Land Ethics

Land Ethics in Our Communities

While wading through the reserved reading in the library, I came across the article, “The Land Ethic”, which caught my eye, as well as sparked an interest deep within me. It revealed the idea that we, as humans, tend to be quite caught up in the idea of community; community between neighbors, co-workers, etc. seems to be something we strive for in our society. It seems that we have not integrated the land into our idea of community, and I feel that this is a serious problem that if not treated, will continue to grow and strive until the land turns into the “dead nothing” many people of today’s society feel it to be. I had been put face to face with the fact that I was one of those careless and self-involved members of our race. Having never thought of the concept of “land ethics”, I realized that it is very likely that many other people have yet to know of it either. This is a present conservation problem which worries me more than I have ever thought a simple article could be able to do to me.

As the author of this revelation piece, Aldo Leopold (1966), stated in his article, that we need to change our “human role from conqueror, to a member of the land community”(p.????). This is vital for the future existence of an Earth that is habitable and non-toxic. Many people claim that they have ethics in their work place, or in general life practices. I have yet, however, had the pleasure...