best known of his almanac essays was entitled "Thinking Like a Mountain," in which he told of shooting this wolf and reaching her just in time to see a "fierce green fire" dying in her eyes. He realized many years later that he had not fully understood the ecology of the mountain, and that the mountain needed its top predators to maintain a healthy ecosystem. He had not "thought like a mountain" when he pulled the trigger.
Sadly, a lot of metaphorical triggers have been pulled since that day in the early 1900s, and our planet is much the worse for it. Our nation should be a global leader in conservation ethics, in applied environmental science, and in the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Like Aldo Leopold himself —a devoted teacher—ALF engages promising
young people in our conservation efforts. The
land stewardship internships provide
rigorous, nine-month-long hands-on experience in
understanding ecological restoration and land health. Interns practice reading the
landscape and implementing management techniques on the Leopold Memorial Reserve and work with private landowners in the region.
Leopold wrote that, “One of the penalties
of an ecological education is that one lives
alone in a world of wounds.” Leopold’s
vision has motivated thousands of people, and
interns find great hope and camaraderie in the
growing and energetic community of people
inspired by Leopold’s work and the places
we inhabit. Three new land stewardship interns have just joined us and we'd like to welcome them aboard!
New land stewardship interns in front of Leopold's shack: (L to R) Derek Schook, Mark Witecha, and Dana Bishop.
Aldo Leopold’s great-grandson Jed Meunier is now a doctoral candidate at Colorado State University, comparing fire history in mountain forests on both sides of the US-Mexico border. This project was first proposed by Aldo Leopold—in 1937, Leopold traveled to Chihuahua’s Sierra Madre Mountains for a two-week pack trip and bow hunting, where he saw that the vibrant health of the remote lands sharply contrasted with the American national forests and rangelands just over the border.
The Sierra Sportsmen Network commemorated Leopold’s birthday with a recent interview with Jed. Jed grew up in Baraboo spending his summers at the Leopold Shack on the Wisconsin River. Jed, like Leopold, is an avid hunter and fly fisherman, and enjoys finding grouse and woodcock in the Red Lanterns of fall with his wife, Tricia, and German shorthair pointer, Riva. Jed’s experiences with the Leopold Shack and Farm include an ecological restoration internship with the Aldo Leopold Foundation.
Sierra Sportsmen Network organizer Jon Schwedler says, “I've got the best job in the world. I am working to build a community of conservation-minded sportsmen who will make the difference for our wildlife, wild country, and our (wild) kids who will inherit this beautiful planet.” The network is 118,000 members strong.
ALF achievements recognized at national green building and sustainability convention
Nina Leopold Bradley presents a copy of A Sand County Almanac to former President Bill Clinton following his keynote address at Greenbuild.
November 15, 2007
The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center was the most prominently featured facility at the Greenbuild National Conference in Chicago last week. Over 20,000 leaders in sustainable design and construction were present.
Nina Leopold Bradley was singled out by Rick Fedrizzi, the president of the US Green Building Council, for her inspirational leadership in a room of over 8,000 people with live simulcasts to another 10,000. Later that morning she presented former President Clinton, the convention's keynote speaker, with a copy of A Sand County Almanac.
ALF also received the prestigious Designing and Building with FSC annual award from the Forest Stewardship Counsil (FSC) for our use of certified wood in building the Legacy Center.
Webcasts of the event are available at www.greenbuilding365.com/videos. To see Nina get introduced watch the beginning of President Clinton’s speech.
Click here for our comprehensive web pages highlighting the Legacy Center's special features.
Legacy Center Named
'Greenest
Building
on the Planet'
President of US Green Building Council
Presents
Top Honor
Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the US Green Building Council presents the council’s highest award to Nina Leopold Bradley and ALF Executive Director Buddy Huffaker. The Legacy Center received Platinum certification from the council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program. Click here to read more.
October 23, 2007
Announcing New Archives Feature
Click PLAY below to listen to Nina talk about historic photographs:
Photo by Ed Pembleton
September 13, 2007
Destination: Baraboo
Planning a fall visit to Wisconsin? You're not alone. The Aldo Leopold Foundation was featured in USA Today's travel section as a top green destination. A good dose of Leopold begins the story about the state’s cutting edge Travel Green Wisconsin program:
By Laura Bly, USA TODAY
BARABOO, Wis. — One of the spiritual risks of not owning a farm, wrote the late Wisconsin conservationist Aldo Leopold in his 1949 environmental classic A Sand County Almanac, "is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery."
Tour guide Phyllis McKenzie pauses to read Leopold's words in a sun-dappled grove of oak and pine trees near southern Wisconsin's new Aldo Leopold Legacy Center. Fashioned from local wood and stone according to stringent U.S. Green Building Council standards, the center is a short stroll from the converted chicken shack, now a national landmark, where Leopold found his inspiration along the shores of the Wisconsin River.
And in an era in which "eat local" is becoming an epicurean mantra, Leopold's musings about the need for a human connection to the natural world are taking on a renewed significance — particularly in his home state. ...
Over 100 friends and neighbors turned out to help the Aldo Leopold Foundation plant 10,000 native prairie plants around the new Legacy Center. With so many hands, we finished the planting with time to spare and even managed to get some mulching done, too! Thanks for all the help!
We have been receiving many inquiries about how to reserve or pre-order copies of the forthcoming special edition of A Sand County Almanac, printed on paper made from the pulp of pine trees planted by the Leopold family themselves, and harvested this winter at the Leopold Memorial Reserve. We are still determining pricing and distribution strategy for this unique volume, but will share information on how to get a copy with our membership as soon as it is available. Consider joining our membership to be among the first to hear about how to get the book, or you can also e-mail Communications Coordinator Craig Maier to be put on an inquiry list. Being put on the inquiry list does not guarantee you a copy of the book, but we will be certain to share information with you on how to order as soon as it is available. Thank you.
We are always looking for individuals who are willing to help us achieve our mission of fostering the Land Ethic through the legacy of Aldo Leopold. Download our volunteer job description packet (Adobe PDF format), and then submit a registration form (Microsoft Word format) to be added to our database of volunteers. Categories include land stewardship work, archives and media cataloging, and volunteer tour guiding. We look forward to working with you! There will be an optional orientation for ALF volunteers on Tuesday, January 16th from 7 to 8:30 pm. Attendance is not required, but it will be a great way for all the volunteers to meet each other, and learn about the wide variety of ways that ALF can use your help. Hope to see you there.
Following in Aldo's footsteps 
The Sierra Sportsmen Network commemorated Leopold’s birthday with a 
Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the US Green Building Council presents the council’s highest award to Nina Leopold Bradley and ALF Executive Director Buddy Huffaker. The Legacy Center received Platinum certification from the council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program. 
We have been receiving many inquiries about how to reserve or pre-order copies of the forthcoming special edition of A Sand County Almanac, printed on paper made from the pulp of pine trees planted by the Leopold family themselves, and harvested this winter at the Leopold Memorial Reserve. We are still determining pricing and distribution strategy for this unique volume, but will share information on how to get a copy with our membership as soon as it is available. Consider 
We are always looking for individuals who are willing to help us achieve our mission of fostering the Land Ethic through the legacy of Aldo Leopold. Download our