#15 - The Land Ethic

A Land Ethic, " Enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land".  Before I read this excerpt the idea of a land ethic to me was one of sustainable practices. However, after reading this excerpt I realized my idea of what a land ethic really is, was a little bit off. In my previous idea of a land ethic I did not take into account the entire scope of what a land ethic really was. I was under the impression that if we recycle and not pollute the water and air then we had a good land ethic.  After reading this excerpt and referring to the definition of a land ethic I realize that a good land ethic encompasses all aspects of the land such as, soils, waters, plants, and animals. So by just recycling and not polluting we are only partially meeting the requirements of a good land ethic. It takes conservation to have good land ethic not just sustainable practices.  In the excerpt "Land Ethic" Aldo Leopold states that, "Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land." I take this sentence to mean that true conservation of the land only comes when man utilizes the land without changing it to a point that negatively effects soils, waters, plants, and animals. While the idea of a good land ethic sounds wonderful on paper,  it is much harder to implement it than talk about it. Man has always been a selfish species that looks at our needs before considering the effects our solutions may have. While I do not believe that nature should have priority of the needs of human beings, I do believe that we can do a much better job at preserving nature while meeting our needs and this to me is what a good land ethic is.