The wealth of the Shack was the land itself and the relationships between the people on it. The site became the family's longest lived "project" -- one of the nation's first experiments in land restoration (only slightly proceeded by the restoration project at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum, of which Leopold and his family were a part). On its "corned-out," devastated acres, the Leopolds set to work planting tens of thousands of native trees, bushes, and prairie plants each spring and summer, in an attempt to bring those 40 acres into a state of harmony, with samples of their presettlement vegetation.
Thirty years later, a family friend, not knowing the land's history, saw the results: "It was Dorothy's first visit to the storied 'Shack.' As she looked across the prairie meadow and over the marshes to the vistas of hills and woods, she exclaimed at the happy fortune which had led the Leopolds to find 'such an UNMOLESTED corner of natural beauty!' It is hard not to feel that way now, even if one does know the facts .... Now the deer trails through the pines, the sweet fern on the sand-blows, the tamarack bogs, the meadows and openings are all blending together so naturally that it is hard to realize how much long-range forethought and what carefully integrated planning has been carried through here."
This is quite an example to leave us of what one person, one family can accomplish. I like ending at this point, looking at a family's contribution, because one of the things that I believe is that if we could truly begin to look at all members of the land community with respect and love, and start taking an active role in living this out, we will see our interpersonal relationships improve on the family level, the community level, the species level. As Leopold say, "To change ideas about what the land is for is to change ideas about what anything is for.'
Presently I'm president of a group called the Western Wisconsin Prairie Project (WWPP) and we are a citizen's group working to support a DNR proposal to permanently protect and restore 20,000 acres of native prairie, oak savanna and other grasslands within our two counties along the St. Croix River. Our motto, which I took from Leopold's philosophies, is "We can take the remnants and rebuild a community." Not everyone can own forty acres, but we can all have communal ownership of public lands. I would like to see Americans in the next millennium rethink what that means -- and redefine it in a way that means active responsibility -- actually taking part in the management work and scientific study. The WWPP is asking the DNR to build into the project a citizen's advisory council, and we want to use this council to encourage families, faith groups, youth groups, and civic groups to "Adopt-a-prairie" -- to help with the planting, brush cutting, nonnative weeding, burning, seed collecting, species censuses, scientific studies, etc. so that someday we can all come back and say to our grandchildren, "we helped build this prairie."
As Leopold noted, we shall not come to know, or love, or read the land unless we interact with it, and I believe that act of doing this as a family and as a community will draw us together, strengthening our biotic community on many levels. Leopold observed: "A society rooted in the soil is more stable than one rooted in pavements." And is, I think, happier. As Leopold told his students, "Once you learn to read the land, I have no fear what you will do to it, or with it, and I know many pleasant things it will do to you."
Great job, Marybeth, an it was fun; I've learned a lot and you have made for a very interesting interview. I would suggest that your book is tops for anybody who wants a quick but hard hitting look at Aldo Leopold. Thanks again!
