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Ecosystem management is an approach to natural resource management that aims to ensure the long-term sustainability and persistence of an ecosystem 's function and services while meeting socioeconomic, political, and cultural needs. Although indigenous communities have employed sustainable ecosystem management approaches implicitly for millennia, ecosystem management emerged explicitly as a formal concept in the 1990s from a growing appreciation of the complexity of ecosystems and of humans' reliance and influence on natural systems (e.g., disturbance and ecological resilience ).

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108-611: The Leopold Report , officially known as Wildlife Management in the National Parks , is a 1963 paper composed of a series of ecosystem management recommendations that were presented by the Special Advisory Board on Wildlife Management to United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall . Named for its chairman and principal author, zoologist and conservationist A. Starker Leopold ,

216-499: A trophic cascade is put forth in the chapter, " Thinking Like a Mountain ", wherein Leopold realizes that killing a predatory wolf carries serious implications for the rest of the ecosystem — a conclusion that found sympathetic appreciation generations later: In January 1995 I helped carry the first grey wolf into Yellowstone, where they had been eradicated by federal predator control policy only six decades earlier. Looking through

324-426: A 501(c)3 not-for-profit conservation organization whose mission is "to foster the land ethic through the legacy of Aldo Leopold." The Aldo Leopold Foundation owns and manages the original Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm and 300 surrounding acres, in addition to several other parcels. Its headquarters is the green-built Leopold Center where it conducts educational and land stewardship programs. The foundation also acts as

432-637: A concept of natural resource management , ecosystem management remains both ambiguous and controversial, in part because some of its formulations rest on contested policy and scientific assertions. These assertions are important for understanding much of the conflict surrounding ecosystem management. For instance, some allege that professional natural resource managers, typically operating from within government bureaucracies and professional organizations, mask debate over controversial assertions by depicting ecosystem management as an evolution of past management approaches. A fundamental concern of ecosystem management

540-428: A decline the resilience of ecological, social, and economic systems, termed the “pathology of natural resource management”. In this “pathology”, an initially successful command and control practice drives relevant institutions to shift their focus toward control, over time obscuring the ecosystem’s natural behavior, while the economy becomes reliant on the system in its controlled state. Consequently, there has been

648-416: A linear problem solving approach, in which a perceived problem is resolved through controlling devices such as laws, threats, contracts, and/or agreements. This top-down approach is used across many disciplines, and it is best suited for addressing relatively simple, well-defined problems, which have a clear cause and effect, and for which there is broad societal agreement as to policy and management goals. In

756-458: A modest two-story home close to the UW–Madison campus. His children followed in his footsteps as teachers and naturalists: Aldo Starker Leopold (1913–1983) was a wildlife biologist and professor at UC Berkeley; Luna B. Leopold (1915–2006) became a hydrologist and geology professor at UC Berkeley; Nina Leopold Bradley (1917–2011) was a researcher and naturalist; Aldo Carl Leopold (1919–2009)

864-445: A natural state. In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such. In 1950 The Wildlife Society honored Leopold by creating an annual award in his name. The Aldo Leopold Foundation of Baraboo, Wisconsin , was founded in 1982 by Aldo and Estella Leopold's five children as

972-405: A number of ways. A wildlife corridor , for example, provides a connection between otherwise isolated habitat patches, presenting a solution to habitat fragmentation . These implementations can be found crossing over or under highways to reduce segmentation. In other instances, the habitat requirements of a keystone or vulnerable species is assessed to identify the best strategies for protecting

1080-681: A perspective that today would be called Religious Naturalism . Though often forgotten, thinking about population dynamics and consumption also shaped Aldo Leopold’s ecological vision in profound ways. By studying wildlife population fluctuations, Leopold extended many of the ideas about carrying capacity and environmental degradation that Raymond Pearl and Edward Murray East had articulated, and these ideas, in turn, shaped his path-breaking ideas of ecological interconnection. Moreover, although later readers associate Leopold with wildlife ecology, his career helps show how Malthusian ideas of human society intertwined and overlapped with ideas of nature. He

1188-414: A reliance on game refuges, hunting laws, and other methods intended to protect specific species of desired game. In his 1933 book Game Management , Leopold defined the science of wildlife management as "the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wild game for recreational use." But, as Curt Meine has pointed out, he also considered it to be a technique for restoring and maintaining diversity in

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1296-416: A result of new information. Landscape-level (or landscape-scale) conservation is a method that considers wildlife needs at a broader landscape scale when implementing conservation initiatives. By considering broad-scale, interconnected ecological systems, landscape-level conservation acknowledges the full scope of an environmental problem. Implementation of landscape-scale conservation is carried out in

