Wildlife in American Culture

Aldo Leopold is considered the father of wildlife ecology, growing up in Iowa and receiving a Master of Forestry from Yale University. He spent 19 years in the US forest service working in Wisconsin. He was then appointed Professor of Game Management in the Agricultural Economics Department at the University of Wisconsin.

            The general argument made by Aldo Leopold is that natural experiences are good for us. More specifically, Leopold suggests that we need reminders of our origins and dependency on the land. He writes, “First, there is a value in any experience, which reminds us of our distinctive national origins and evolution… Second, there is value in which reminds us of our dependency on the soil-plant-animal-man food chain. Third, the conquest of nature by machine has led to much unnecessary destruction of our resources.” (pg. 372) In this passage Leopold is suggesting that we need to go back to our original roots of living in nature for value and also, we are using up resources. In conclusion, it is Leopold’s belief that we need to be more in touch with nature.

            In my view, Leopold is right because I think being out in nature is nice and I think it has some calming effects but also makes you feel… more primal than you are. For example, I go camping a lot and I like when I can make a fire on my own without help from any other people or chemicals. I feel really accomplished and I feel like I could survive in the wilderness if I wanted to. In reality I probably couldn’t but it feels that way when you accomplish something in nature. Although Leopold might object that conquering nature in the sense of doing something on your own isn’t what he meant, I maintain that it still feels like I could go kill a deer with my bare hands if I needed to. Therefore, I conclude that we need to be more in touch with nature.