A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There

241 Pages·2020·21.377 MB·English

by  Aldo Leopold

A Sand County
A L M A N A C
Illustrated by
Charles W. Schwartz
1
A Sand County
A L M A N A C
AND SKETCHES HERE AND THERE
A L D O L E O P O L D
With an Introduction by
BARBARA KINGSOLVER
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
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Press in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.
© Oxford University Press 1949
Introduction © Barbara Kingsolver 2020
Special commemorative edition first issued
as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1989
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
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above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
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You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Leopold, Aldo, 1886–1948.
A Sand County almanac, and sketches here and there.
1. Natural history—Outdoor books. 2. Nature
Conservation—United States. 3. Natural history—Outdoor
Books. 1. Title.
QH81.L56 1987 508.73 87-22015
ISBN 978–0 –1 9–7 50026–2
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
Text design by Farzana Razak
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the editors of the following magazines and journals who have kindly
allowed to be reprinted in book form portions or all of individual articles: American Forests, “Marshland
Elegy,” “The Green Lagoons,” and “Flambeau”; Audubon Magazine, “Odyssey”; Bird Lore, “Conservation
Esthetic”; The Condor, “The Thick Billed Parrot of Chihuahua”; Journal of Forestry, “The Conservation
Ethic”; Journal of Wildlife Management, “Wildlife in American Culture” and “Song of the Gavilan”;
The Land, “Cheat Takes Over”; Outdoor America, “The Alder Fork”; Silent Wings, On a Monument to
the Pigeon”; Wisconsin Agriculturist and Farmer, “Bur Oak” and “Sky Dance”; Wisconsin Conservation
Bulletin, “A Mighty Fortress,” “Home Range,” and “Pines above the Snow.” Thanks are also due to
The Macmillan Company for permission to quote from “Tristram,” copyright, 1927
by Edwin Arlington Robinson on page 210.
To my Estella

Contents
Introduction xi
Foreword xxi
Part I A Sand County Almanac
JANUARY
January Thaw 3
FEBRUARY
Good Oak 6
MARCH
The Geese Return 17
APRIL
Come High Water 22
Draba 24
Bur Oak 25
Sky Dance 28
MAY
Back from the Argentine 32
JUNE
The Alder Fork—A Fishing Idyl 35
JULY
Great Possessions 39
Contents
Prairie Birthday 42
AUGUST
The Green Pasture 48
SEPTEMBER
The Choral Copse 50
OCTOBER
Smoky Gold 51
Too Early 55
Red Lanterns 59
NOVEMBER
If I Were the Wind 62
Axe- in- Hand 63
A Mighty Fortress 68
DECEMBER
Home Range 73
Pines above the Snow 76
65290 82
Part II Sketches Here and There
WISCONSIN
Marshland Elegy 89
The Sand Counties 95
Odyssey 97
On a Monument to the Pigeon 101
Flambeau 105
ILLINOIS AND IOWA
Illinois Bus Ride 109
Red Legs Kicking 112
ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO
On Top 114
Thinking Like a Mountain 120
Escudilla 124
viii
Contents
CHIHUAHUA AND SONORA
Guacamaja 127
The Green Lagoons 131
Song of the Gavilan 138
OREGON AND UTAH
Cheat Takes Over 143
MANITOBA
Clandeboye 147
Part III The Upshot
CONSERVATION ESTHETIC 155
WILDLIFE IN AMERICAN CULTURE 167
WILDERNESS 177
The Remnants 178
Wilderness for Recreation 181
Wilderness for Science 183
Wilderness for Wildlife 186
Defenders of Wilderness 188
THE LAND ETHIC 190
The Ethical Sequence 190
The Community Concept 192
The Ecological Conscience 196
Substitutes for a Land Ethic 198
The Land Pyramid 202
Land Health and the A-B Cleavage 208
The Outlook 210
ix