What is a land ethic? \u00a0A land ethic is a philosophy through which people perceive their relationship with the land. \u00a0How do you view your relationship to the land? \u00a0Below 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.<\/p>\n
Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the US Forest Service, was quoted as saying,\u00a0“greatest good for the greatest number”(Gifford 2015). \u00a0This statement exemplifies the philosophy of a utilitarian. \u00a0For 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. \u00a0This practice is about protecting the land but still drawing on its resources.<\/p>\n
John Muir was a preservationist. \u00a0He was famous for his far travels through the wilds of the world (John 2016). \u00a0However, his favorite place was Yosemite in the Sierra Nevada. \u00a0He was a preservationist and his philosophy was to leave nature untouched. \u00a0Nature to him was a temple of God as is illustrated in his fury at the prospect of damming Hetch Hetchy Valley:<\/p>\n
“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). <\/span><\/p>\n Aldo Leopold defined his land ethic as one centered on the ecosystem (Land Ethic). \u00a0This means that he thought that we should include non-human things in our concept of a community. \u00a0He pushed for people to extend their ethical considerations beyond just humans but also to the land. \u00a0A quote by Leopold helps us to understand his perspective,\u00a0\u201cA thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise\u201d (Leopold 1949).<\/p>\n How do you view the land? \u00a0Do you identify with any of the three stated above, or do you have your own? \u00a0A person’s land ethic develops with time. \u00a0As with anything else, the experience of new things can change the way we see the world and our relationship to it.<\/p>\n Works Cited<\/p>\n 2015. Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) [Internet]. Durham (NC): The Forest History Society; [cited 2016 Nov 6]. Available from\u00a0http:\/\/www.foresthistory.org\/ASPNET\/People\/Pinchot\/Pinchot.aspx<\/p>\n 2016. John Muir: A Brief Biography [Internet]. California: The Sierra Club; [cited 2016 Nov 6]. Available from\u00a0http:\/\/vault.sierraclub.org\/john_muir_exhibit\/life\/muir_biography.aspx<\/p>\n Leopold A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac. New York (NY): Ballantine Books 224-225p.<\/p>\n The Land Ethic [Internet]. Baraboo (WI): The Aldo Leopold Foundation; [cited 2016 Nov 6]. Available from\u00a0http:\/\/www.aldoleopold.org\/AldoLeopold\/landethic.shtml<\/p>\n Wood H. 2016.\u00a0Quotations from John Muir [Internet]. (CA): The Sierra Club; [cited 2016 Nov 6]. Available from\u00a0http:\/\/vault.sierraclub.org\/john_muir_exhibit\/writings\/favorite_quotations.aspx<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is a land ethic? \u00a0A land ethic is a philosophy through which people perceive their relationship with the land. \u00a0How do you view your relationship to the land? \u00a0Below I will outline a few well established land ethics, these … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4523,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.isucomm.iastate.edu\/hdwolfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.isucomm.iastate.edu\/hdwolfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.isucomm.iastate.edu\/hdwolfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.isucomm.iastate.edu\/hdwolfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4523"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.isucomm.iastate.edu\/hdwolfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.isucomm.iastate.edu\/hdwolfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.isucomm.iastate.edu\/hdwolfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.isucomm.iastate.edu\/hdwolfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.isucomm.iastate.edu\/hdwolfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.isucomm.iastate.edu\/hdwolfe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}