| Aldo
Leopold was born in Burlington, Iowa in 1887, the eldest of
four children. He received a Master of Forestry from Yale
University in 1909. After earning his degree he went on to
serve for 19 years in the U.S. Forest Service. Leopold worked
in the southwest (New Mexico and Arizona) until he was transferred
in 1924 to the Forest Products Lab in Madison, Wisconsin.
In 1928 he quit the Forest Service to do independent contract
work which primarily consisted of doing wildlife game surveys
throughout the country. In 1933 he was appointed Professor
of Game Management in the Agricultural Economics Department
at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Leopold taught at
the University of Wisconsin until his death in 1948.
Aldo
Leopold is best known as the author of A Sand County Almanac
(1949), a volume of nature sketches and philosophical essays
recognized as one of the enduring expressions of an ecological
attitude toward people and the land. The notion of a land
ethic was rooted in Leopold's perception of the environment,
and that perception was deepened and clarified throughout
his life. He was an internationally respected scientist
and conservationist instrumental in formulating policy,
promoting wilderness, and building ecological foundations
for two Twentieth Century professions - forestry and wildlife
ecology.
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