A Land Ethic in a Handful of Soil

Abstract

An ethic is a set of moral principles relating to our conduct, primarily with other people. A few years before Aldo Leopold died, he told a group of land care profes- sionals that, for us, ethics are not only determined by religious or moral principles, but by our actions as part of the land. He presented his land ethic almost 70 years ago. He challenged us to make our lives a statement about the land we serve. We live in a country where big-box stores sell plant food, landscape companies deliver dirt by the truckload, farmers rent ground to grow hay, and real estate people own development property. Most land use decisions are based on economics rather than ethics, and are often implemented by a corporation, not a person. In such a world, the land ethic, as envisioned by Leopold, has yet to change this generation from conquerors of the land-community to citizens who respect it as part of their existence. Using pejorative words to describe land suggests it is a commodity to be owned and dominated to make money for the owner, not an asset for building community.

DOI: 10.2458/azu_rangelands_v36i4_box