Show Another look at Aldo Leopold By Allen W Stokes A Sand “Aldo Leopold — The Mu and Hla Legacy” Is a series of essays by diwinguishfd persona In the field of conservation — some in government otters in academia — about the impact that Leopoldhas had upon how we view mu's treatment of the land In addition the recollections by his children County ALMANAC i i) illy skri i in v nmi: im u 7 at K- ALDO LEOPOLD into the nature of the Man All originally part of a symposium held at Iowa State University in celebration of the centennial of Leopold’s birth of the environmental Disciples movement have long held Aldo Leopold in highest esteem Leopold begu forester in the Southwest went to become tin father of wildlife management witt Ms classic book “Game Management” vu the first to re- u cognise that doe hunting was a necessary tool to keep deer range in food condition and successfully promoted the concept of wilderness However Ms:: greatest ‘contribution was a witisl in behalf of a land ethic His book (ASud County Almanac” appeared in 1141 At firstlt drew little attention Butwtth the blossoming of the environmental movement in the 1I7W it hU become the envlronmen-tatistsand has sold close to 2 minion copies: This tittle book is a eoDeetlou of essays In which Leopold mu’s rda espressos his views A -- u 1 u tionddn to the land The final essay “The Land Ethic “ puts forth his conviction that man must be a part of the land rather thu hold dominion over the land While others had held a somewhat similar philosophy they did so from a religious basis Leopold wu the first to see the scientific reasons ealUsg for a land ethic For whenever mu meddles with' the environment there may prove to be farmcMug and unforeseen consepace of burnquences The stepped-uing fossil fuels ana its release of earbon e dioxide into the atmosphere may sinister rises in the earth's temthe release of and perature fluorocarbons may be producing ominous reductions in the protective ozone layer in the atmosphere p pro-due- 'V By loan Hanover i- i - - NEW YORE (UPI) — Gore Vidal never intended to thnoukle the history of the United States — but he is doing Just that in a series of popular novels “As I am not a historian I shouldn't be doing this” Vidal said In interview “If we had a proper educational system I wouldn't ha veto do this” u The in Vidal’s historical senes is “Empire” which proceeds from war to 190S lilt and the end of the with Theodor! Boosenut in the White House and WPim Randolpb Hearst defeated in the New York gubdnaatorial ficaandretiriag forever from active latest-volum- an Spantsh-Amerie- oHtW v the great popularity of the books meant there was a real hunger out there for American history and people werenh getting it in school and they werenH getting it from anybody else9 ‘I realized Gore Vidal - - r 'fNashington DC'" he Mid dgve ever eome to writing senator in it is somewhat Gore (Sen Thomas P a house in Virginia like where I spent the first u how thinking about where his they begu and became Gores and Vidals and and wrote 'Burr' history It took as about the ancestors id 'heghmlng Amerlcu DC’” u in Amerlcu al stride and went Bprruptton “Lincoln" as a were Mar going to todld not convince the rid network to go ahead with the project "They didn’t want any Amerlcu history it seemed’’ Vidal said Instead at the urging of Jason Epstein editorial director at Random House he added “Lincoln" to Ms Amerlcu chronicle Vidal said NBC is again Interested in “Lincoln'' “They are supposed to start shooting a four-hominlseries in September” he said “I love the idea Four hours for Abraham Lincoln and I think 20 hours for Miss (Judith) Krants's book about a cosmetidu's fight to victory over insuperable odds” It was with "Lincoln” that he finally realised what a lot of other people already knew — that he wu writing a series of historical novels chronicling the Amerlcu political experience He wrote “Empire’' to show how the Amerlcu empire begu — “carefully designed by the rogue aristo William Randolph Hearst and the tour standard aristo oligarchs Theodore Roosevelt Brooks Adams Captain Mahan and Henry Cabot Lodge” Adams wu a descendant of the John and John Quincy Adams family and Capt AT Mahan was a ur Mm ’ ' Edttor'i note: Local conaarvaflonW AlSon Stalm no on win aiico nw mo ciom onocionon wini Aldo Leopold — ht a gradnata tawdint and teas hf$ secretary for four years is latest novel in Vidal’s historical series ’ 'i7:- At the heart of his land ethic is his d statement “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the Integrity stability and beauty of the Mode community It is wrong when it tends otherwise? While not a church-goe-r himself Leopold recognised that for a land ethle to be widely accepted it needed to be preached from the pulpit At the time of bis death Leopold saw few signs that religious leaders were adequately prepared or of a mind to assume tills broader view of ethics Now however there are whole conferences attended by hundreds of religious leaders and philosophers addressing this matter “Aldo Leopold — The Mu and His Legacy” makes good reading and does not require a scientific knowledge However reading tide book without first delving into “A Sand County Almanac” would oe like reading a commentary on the Bible without ever having read that book Cheer up Logu library has both these books They make good summer reading “Aldo Leopold — The Mu and His Legacy” is a gift to Logu Library from Bndgerland Audubon Society — part of its ongoing practice of contributing outstanding books on the environment and natural history often-quote- ' V fimir hi JJU'U!1 leading exponent of Amerlcu sea power as was Lodge All three were powerful Republicu exponents of Amerlcu expansion The Spanlsh-AmeriWu gave the United States holdings in the Caribbeu (Cuba) and the Pacific (the Philippines) Vidal said and put America in position for possible expansion of its empire into Cum and Siberia “It wu carefully calculated beautifully executed and we havent set a foot right since except for the Second World Wu where we had a lot of good luck having Franklin Roosevelt and suddenly tor no good reason we had some good generals We got it together Since 1IM it hu been ail down MIL I thought it wu nice to remind everyone of our zenith when we actually had intelligent mu in the White House Did you know Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson irere the last two presidents who wrote their own speeches and state papers? “Thu came Harding and from mat time we have had nothing but fc mediocrity — sometimes charmtogme Jack Kennedy and sometimes mad like eu u Nixon" “Empire" offers fatHgHwg inih into pdWMi thought at the top during the turmng of the century and provides some fascinating personal portraits There's Theodore Roosevelt pacing rapidly around the rout in circles clacking Ms teeth like castenets Most unforgettable is Ida McKinley the epileptic first lady always seated next to her husband at state dinners When she begu to have a seizure Vidal wrote President McKinley without breaking l stride would dupe a large over her head As she recovered he would remove the napkin again without pausing in Ms talk eonver-utiona- u Vidal currently is working his book tentatively titled "Harding" '"B'S “I J t ww Mt historical |