Leoplold's article picks up where Gifford Pinchot's idea of conservation left off and explores the ethics that surround it. His view is that preservation of the ecosystem requires people to be stewards rather than owners. Ecological ethics he writes have not yet been considered when dealing with ecological resources "Individual thinkers since the days of Ezekiel and Isaiah have asserted that the despoliation of land is not only expedient but wrong. Society however, has not yet affirmed their belief. I regard the present conservation movement as the embryo of such affirmation." He also states that conservation does have good intentions but are futile because of the lack of understanding of the implications that would effect such a dynamic living system. In philosophical terms he produces the problems and perhaps a step in the right direction with peoples involvement in the ecological ethics. "the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts. His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in that community, but his ethics prompt him also to cooperate (perhaps in order that there may be a place to compete for)."
Society as a whole has lost appreciation for the free energy that fuels its progress. Perhaps with the convenience of having a plentiful cash crop of materials for so long that people have lost the idea that "it is better to give than to receive" because this ideal falls short when it comes to the environmental use.
Citations:
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
Picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sand_County_Almanac
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