1404-479: A series of ecologically positive legislative actions in the 1960s and into the 1970s. While direct management of the elk population in Yellowstone National Park continues to spark debate amongst scientists, the report nonetheless successfully influenced multiple areas of park management. Prior to the report's publication, California's Sequoia National Park was beset by a thick underbrush, which

1512-511: A specific timeframe and area. F. Stuart Chapin and co-authors emphasize that ecosystem management is guided by ecological science to ensure the long-term sustainability of ecosystem services , while Norman Christensen and coauthors emphasize that it is motivated by defined goals, employs adaptive practices, and accounts for the complexities of ecological systems. Peter Brussard and colleagues emphasize that ecosystem management balances preserving ecosystem health while sustaining human needs. As

1620-595: A system of 42 state trails in Wisconsin, was created by the state in 2007. The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Iowa, created through the 1987 Iowa Groundwater Protection Act is committed to "new ways to farm profitably while conserving natural resources as well as reducing negative environmental and social impacts". An organization, the Leopold Heritage Group, is "dedicated to promoting

1728-414: A transition away from command and control management, and increased focus on more holistic adaptive management approaches and on arriving at management solutions through partnerships between stakeholders. The term natural resource management is frequently used in relation to a particular resource for human use, rather than the management of a whole ecosystem . Natural resource management aims to fulfill

1836-656: A view that each ecosystem has a single best equilibrium and that minimizing variation around this equilibrium results in more dependable, greater yields of natural resources. For example, this perspective informed the long-held belief in forest fire suppression in the United States , which drove a decline in populations of fire-tolerant species and a buildup of fuel, leading to higher intensity fires. Additionally, these approaches to managing natural systems tended to (a) be site- and species-specific, rather than considering all components of an ecosystem collectively, (b) employ

1944-470: A whole, to relationships with the land, leading to a steady diminution of actions based on expediency, conquest, and self-interest. Leopold thus rejected the utilitarianism of conservationists such as Theodore Roosevelt . By the 1930s, Leopold had become one of the first Americans to publish extensively on the startup discipline of wildlife management. He advocated the scientific management of wildlife habitats by both public and private landholders rather than

2052-492: A “ wicked problem ”. Thus, the outcome of natural resource management's "evolution" over the course of the 20th century is ecosystem management, which explicitly recognizes that technical and scientific knowledge, though necessary in all approaches to natural resource management, are insufficient in themselves. Stakeholders are individuals or groups who are affected by or have an interest in ecosystem management decisions and actions. Stakeholders may also have power to influence

2160-462: A “command and control” approach, and (c) exclude stakeholders from management decisions. The latter half of the 20th century saw a paradigm shift in how ecosystems were viewed, with a growing appreciation for the importance of ecological disturbance and for the intrinsic link between natural resources and overall ecosystem health. Simultaneously, there was acknowledgment of society's reliance on ecosystem services (beyond provisioning goods) and of

2268-563: Is "the only Federal research group in the United States dedicated to the development and dissemination of knowledge needed to improve management of wilderness , parks , and similarly protected areas ." The Aldo Leopold Neighborhood Historic District , which includes Leopold's former home in Albuquerque , New Mexico , was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The Aldo Leopold Legacy Trail System ,

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2376-476: Is a holistic, adaptive method for evaluating and achieving resilience and sustainability. As such, implementation is context-dependent and may take a number of forms including adaptive management , strategic management, and landscape-scale conservation . The term “ecosystem management” was formalized in 1992 by F. Dale Robertson, former Chief of the U.S. Forest Service . Robertson stated, “By ecosystem management, we mean an ecological approach… [that] must blend

2484-523: Is an increasing problem, which is why landscape-level approaches play an important role in ecosystem management. Traditional conservation methods targeted at individual species may need to be modified to include the maintenance of habitats through the consideration of both human and ecological factors. Aldo Leopold Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American writer, philosopher , naturalist , scientist , ecologist , forester , conservationist , and environmentalist . He

2592-411: Is determined, which leaves enough to allow the resource to replenish itself for subsequent harvests. The condition of each resource in an ecosystem is subject to change at different spatial and time scales, and ecosystem attributes, such as watershed and soil health , and species diversity and abundance , need to be considered individually and collectively. Informed by natural resource management,

2700-490: Is flexible and develops reciprocal trust around issues of common interest, with the objective of creating mutually beneficial partnerships. Key attributes of successful participatory ecosystem management efforts have been identified: Malpai Borderland management: In the early 1990s, there was ongoing conflict between the ranching and environmentalist communities in the Malpai Borderlands . The former group

2808-530: Is limited and unclear. Therefore, an ecosystem should be managed to it maintain the greatest degree of ecological integrity and management practices should have the ability to change based on new experience and insights. In an adaptive management strategy, a hypotheses about an ecosystem and its functioning is formed, and then management techniques to test these hypotheses are implemented. The implemented methods are then analyzed to evaluate if ecosystem health improved or declined, and further analysis allows for

