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A Sand County Blog

Explore the latest in conservation thinking and practical land stewardship with special insights, stories, and reflections.

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Leopold Pines Threatened by Climate Change

"I love all trees, but I am in love with pines," wrote Aldo Leopold 75 years ago. Today, some of his beloved pines are suffering the effects of climate change. Learn how our land stewardship team is handling the death of these historic trees, and what their decline means for the Leopold legacy.

The Raw Push and Pull Behind the Almanac

Selections from the seven-year correspondence between Leopold and prospective publishers, reveal struggle, disagreement, admiration—the story, in it's opening draft, behind the publication of A Sand County Almanac.

Meet the 2024-25 Future Leaders Fellows

This year's Fellows have hit the ground running, and they're all about the land ethic. Learn more about the faces you'll be seeing at the forefront of conservation this year.

Leopold's Wild Idea, Part 3

Part Three of Kysh Lindell's exploration of the Gila Wilderness Area of southwest New Mexico, its past, present, and future.

Humans of the Gila: Excerpts from First & Wildest

Selected excerpts from the essay collection "First & Wildest: The Gila Wilderness at 100," edited by Elizabeth Hightower Allen

Leopold's Wild Idea | Part Two

Part Two of Kysh Lindell's exploration of the Gila Wilderness Area of southwest New Mexico, its past, present, and future.

The Once and Future Land Ethic | Part Two

The author of the definitive biography of Aldo Leopold and a longtime student of the relationship between men and land considers how conservation should adapt to succeed in the next century.

The Land Ethic Must Evolve in a Changing Agricultural Landscape

The land ethic had evolved over time, and that dynamic process of adapting to change must be ongoing as those who follow in Aldo’s footsteps cope with environmental and social challenges that he could never have anticipated.

The Once and Future Land Ethic | Part One

The author of the definitive biography of Aldo Leopold and a longtime student of the relationship between men and land considers how conservation should adapt to succeed in the next century.

The Little Moments of Land Stewardship

Fall is the season of change, and for a new land steward this change is multifaceted. Between the tides of exuberant summer growth and static winter dormancy winter lies this liminal fall season that bodes many things to a land steward: reflection, adaptation, evolution, recovery, growth in body and mind.

Frequently Asked Questions

You may be unfamiliar with our present-day work here at the Aldo Leopold Foundation, apart from the legacy of Aldo himself. To provide a clear overview, we've compiled a list of the 10 questions we get asked the most.

Working Together for the Common Good

“I’ve been conditioned to what I was exposed to when I was growing up. I was taught to care for the land and I want to continue what my father did to honor him, so my kids learn the same land ethic and I can eventually pass the property to them,” said Jim.

Phenology: Tracking Nature Through the Seasons

For scientists, shifts in the cycles over time reveals changes in our regional and global climate. For Aldo Leopold, these events defined anticipation in his intimate relationship with nature.

Draba Returns to the Sand Blow

If you’ve read A Sand County Almanac, then you’ve read the short essay about this tiny genus of flowers. Aldo Leopold eloquently declared Draba to be a humble, easily overlooked plant, “Altogether…of no importance.” So why were we searching for it so intensively?

Healing Sacred Earth

Volunteers converge on the sacred grounds of the Badger Army Ammunition Plant in southern Wisconsin to reclaim Maa Wákąčąk (Sacred Earth) and sow the seeds of a renewed prairie ecosystem, blending cultural resilience with environmental restoration.

A Monument for a Lost Bird

The extinct passenger pigeon is the main focus of Leopold's essay, but it is also his most thoughtful commentary on the larger issue of human-caused extinctions as a symptom of our tragic relationship with other species.

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