Calendar 

January 2:
Deadline for Internship Applications

Green Fire Events 

Find additional screenings in communities near you.

Purchase the Green Fire DVD in our Bookstore

The Woodland School

We offer an array of Woodland School classes to advance your land stewardship practice, from the classics—chainsaw safety, prescribed fire—to new opportunities like birding the Leopold Memorial Reserve with experts. We hope you'll let one pique your curiosity and join us in the field!

Support the Work of the Foundation

Become a key partner in helping us spread the land ethic, advance the science of land health, preserve the Leopold shack and farm, and train new leaders for the future of conservation. Join today!

Visiting the Leopold Center

The Leopold Center's open hours are Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm for the winter.

The Outlook e-Newsletter

December 2011

Support Our Work in 2012!

On motionless wing they emerge from the lifting mists, sweep a final arc of sky, and settle in clangorous descending spirals to their feeding grounds.  A new day has begun on the crane marsh.
-Aldo Leopold, “Marshland Elegy,” A Sand County Almanac

By making a gift to the Aldo Leopold Foundation this holiday season you are making a sincere and solid investment in the future.

Although our society faces significant ecological and economic challenges, our conservation work together has never been more relevant or better received than it is right now.  Thank you for all you do!

Each year, our generous partners, donors, volunteers, and members enable the Aldo Leopold Foundation to inform and inspire thousands of people with Leopold’s “land ethic.” Here are a few highlights from the last year:

• Land Ethic Leaders is training new leaders to convene discussions about the deep and diverse values inherent in conservation—already, participants have held hundreds of programs all across the country!
• Green Fire, released only nine months ago, has already been seen by over 50,000 people in 48 states and 16 foreign countries!!  Our goal now is to reach hundreds of thousands more through national public television distribution.
• Closer to home, we have worked with public and private partners to create the Driftless Forestry Network, improving and expanding the ways we support private landowners across four states.
• Through the Leopold-Pine Island Important Bird Area, we continue to partner with neighbors along the Wisconsin River to improve habitat needed by Sandhill cranes and so many other beautiful and important wildlife species.

Your support allows us to continue advancing Leopold’s legacy and will enable Green Fire to reach public television.  Board members Estella Leopold, Susan Flader, and Tom Boldt have generated a $125,000 challenge grant to stimulate additional giving to Green Fire while protecting our critical operational funding. 

If you have given in the past, each dollar you give above your last donation will be allocated to Green Fire and will be matched dollar for dollar up to $125,000.  If you’re a first-time donor to the foundation your full gift will be matched and allocated to Green Fire.

Your partnership in conservation is more necessary than ever. We hope we can count on your support this year.  Donate today!

On behalf of the Aldo Leopold Foundation,

Buddy Huffaker, President and Executive Director

A crane flies against a sunset sky. This image is taken from the Green Fire film--help us extend the reach of Green Fire in 2012 through public television, multiple language editions, and educational resources with your contribution.

A Tribute to Aldo Leopold's Children

Following the last issue of the Leopold Outlook member magazine, we realized that there is considerable interest in the lives of Aldo Leopold's five children--Starker, Luna, Nina, Carl, and Estella. We have quite a rich collection of stories and photos about each of them, and we're delighted to give you access to some of the pieces on our website. Now you can look at photos of each of the siblings from all stages of their lives, read tributes from family members, and follow links to some of their important scientific work. Enjoy!

• Starker Leopold
• Luna Leopold
• Nina Leopold Bradley
• Carl Leopold
• Estella Leopold

Thank You to Our Birders!

Being considered part of an Important Bird Area means keeping track of your birds. This year, 20 volunteers spent 300 hours helping us conduct bird surveys on the Leopold-Pine Island Important Bird Area--thank you! With their commitment and dedication we were able to survey over 10,000 acres and document the birds that call the LPI-IBA home. The volunteer data is an important addition to the survey data collected by WDNR Forest Ecologist Mike Mossman and is in the process of being analyzed. Check back in the spring for upcoming birding opportunities and the results from this year’s survey.  

Land Ethic Leaders in Action

Marian Farrior works at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. Aldo Leopold's legacy is strong there--after all, he was one of the founders. Marian attended our Land Ethic Leaders program this past June. She coordinates and teaches an ecological restoration training program that is based on the land ethic and she was hoping to gather ideas. After both attending Land Ethic Leaders, she and her supervisor, Molly Fifield Murray, developed a session based on what they learned from the workshop. They utilized an observation exercise, an activity about different definitions of a land ethic, and a reflective discussion to engage participants in thinking about their relationships to the land in new ways. They also showed the film Green Fire to AmeriCorps volunteers who worked at the Arboretum this summer. Marian has more events in the works for the Madison area, but most recently she joined us back at Land Ethic Leaders as an alum. She shared her experiences with the newest class to help them think about their own events. Thank you, Marian!

You can become a Land Ethic Leader too! Join us for one of our dates in 2012! Participants learn how they can pair discussion with outdoor observation exercises and work projects to engage their communities in new ways. They also receive a public screening kit for our documentary film, Green Fire, and learn how they can use the film in their communities to reach out to new audiences. Register today!

Introducing New Woodland School Coordinator

It is with great excitement that we introduce Jen Simoni as the new coordinator for the Woodland School.  Jen has been working for the Aldo Leopold Foundation since 2009 as a member of the land stewardship department.  Over the years, she has assisted with many of the Woodland School courses and she is eager to step into the coordinating role. "The Woodland School classes are such a great source of knowledge and empowerment for landowners," Jen says. "I'm really excited to take on a larger role in the program." Alanna Koshollek, the foundation's Stewardship Coordinator who has coordinated the Woodland School since 2007, will remain with ALF but will spend more of her time working with the Driftless Forestry Initiative. Please check out the Woodland School's upcoming courses and feel free to contact Jen with any questions you may have.

Don't Forget Your Phenology Calendar!

Head into 2012 with Wisconsin wildlife! If you haven't already ordered the Wisconsin Wildlife Phenology Calendar, don't miss out! It incorporates Aldo Leopold and Nina Leopold Bradley's average dates for phenological events in Wisconsin, paired with stunning wildlife photography. This year, the calendar theme is the plants and animals of A Sand County Almanac. Each month, learn about a member of Wisconsin's ecological communities that was featured in Leopold's famous book. Order yours today!

Save the date for Aldo Leopold Weekend 2012

Aldo Leopold Weekend is a program model for bringing your community together around Aldo Leopold's idea of a land ethic. The name "Aldo Leopold Weekend" has its roots in Wisconsin, where annually the first weekend of March has that official designation and Wisconsin communities across the state coordinate events that all happen at the same time. Leopold-themed events have spread far beyond the borders of Wisconsin since the event's inception in 2000, and are now celebrated across the nation in various ways and at various times throughout the year! What happens on Aldo Leopold Weekend? Showings of the Green Fire film. Readings from A Sand County Almanac. Leopold bench building workshops. Discussions and roundtables and hikes. In short, lots of great things! If you are interested in bringing people together to celebrate Leopold’s ideas and inspire a new commitment to his vision of a land ethic as part of your community, you may want to plan an event!

Aldo Leopold Weekend 2012 takes place in Wisconsin on the weekend of March 2-4. Other Leopold-themed events may take place throughout the year all across the country. Watch the e-news next month for an exciting new Leopold event calendar where you can find Leopold events near you!