2916-479: Is passed on to future generations through cultural customs including folklore, religion, and taboos. Traditional management strategies vary by region; examples include the burning of the longleaf pine ecosystem by Native Americans in what is today the southeastern United States, the ban of seabird guano harvest during the breeding season by the Inca, the sustainable harvest practices of glaucous-winged gull eggs by

3024-436: Is the long-term sustainability of the production of goods and services by ecosystems, as "intergenerational sustainability [is] a precondition for management, not an afterthought." Ideally, there should be clear, publicly stated goals with respect to future trajectories and behaviors of the system being managed. Other important requirements include a sound ecological understanding of the system including ecological dynamics and

3132-555: Is trotted out to prove almost every perspective in debates about modern park management." On the other hand, Alston Chase, a vocal critic of the National Park Service, disapproved of the limited scope of the Leopold Report, arguing that it had "inadvertently replaced science with nostalgia, subverting the goal it had set out to support". The report's insistence to return parks to the condition that "prevailed when

3240-412: Is unpredictable. Although ecosystem changes may occur gradually, their cumulative impacts can have negative effects for both humans and wildlife. Geographic information system (GIS) applications and remote sensing can be used to monitor and evaluate natural resources and ecosystem health. Adaptive management is based on the concept that predicting future influences and disturbances to an ecosystem

3348-670: The Transactions of the Twenty-Eighth North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference . Conrad L. Wirth , director of the NPS from 1951 to 1964, stated that the report reworded the Service's 1916 mandate into "modern language", using a scientific perspective to redefine the basic purpose of national parks. Secretary Udall supported the report and instructed the NPS to incorporate the findings into

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3456-600: The United States Forest Service , the foundation and the Center for Humans and Nature released the first full-length film about Leopold, titled Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time . The film aired on public television stations across the nation and won a Midwest regional Emmy award in the documentary category. The Aldo Leopold Wilderness in New Mexico's Gila National Forest

3564-482: The environmental movement , with his ecocentric or holistic ethics regarding land. He emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was a founder of the science of wildlife management . Rand Aldo Leopold was born in Burlington, Iowa on January 11, 1887. His father, Carl Leopold, was a businessman who made walnut desks and was first cousin to his wife, Clara Starker. Charles Starker, father of Carl and uncle to Clara,

3672-491: The "slaughtering of elk by hired killers" rather than by sportsmen, and schoolchildren from across the country were inspired to write letters of condemnation. Facing public backlash, the NPS announced it would stop killing elk. The controversy surrounding the reduction of elk in Yellowstone shed a negative light upon the NPS and their management of wildlife populations within the country's national parks. In response to what

3780-400: The "sole purpose of animal removal". The main goal of the NPS, the report explained, was to preserve national parks primarily for the "aesthetic, spiritual, scientific and educational values they offered to the public". The report strayed from arguments based on scientific data and veered into environmental philosophy , concluding that national parks should serve a historical purpose . One of

3888-492: The 1940s and 1950s. NPS managers became interested in attracting more tourists to Yellowstone during the 1910s and 1920s. Species such as elk and antelope were considered a major attraction for park visitors, and an attempt was made to increase their numbers through winter feeding and predator control. The effort was successful, and the number of elk expanded significantly, but to the detriment of other wildlife such as bighorn sheep . Despite sporadic reductions of elk by hunters,

3996-537: The Department of Agriculture, donated money to Yale University to begin one of the nation's first forestry schools. Hearing of this development, the teenaged Leopold decided on forestry as a vocation. His parents agreed to let him attend The Lawrenceville School , a preparatory college in New Jersey, to improve his chances of admission to Yale. The Burlington High School principal wrote in a reference letter to

4104-627: The Huna Tlingit , and the Maya milpa intercropping approach (which is still used today). In industrialized Western society, ecosystems have been managed primarily to maximize yields of a particular natural resource . This method for managing ecosystems can be seen in the U.S. Forest Service 's shift away from sustaining ecosystem health and toward maximizing timber production to support residential development following World War II. Furthermore, natural resource management has typically assumed

4212-832: The Lawrenceville School for a year, during which time he was accepted to Yale. Because the Yale School of Forestry granted only graduate degrees, he first enrolled in Sheffield Scientific School 's preparatory forestry courses for his undergraduate studies, in New Haven, Connecticut. While Leopold was able to explore the woods and fields of Lawrenceville daily, sometimes to the detriment of his studying, at Yale he had little opportunity to do so; his studies and social life engagements made his outdoor trips few and far between. Leopold graduated from

