With many thanks to the VT Land Ethic Partnership for funding this program and to the Echo Lake Protective Association for additional support, the Education department constructed three Leopold benches with a total of 16 students between two afterschool programs. Each bench was placed in a different publicly accessible location between the Brighton and Charleston communities bearing the timeless and wise words of Aldo Leopold.
NorthWoods’ instructors Caleb and Wyatt each led an after school group through a six week program delving into the thoughts and ideas of a pioneer of environmental thought, Aldo Leopold. With students from Brighton and Charleston School we discussed land ethic, the consequences of unchecked human impact on nature and the lasting influence of Leopold’s warnings written into current legislation that protects wild areas in the U.S. today.
Students were able to look past the complex style of writing in A Sand County Almanac and ultimately understand the land ethic in Leopold’s prose. As we climbed through the forest by Echo Lake one day in East Charleston, it was hard to imagine a denuded lake shore before land ethic became popular. Despite our stumped imagination, it was clear to the group that taking from the land without restriction or giving back is not sustainable and therefore destructive to all living things.
The culmination of this program highlights the impermanence of nature and especially humans in true Leopold fashion: a Leopold style bench. This unfinished furnishing is simple by design, for minimal impact and easy replication once the first bench has decomposed, recycling nutrients into the soil. The group from Charleston settled on this quote from Leopold, written in the foreword of A Sand County Almanac,
“When we see the land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
They burned these words on the backrest, provoking thought in anybody about to take a load off. Thanks again to the VT Land Ethic Partnership for their financial support. Follow the link to learn more about the VT Land Ethic Partnership and Aldo Leopold’s legacy in land ethic.
