Leopold Heritage Group

Bird expert and poet Drew Lanham on how he's inspired by the natural world Drew Lanham refers to himself as a ‘rare bird.’ The ornithologist, naturalist and writer says he believes conservation efforts must be a blending of rigorous science and evocative art. Lanham is among the new class of MacArthur Fellows, an honor often called ‘The Genius Award.’ Jeffrey Brown...

Species Field Guide - International Crane Foundation Crane conservation remains a daunting challenge. Cranes are among the most endangered families of birds in the world, with eleven of the fifteen species threatened with extinction. Despite threats from rapid… Continue reading Species Field Guide

An interesting article. Enjoy.

Trophy hunters, you’re wrong. Dead wrong. Trophy hunting hurts, not helps, conservation.

Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area Act Signed Into Law Washington, DC (January 6, 2023) --The Senate passed the Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Act with unanimous consent, sending the bill to the President’s desk yesterday. The legislation, introduced by Sen. Kaine and the late Rep. McEachin, is a bipartisan bill directing the Secretary of the In...

Half-Earth Scholar Ricardo Guta (1991-2022) passes in accident during field research - Half-Earth Project The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation mourns the loss of Ricardo Guta (1991 – 2022) who passed away in December.  Ricardo, a native Mozambican, was named the inaugural “Half-Earth Scholar” in 2020 by the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, and was a recent M.Sc. graduate in Conservation Bi...

It's Friday the 13th, so let's talk about Thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus)! These tiny rodents are true hibernators. Right now, they are in underground burrows in torpor, a physical state of extreme sluggishness where their heart rate, breathing, and metabolism slow significantly to conserve energy. Every ten or so days, Thirteen-lined ground squirrels will wake up to eat stored food before going back into torpor.

What strategies do you have for getting through the cold winter?

Removal of s-slur caps a big year for addressing racist place names. What’s next? Removing the s-slur from public lands is a great first step towards ensuring the outdoors represent—and welcome—all of us. What's next?

Some of us may want to tune into this event. More info later or check the ALF page directly.

Mark your calendars: Leopold Week is scheduled for March 3-12, 2023!

Leopold Week 2023 is centered around nurturing reciprocity with nature and will highlight contemporary voices that continue to encourage a land ethic! And we are thrilled to share that Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing, and Scott Russell Sanders, author of The Way of Imagination: Essays, are among the event's featured speakers! Watch this space for more details coming soon.

“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”
―Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

Art by Rick Frausto 🙏🌟

www.rickfrausto.com

Thank you both for your support of ALF and the Shack. If you ever wander south to Aldo's hometown, Burlington, Iowa, please contact me to arrange a tour of his historic homes.

"When Mara and I were discussing our estate planning, we recognized that we could have a lasting influence by supporting the Aldo Leopold Foundation and, by extension, the idea of the Land Ethic. We are delighted to support this mission."

Welcome the newest members of the Good Oak Society, Mara and Marc Seals, by reading this article written by Marc!
https://www.aldoleopold.org/post/good-oak-eloquence/

This article first appeared in The New Territory's Literary Landscapes.

If you see this don't take it! And, also, don't kill their mother...🙏
Those are octopus eggs 🐙 The mother who laid them is underneath, keeping watch, and doesn't move from there even to forage for food. Somehow she's incubating them and they wouldn't survive without her.
Let's take care of nature this summer, we can still have fun and be responsible🙏

Read more: http://bit.ly/3W7YQCS

Love James Lee Burke. He always nails it.

James Lee Burke’s Bayou Baptism Fishing for answers in ancient Louisiana waters

As thousands of sandhill cranes return to Southern Arizona, officials set up livestreaming cameras Want to see thousands of sandhill cranes wheel above Whitewater Draw, but don't want to wake at dawn on a cold morning to spot them? There are now cameras to view the 20,000 birds as they winter in Cochise County.

New map restores Native names to northern Minnesota The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and the Ely Folk School have teamed up on a new map that restores more than 100 Ojibwe names to lakes, rivers and other significant places in northern Minnesota.

Sweet pic.

"The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, but He is no longer the only one to do so. When some remote ancestor of ours invented the shovel, he became a giver: he could plant a tree. And when the axe was invented, he became a taker: he could chop it down. Whoever owns land has thus assumed, whether he knows it or not, the divine functions of creating and destroying plants." —Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Pictured: Estella Jr. with squirrel and shovel

Beautiful.

- 2021 Audubon Photography Awards: Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) with C**t in Florida, USA.
- Photo Courtesh of Robin Ulery.👍👍

Each November and December, the Sandhill Cranes staging in the Wisconsin River behind the Shack is always an incredible spectacle worth witnessing. This year, though, when you join us in the crane blind, thanks to Vortex Optics, we’ll have world-class spotting scopes and binoculars that’ll make you feel even closer to the cranes than ever before. We thank Vortex for enhancing this experience for all those who cannot live without wild things.

Photo taken by Kei Kohmoto.

Check availability and reserve your spot 🔽
http://ow.ly/ryEk50LosKb