4320-509: The Leopold Report's scant 28, its committee was chaired by Stanley A. Cain, who also worked on the Leopold Report. Although this report made similar recommendations to the one primarily written by Leopold, it stated that little had been done to advance the previous report's findings, especially in terms of predator control. As a result of the Cain Report's recommendations, President Richard Nixon signed Executive Order 11643, which restricted

4428-584: The National Parks" when it was first presented on March 4, 1963, but it became informally known as the "Leopold Report". At the same time, a separate advisory board was formed by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to produce "A Report by the advisory committee to the National Park Service on Research". The NAS Report, more commonly known as the Robbins Report, was named after its primary author, biologist William J. Robbins. The Robbins Report

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4536-612: The U.S. Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, and became an associate director. In 1933, he was appointed Professor of Game Management in the Agricultural Economics Department at the University of Wisconsin , the first such professorship of wildlife management. At the same time he was named Research Director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum . Leopold and other members of

4644-734: The Wildlife Management Institute; Thomas L. Kimball, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation ; and Clarence Cottam, former assistant director of the FWS and director of the Welder Wildlife Foundation. The formation of the advisory board was historically important, as this was the first time an outside group was asked to evaluate wildlife programs within the NPS. The report was officially named "Wildlife Management in

4752-808: The Yale Forestry School in 1909. In 1909, Leopold was assigned to the Forest Service 's District 3 in the Arizona and New Mexico territories. At first, he was a forest assistant at the Apache National Forest in the Arizona Territory. In 1911, he was transferred to the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. Leopold's career, which kept him in New Mexico until 1924, included developing

4860-469: The advisory board recommended future reductions of animals should "be larger and in many cases repeated annually". The report also supported the concept of carrying capacity , and the idea that the elk population could be actively managed to restore its natural balance. Although the advisory board recommendations focused on wildlife and habitat management, they also touched upon the recreation of primitive, uncontrolled conditions. Revisiting fire ecology and

4968-482: The agency's operations. In a memorandum dated May 2, 1963, he reiterated the purpose of the national park in the scope of the Leopold Report: "... a primary goal of park management is to maintain the biotic associations within each park as nearly as possible in that relationship which existed at a predetermined time period. The goal then is to create or maintain the mood of wild America." The advisory board

5076-538: The animals still posed a problem to the northern range ecosystems, mainly because of overgrazing . In the winter of 1961, park rangers responded to this dilemma by shooting and killing approximately 4,300 elk. This aggressive reduction by the Park Service caused a massive public outcry; network television and newspaper coverage of the culling resulted in public opposition and congressional hearings . The International Association of Game and Fish Commissioners protested

5184-430: The animals. One day after fatally shooting a wolf , Leopold reached the animal and was transfixed by a "fierce green fire dying in her eyes." That experience changed him and put him on the path toward an ecocentric outlook. He developed an ecological ethic that replaced the earlier wilderness ethic that stressed the need for human dominance. His rethinking the importance of predators in the balance of nature has resulted in

5292-886: The area was first visited by the white man" has also been criticized for ignoring the Native Americans' historical presence in the area. Historian and author Philip Burnham in particular stated in his 2000 book, Indian Country, God's Country: Native Americans and the National Parks , that although Leopold et al. were more progressive than their predecessors, they "still dismissed native people as passive onlookers". Ecosystem management Building upon traditional natural resource management , ecosystem management integrates ecological, socioeconomic, and institutional knowledge and priorities through diverse stakeholder participation. In contrast to command and control approaches to natural resource management, which often lead to declines in ecological resilience , ecosystem management

5400-429: The area was first visited by the white man. A national park should represent a vignette of primitive America." It continues: Restoring the primitive scene is not done easily nor can it be done completely. Some species are extinct. Given time, an eastern hardwood forest can be regrown to maturity but the chestnut will be missing and so will the roar of pigeon wings. The colorful drapanid finches are not to be heard again in

5508-544: The complexities of ecological systems, command and control management may result in unintended consequences. For example, wolves were extirpated from Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1920s to reduce elk predation. Long-term studies of wolf, elk, and tree populations since wolf reintroduction in 1995 demonstrate that reintroduction has decreased elk populations, improving tree species recruitment . Thus, by controlling ecosystems to limit natural variation and increase predictability, command and control management often leads to

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5616-787: The context in which the system is embedded. An understanding of the role of humans as components of the ecosystems and the use of adaptive management is also important. While ecosystem management can be used as part of a plan for wilderness conservation, it can also be used in intensively managed ecosystems (e.g., agroecosystems and close to nature forestry ). Core principles and common themes of ecosystem management: Sustainable ecosystem management approaches have been used by societies throughout human history. Prior to colonization, indigenous cultures often sustainably managed their natural resources through intergenerational traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) . In TEK, cultures acquire knowledge of their environment over time and this information

