Leopold's land ethic

            
             Leopold observes January to be the time when "thawing" begins. This is the time when animals come out of hibernation, "uncurls [itself] and ventures forth to prowl the wet world- (p 3). January is when one can observe what animals have been up to and why, for example, "one may follow a skunk track, or search for bands on the chickadees- (p. 3). The thaw in January brings freedom for animals. Snow means freedom from want and fear for mice, and also for rabbits. .
             February.
             Leopold talks about the importance and life of oak trees. It is a product either of "rabbit negligence or of rabbit scarcity" (p. 7). From reading about this month, I noticed how much respect he had for oak trees. It seems like his life revolves around oak trees. Some of the key events in each decade beginning in the 1920s are 1929 crumpled of stock markets and 1921 new forest policy. In 1915, the Supreme Court abolished the state forests and Governor Phillip pontificated that "state forestry is not a good business proposition." Also, in 1915 a federal law prohibited spring shooting. In 1910, a great university president published a book on conversation. It was a dry year when the forests burned in 1908. There was a dry fall in 1898, followed by a snowless winter, froze the soil seven feet deep. In 1889, a drought year, and Arbor day was first proclaimed. Lake Menodota's opening was postponed following the historic "Big Snow" and bitter cold of 1881-2. The record for wettest year was in 1876; the rainfall was at 50 inches. Four years earlier, the last wild Wisconsin turkey was killed. The last native Wisconsin elk was killed in 1866. .
             2).
             Land Ethic.
             Leopold's idea of a land ethic is land (which we would now call an "ecosystem") is a system of interdependent parts: best regarded as a "community," not a "commodity." Homo Sapiens is a member, not the master, of the land community. "The Whole informs the part" -- that is, we can only understand and appreciate our place in nature, and the place of our fellow creatures, in the context of an understanding of the whole.