What is a Land Ethic?

What is a land ethic?  A land ethic is a philosophy through which people perceive their relationship with the land.  How do you view your relationship to the land?  Below I will outline a few well established land ethics, these are not the only ones, but they may help you get an idea of what a land ethic can be.

Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the US Forest Service, was quoted as saying, “greatest good for the greatest number”(Gifford 2015).  This statement exemplifies the philosophy of a utilitarian.  For example, a plan to sustainably harvest a forest; wherein, people only take what the forest can give and not clear cutting the land is a utilitarian practice.  This practice is about protecting the land but still drawing on its resources.

John Muir was a preservationist.  He was famous for his far travels through the wilds of the world (John 2016).  However, his favorite place was Yosemite in the Sierra Nevada.  He was a preservationist and his philosophy was to leave nature untouched.  Nature to him was a temple of God as is illustrated in his fury at the prospect of damming Hetch Hetchy Valley:

“These temple-destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar. Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people’s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man” (Wood 2016).

Aldo Leopold defined his land ethic as one centered on the ecosystem (Land Ethic).  This means that he thought that we should include non-human things in our concept of a community.  He pushed for people to extend their ethical considerations beyond just humans but also to the land.  A quote by Leopold helps us to understand his perspective, “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise” (Leopold 1949).

How do you view the land?  Do you identify with any of the three stated above, or do you have your own?  A person’s land ethic develops with time.  As with anything else, the experience of new things can change the way we see the world and our relationship to it.

Works Cited

2015. Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) [Internet]. Durham (NC): The Forest History Society; [cited 2016 Nov 6]. Available from http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/People/Pinchot/Pinchot.aspx

2016. John Muir: A Brief Biography [Internet]. California: The Sierra Club; [cited 2016 Nov 6]. Available from http://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/life/muir_biography.aspx

Leopold A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac. New York (NY): Ballantine Books 224-225p.

The Land Ethic [Internet]. Baraboo (WI): The Aldo Leopold Foundation; [cited 2016 Nov 6]. Available from http://www.aldoleopold.org/AldoLeopold/landethic.shtml

Wood H. 2016. Quotations from John Muir [Internet]. (CA): The Sierra Club; [cited 2016 Nov 6]. Available from http://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/favorite_quotations.aspx