5724-438: The context of natural systems, command and control management attempts to control nature in order to improve natural resource extractions , establish predictability, and reduce threats. Command and control strategies include the use of herbicides and pesticides to improve crop yields; the culling of predators to protect game bird species; and the safeguarding of timber supply, by suppressing forest fires . However, due to

5832-407: The crates into her eyes, I reflected on how Aldo Leopold once took part in that policy, then eloquently challenged it. By illuminating for us how wolves play a critical role in the whole of creation, he expressed the ethic and the laws which would reintroduce them nearly a half-century after his death. Thinking Like a Mountain was originally written during World War II and shows that Leopold's thinking

5940-462: The decision-making skills needed to undertake an adaptive management methodology. Additionally, economic, social, and political priorities can interfere with adaptive management decisions. For this reason, for adaptive management to be successful it must be a social and scientific process, focusing on institutional strategies while implementing experimental management techniques. As it relates to ecosystem management, strategic management encourages

6048-438: The ecosystem and the species. However, simultaneously addressing the habitat requirements of multiple species in an ecosystem can be difficult, and as a result, more comprehensive approaches have been considered in landscape-level conservation. In human-dominated landscapes, weighing the habitat requirements of wild flora and fauna versus the needs of humans presents challenges. Globally, human-induced environmental degradation

6156-448: The ecosystem management concept is based on the relationship between sustainable ecosystem maintenance and human demand for natural resources and other ecosystem services . To achieve these goals, ecosystem managers can be appointed to balance natural resource extraction and conservation over a long-term timeframe. Partnerships between ecosystem managers, natural resource managers, and stakeholders should be encouraged in order to promote

6264-493: The ecosystem's socio-ecological services. Several strategies to implementing the maintenance and restoration of natural and human-modified ecosystem exist. Command and control management and traditional natural resource management are the precursors to ecosystem management. Adaptive management , strategic management, and landscape-level conservation are different methodologies and processes involved in implementing ecosystem management: Command and control management utilizes

6372-445: The eldest son of noted conservationist Aldo Leopold . A respected zoologist, professor of ecology, and assistant to the chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley , Leopold was joined on the board by other prominent scientists and conservationists: Professor Stanley A. Cain of the Department of Conservation at the University of Michigan ; Ira N. Gabrielson, formerly of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and president of

6480-599: The environment. The concept of "wilderness" also took on a new meaning; Leopold no longer saw it as a hunting or recreational ground, but as an arena for a healthy biotic community, including wolves and mountain lions. In 1935, he helped found the Wilderness Society , dedicated to expanding and protecting the nation's wilderness areas. He regarded the society as "one of the focal points of a new attitude—an intelligent humility toward Man's place in nature." Science writer Connie Barlow says Leopold wrote eloquently from

6588-544: The establishment of goals that will sustain an ecosystem while keeping socioeconomic and politically relevant policy drivers in mind. This approach differs from other types of ecosystem management because it emphasizes stakeholders' involvement, relying on their input to develop the best management strategy for an ecosystem. Similar to other methods of ecosystem management, strategic management prioritizes evaluating and reviewing any impacts of management intervention on an ecosystem, and flexibility in adapting management protocols as

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6696-448: The executor of Leopold's literary estate, encourages scholarship on Leopold, and serves as a clearinghouse for information regarding Leopold, his work, and his ideas. It provides interpretive resources and tours for thousands of visitors annually, distributes a curriculum about how to use Leopold's writing and ideas in environmental education. The center maintains a robust website and numerous print resources. In 2012, in collaboration with

6804-608: The field and eventually set to work writing his best-selling A Sand County Almanac (1949) which was finished just prior to his death. Leopold died of a heart attack while battling a wild fire on a neighbor's property. Leopold is buried at Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington. Today, Leopold's home is an official landmark of the city of Madison. Early on, Leopold was assigned to hunt and kill bears, wolves, and mountain lions in New Mexico. Local ranchers hated these predators because of livestock losses, but Leopold came to respect

6912-590: The first Arboretum Committee initiated a research agenda around re-establishing "original Wisconsin" landscape and plant communities, particularly those that predated European settlement, such as tallgrass prairie and oak savanna . Under the Oberlaender Trust of the Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation, Leopold was part of the 1935 group of six U.S. Forest Service associates who toured the forests of Germany and Austria. Leopold

7020-658: The first comprehensive management plan for the Grand Canyon , writing the Forest Service's first game and fish handbook, and proposing Gila Wilderness Area , the first national wilderness area in the Forest Service system. On April 5, 1923, he was elected an associate member (now called "professional member") of the Boone and Crockett Club , a wildlife conservation organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell . In 1924, he accepted transfer to

