Aldo Leopold Legacy Center
Interdependent Parts
Each of our actions is truly part of a set of interactions, caught up in a network of cause and effect. Sometimes we can enjoy the direct benefits of our decisions, but often the true consequences of our actions are hidden within the layers of the our complex society and global economy. No matter how obscure these connections become, our society depends upon the land—clean water, healthy soil, vibrant forests, and the countless cycles and forms of life that maintain these and other resources.
“All ethics evolved so far rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts.”
As a student of history, Aldo Leopold recognized that ethics had so far succeeded in dealing with the relations between individuals and the relations of the individual to society. As a student of both people and the land, Leopold recognized that what had not yet emerged was an ethic dealing with how the individual deals with a much larger community—including “soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.” Leopold saw the Land Ethic as a product of social evolution, developing in the minds of a thinking community.
By laying bare the connections between people and land, the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center can play an important role in the ongoing development of the Land Ethic.
Sustaining Forests
The Legacy Center is intimately linked to the health of local forests.
The Grid
Reducing our use of fossil fuels has many important benefits for people and places, from West Virginia to Wyoming and around the world.
Intelligent Consumption
“The other half of the land ethic” brings an ecological conscience to the marketplace.
Partners
Over 160 people worked directly on constructing the Legacy Center.