We are excited to announce the program for the 2017 Building a Land Ethic Conference, set to take place from June 22-24 in Baraboo. The theme of this year’s conference is “Bridging the Urban/Rural Divide.” The two-and-a-half day conference program will include a mix of thought-provoking keynote presentations, conversations, concurrent sessions, social events, entertainment, and time to explore and connect with the Leopold landscape. Optional workshops and field trips are being offered during pre-conference programming on Wednesday, June 21. See the full conference program here.
Keynote Speaker Announcements
Friday, June 23: Les Stroud
We are thrilled to welcome musician, activist, filmmaker, and longtime Aldo Leopold fan Les Stroud to the conference for a special Friday night performance at Ho-Chunk Gaming Convention Center in Baraboo.
Best known as the Canadian Screen Award winning creator, producer, and star of the hit TV series Survivorman, Stroud is also an accomplished guitar and harmonica player who uses his music to connect listeners to the natural world. Stroud is a member of the prestigious Explorers Club, has received Fellow (highest rank) of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, is an advanced survival trainer for the Canadian Military Armed Forces, and sits on the board of advisors for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Organization.
Admission to the Survivorman Live performance will be included with conference registration. Additional tickets will be available for sale to the public.
This event is made possible thanks to a partnership with our friends at Ho-Chunk Gaming, who are hosting the event at no cost so that all proceeds from public ticket sales for the show can support the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Thank you, Ho-Chunk partners!
Saturday, June 24: Peter Forbes
Conference attendees are in for a treat– the conference will close with an address by noted consultant, facilitator, and lifelong conservationist Peter Forbes.
Peter’s life work is focused on understanding, supporting, and facilitating healthy communities through civic dialogue, leadership development, and access to land, nature and place. For twenty years, Peter has worked on creating curricula and leading learning experiences designed to help people transform their lives to better fit their values and to build professional relationships across divides of class, race, profession and ideology.
Peter has been involved with the Aldo Leopold Foundation in many ways through the years, but this will be his first official visit to Leopold Country.
Peter was featured in the foundation’s 2011 film Green Fire, noting his recognition that he wanted “a life in conservation, rather than a career in conservation” as a turning point on his own journey toward a land ethic. In 2012, two of the foundation’s staff members were selected to take part in the Whole Thinking retreat program with the Center for Whole Communities, an Vermont-based organization founded by Peter. Recently, the foundation featured an excerpt from Peter’s recent essay “Healing and Repairing” in its fall 2016 issue of the Leopold Outlook magazine, focused on conservation leadership.
We are looking forward to welcoming these talented individuals to Leopold Country!
More announcements about the program will be made as speakers are confirmed. Conference registration is set to open in late February. To stay informed about the latest news and announcements about the conference as they are released, subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, and RSVP to the event on Facebook.