7128-496: The first concrete plan to manage park visitors and ecosystems under unified principles. It was reprinted in several national publications, and many of its recommendations were incorporated into the official policies of the NPS. Although the report is notable for proposing that park management have a fundamental goal of reflecting "the primitive scene ... a reasonable illusion of primitive America", some have criticized it for its idealism and limited scope. Yellowstone National Park

7236-502: The goals, policies, and methods of managing wildlife in the parks, the report suggested that in addition to protection, wildlife populations should be managed and regulated to prevent habitat degradation. Touching upon predator control, fire ecology , and other issues, the report suggested that the National Park Service (NPS) hire scientists to manage the parks using current scientific research. The Leopold Report became

7344-442: The goals, policies, and outcomes of management. Ecosystem management stakeholders fall into the following groups based on their diverse concerns: The complexity of ecosystem management decisions, ranging from local to international scales, requires the participation of stakeholders with diverse understandings, perceptions, and values of ecosystems and ecosystem services . Due to these complexities, effective ecosystem management

7452-459: The government will do the rest." (p. 243–244) Leopold explained: The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land. This sounds simple: do we not already sing our love for and obligation to the land of the free and the home of the brave? Yes, but just what and whom do we love? Certainly not the soil, which we are sending helter-skelter down river. Certainly not

7560-441: The harm he believed was frequently done to natural systems (such as land) out of a sense of a culture or society's sovereign ownership over the land base – eclipsing any sense of a community of life to which humans belong. He felt the security and prosperity resulting from "mechanization" now gives people the time to reflect on the preciousness of nature and to learn more about what happens there; however, he also wrote, "Theoretically,

7668-493: The headmaster at Lawrenceville that Leopold was "as earnest a boy as we have in school... painstaking in his work.... Moral character above reproach." He arrived at his new school in January 1904, shortly before he turned 17. He was considered an attentive student, although he was again drawn to the outdoors. Lawrenceville was suitably rural, and Leopold spent much time mapping the area and studying its wildlife. Leopold studied at

7776-401: The importance of fire, which had long been suppressed in national parks and other federal lands, the report recommended the use of prescribed fire as a cheap and natural tool for shaping the park environment. Predator control was also reviewed, and deemed unnatural and unpopular. Recreational hunting was strongly opposed, but the report allowed for select members of the public to assist in

7884-418: The inextricable role human-environment interactions play in ecosystems. In sum, ecosystems were increasingly seen as complex systems shaped by non-linear and stochastic processes, and thus, they could not be managed to achieve single, fully predictable outcomes. As a result of these complexities and often unforeseeable feedback from management strategies, DeFries and Nagendra deemed ecosystem management to be

7992-499: The lowland forests of Hawaii, nor will the jack-hammer of the ivory-bill ring in southern swamps. The wolf and grizzly bear cannot readily be reintroduced into ranching communities, and the factor of human use of the parks is subject only to regulation, not elimination. Exotic plants, animals, and diseases are here to stay. All these limitations we fully realize. Yet, if the goal cannot be fully achieved it can be approached. A reasonable illusion of primitive America could be recreated, using

8100-421: The mechanization of farming ought to cut the farmer's chains, but whether it really does is debatable." The book was published in 1949, shortly after Leopold's death. One of the well-known quotes from the book which clarifies his land ethic is, A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community . It is wrong when it tends otherwise. (p.262) The concept of

8208-399: The modification of methods until they successfully meet the needs of the ecosystem. Thus, adaptive management is an iterative approach, encouraging “informed trial-and-error”. This management approach has had mixed success in the field of ecosystem management, fisheries management , wildlife management , and forest management , possibly because ecosystem managers may not be equipped with

8316-414: The most popular passages in the report is from the section "The Goal of Park Management in the United States"; here, the report alludes to recreating an unaltered landscape, a sentiment touching upon a national park ideal: "As a primary goal, we would recommend that the biotic associations within each park be maintained, or where necessary recreated, as nearly as possible in the condition that prevailed when

8424-479: The needs of people and environmental values in such a way that the National Forests and Grasslands represent diverse, healthy, productive and sustainable ecosystems.” A variety of additional definitions of ecosystem management exist. For example, Robert T. Lackey emphasizes that ecosystem management is informed by ecological and social factors, is motivated by societal benefits, and is implemented over

8532-406: The park began performing trial controlled burns, which led to a 1968 policy championing the continuation of burns for the betterment of the park's forest ecosystems. Fire ecologist Bruce Kilgore credited the Leopold Report as being a true catalyst for change, stating that it was the "document of greatest significance to National Park Service [fire] policy". Although the Robbins Report did not receive

8640-400: The power "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." The NPS was tasked with both preservation and tourism, two divergent goals that would prove divisive during the resurgence of the conservation movement in

8748-416: The report directly referred to as a "dog-hair thicket ... a direct function of overprotection from natural ground fires". This underbrush would have been naturally eradicated by lightning storms, but because of policies that supported wildfire suppression , the growth threatened the park's Giant Sequoia trees. As a direct result of the report's advice regarding the usefulness of controlled burning, in 1964

8856-570: The report proved influential for future preservation mandates. After several years of public controversy regarding the forced reduction of the elk population in Yellowstone National Park , Udall appointed an advisory board to collect scientific data to inform future wildlife management of the national parks. The committee observed that culling programs at other national parks had been ineffective, and recommended different management of Yellowstone's elk population. In addressing

8964-475: The return of bears and mountain lions to New Mexico wilderness areas. By the early 1920s, Leopold had concluded that a particular kind of preservation should be embraced in the national forests of the American West. He was prompted to this by the rampant building of roads to accommodate the "proliferation of the automobile" and the related increasingly heavy recreational demands placed on public lands. He

9072-524: The river, or going across the river into the woods." He attended Prospect Hill Elementary, where he ranked at the top of his class, and then, the overcrowded Burlington High School. Every August, the family vacationed in Michigan on the forested Marquette Island in Lake Huron , which the children took to exploring. In 1900, Gifford Pinchot , who oversaw the newly implemented Division of Forestry in

9180-474: The same recognition as the Leopold Report, it reached similar conclusions. However, unlike the Leopold Report, the Robbins Report criticized the NPS for its lack of scientific research and made recommendations for sweeping changes in the structure of the NPS, with a proposal for a strong focus on a science-based approach. In 1972, the far more detailed Cain Report was released; amounting to 207 pages in comparison to

9288-402: The societal demand for a given resource without causing harm to the ecosystem, or jeopardizing the future of the resource. Due to its focus on natural resources, socioeconomic factors significantly affect this management approach. Natural resource managers initially measure the overall condition of an ecosystem, and if the ecosystem's resources are healthy, the ideal degree of resource extraction

9396-575: The sustainable use of limited natural resources. Historically, some ecosystems have experienced limited resource extraction and have been able to subsist naturally. Other ecosystems, such as forests , which in many regions provide considerable timber resources, have undergone successful reforestation and consequently, have accommodated the needs of future generations. As human populations grow, introducing new stressors to ecosystems, such as climate change , invasive species , land-use change , and habitat fragmentation , future demand for natural resources

9504-484: The usage of poisons such as strychnine and sodium cyanide for predator control. The report's visionary goal for preservation has been both lauded and criticized. Author of the book Searching for Yellowstone: Ecology and Wonder in the Last Wilderness , Paul Schullery, wrote of the report: "Scholars return to it for new interpretations and even inspiration regularly, speakers invoke it on all occasions, and it

9612-453: The utmost in skill, judgment, and ecologic sensitivity. This in our opinion should be the objective of every national park and monument. Most importantly, the Leopold Report emphasized the need for scientific research and ecological management expertise in the national parks. Acknowledging the harm caused to nature by humans, the advisory board asked for the implementation of "a set of ecologic skills unknown in this country today". A call to arms

9720-512: The waters, which we assume have no function except to turn turbines, float barges, and carry off sewage. Certainly not the plants, of which we exterminate whole communities without batting an eye. Certainly not the animals, of which we have already extirpated many of the largest and most beautiful species. A land ethic of course cannot prevent the alteration, management, and use of these 'resources,' but it does affirm their right to continued existence, and, at least in spots, their continued existence in

9828-406: Was a German immigrant, educated in engineering and architecture. Rand Aldo was named after two of his father's business partners—C. W. Rand and Aldo Sommers—although he eventually dropped the use of "Rand". The Leopold family included younger siblings Mary Luize, Carl Starker, and Frederic. Leopold's first language was German, although he mastered English at an early age. Aldo Leopold's early life

9936-486: Was a plant physiologist, who taught at Purdue University for 25 years; and daughter Estella Leopold (1927–2024) was a noted botanist and conservationist and professor emerita at the University of Washington. Leopold purchased 80 acres in the sand country of central Wisconsin. The once-forested region had been logged, swept by repeated fires, overgrazed by dairy cows, and left barren. He put his theories to work in

10044-406: Was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac (1949), which has been translated into fourteen languages and has sold more than two million copies. Leopold was influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation. His ethics of nature and wildlife preservation had a profound impact on

10152-465: Was concern that the Helge å, a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance , faced an imminent tipping point. In 1989, led by a municipal organization, a collaborative management strategy was adopted, involving diverse stakeholders concerned with the ecological, social, and economic facets of the ecosystem. The Kristianstads Vattenrike Biosphere Reserve was established in 2005 to promote the preservation of

10260-404: Was concerned about sustaining their livelihoods, while the latter was concerned about the environmental impacts of livestock grazing. The groups found common ground around conserving and restoring rangeland, and diverse stakeholders, including ranchers, environmental groups, scientists, and government agencies, were engaged in management discussions. In 1994, the rancher-led Malpai Borderlands Group

10368-456: Was created to collaboratively pursue the goals of ecosystem protection, management, and restoration. Helge å River & Kristianstads Vattenrike Biosphere Reserve: In the 1980s, local government agencies and environmental groups noted declines in the health of the Helge å River ecosystem, including eutrophication, bird population declines, and deterioration of flooded meadows areas. There

10476-474: Was deemed a "crisis in public relations", Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall assembled the Special Advisory Board on Wildlife Management in 1962 to conduct thorough studies to be conducted on its science and resource management. The purpose of the board was to collect scientific data and investigate the necessity of wildlife population control. Chairing the board was A. Starker Leopold ,

10584-478: Was established by the United States Congress on March 1, 1872, as the first U.S. national park , and quickly became a popular tourist destination. At first, national parks were overseen by a variety of agencies and lacked bureaucratic support. In 1916, more than four decades after Yellowstone's founding, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill creating the National Park Service (NPS), giving it

10692-800: Was greatly influenced by ecologists who themselves gleaned ideas from Malthusian models of human society, and himself often thought of human events—especially the Great Depression and World War II—in terms of the models of population and consumption that he was developing for animals. Leopold's nature writing is notable for its simple directness. His portrayals of various natural environments through which he had moved, or had known for many years, displayed impressive intimacy with what exists and happens in nature. This includes detailed diaries and journals of his Forest Service activity, hunting and field experience, as well as observations and activities at his Sand County farm. He offered frank criticism of

10800-409: Was highlighted by the outdoors. Carl would take his children on excursions into the woods and taught his oldest son woodcraft and hunting. Aldo showed an aptitude for observation, spending hours counting and cataloging birds near his home. Mary would later say of her older brother, "He was very much an outdoorsman, even in his extreme youth. He was always out climbing around the bluffs, or going down to

10908-538: Was invited specifically to study game management, and this was his first and only time abroad. His European observations would have a significant impact on his ecological thinking, leading him to view the German policies in favor of blocks of monoculture trees in straight lines as a cautionary tale leading to soil degradation and an overall loss of biodiversity. Leopold married Estella Bergere in northern New Mexico in 1912 and they had five children together. They lived in

11016-551: Was named after him in 1980. The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture was established in 1987 at Iowa State University in Ames. It was named in honor of Leopold. Since its founding, it has pioneered new forms of sustainable agriculture practices. The U.S. Forest Service established the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute at the University of Montana, Missoula in 1993. It

11124-423: Was raised for exploring new methods of active protection and restoration of plant and animal life in the national parks: "Americans have shown a great capacity for degrading and fragmenting native biotas. So far we have not exercised much imagination or ingenuity in rebuilding damaged biotas. It will not be done by passive protection alone." The report was first presented on March 4, 1963, and originally published in

11232-490: Was reconstituted in part as a permanent Natural Sciences Advisory Board to the NPS. In 1964, Wirth's successor, George B. Hartzog Jr. , established the Division of Natural Science Studies, naming biologist George Sprugel Jr. the Service's chief scientist. The memorable idea of a "vignette of primitive America" drew popular attention from readers and the report received widespread publicity and praise amongst conservationists. It

11340-401: Was released on August 1, 1963, five months after the Leopold Report. The report began by arguing that not only was it necessary to control the elk population in Yellowstone National Park, but direct reduction of elk was presented as the most suitable option. According to scientific findings, reduction programs at other national parks had not been implemented on a large enough scale; as a result,

11448-491: Was reprinted in several national publications and was also noted in the Sierra Club Bulletin . Leopold often said that had he known the report would be widely read and dissected, he probably would have written it more carefully. The Leopold Report was the first concrete plan for managing park visitors and ecosystems under unified principles. With an infusion of scientists and resource programs, it set into motion

11556-425: Was shaped by that global cataclysm. In "The Land Ethic ", a chapter in A Sand County Almanac , Leopold delves into conservation in "The Ecological Conscience" section. He wrote: "Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land." He noted that conservation guidelines at the time boiled down to: "obey the law, vote right, join some organizations, and practice what conservation is profitable on your own land;

11664-482: Was the first to employ the term "wilderness" to describe such preservation. Over the next two decades, he added ethical and scientific rationales to his defense of the wilderness concept. Leopold believed that it is easier to maintain wilderness than to create it. In one essay, he rhetorically asked, "Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" Leopold saw a progress of ethical sensitivity from interpersonal relationships, to relationships to society as

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