Madison Reads Leopold, 2014

Visit the UW Arboretum for a special (9th annual) reading from Aldo Leopold’s seminal treatise on life in the natural world and conservation ethos, A Sand County Almanac, among other essays and inspired performances, Saturday, March 1 (beginning at 9:30 AM).

Consult the site for a complete schedule of essay selections and featured speakers from campus and community.   The "Madison Reads Leopold" events are free and open to the public.  The Arboretum Visitor Center is located at 1207 Seminole Highway.

For general information about this and other events, phone the UW-Arboretum Visitor Information Desk (608-263-7888) or visit its Website.

For related interest and inspiration, do review photos and text from the digitized Aldo Leopold Archives (UW Digital Collections)!

Madison Reads Leopold (March 2)

Visit the UW Arboretum for a special public reading from Aldo Leopold’s seminal treatise on life in the natural world and conservation ethos, A Sand County Almanac, among other essays, Saturday, March 2 (beginning at 9:30 AM).

Scheduled readers include Madelyn Leopold, Scott Craven, Ron Seeley, Marie McCabe, and Stuart Levitan, among other students, naturalists and leaders from community organizations.

The "Madison Reads Leopold" events are free and open to the public.  Beginning at 1:00 PM, singer-songwriter, Tim Southwick Johnson will perform a special musical interlude of compositions inspired by Leopold.

The Arboretum Visitor Center is located at 1207 Seminole Highway.

For more information about these events, phone the UW-Arboretum Visitor Information Desk (608-263-7888) or visit the Website.

View the campus press release.

For related interest and inspiration, do review photos and text from the digitized Aldo Leopold Archives!

First Robin of Spring?

In the depths of winter, many of us will eagerly seek any indication that spring will arrive, to note the promise of seasonal change.  Others will record that change systematically to inform our understanding of this planet and its climate.  And, while my grandmother once maintained an annual desk diary of her observations, and would solicit my own, our online networks facilitate greater collaboration, locally and nationally. 

Discover your inner phenologist with the following sites.  Find inspiration from the Arboretum’s Naturalist’s Notes and the Cooperative Extension’s Wildlife Phenology Calendar (available from the Learning Store).

And, do consult with your Steenbock librarians for assistance using the library catalog to find books and more from our collections. 

Project Budburst

USA National Phenology Network

Wisconsin Phenological Society

Green Fire and Panel Discussion (Dec 5)

Save the date to attend a special screening of Green Fire, a feature-length documentary film about the life and legacy of Aldo Leopold. The film is narrated by Curt Meine, Nelson Institute alumnus and Leopold Scholar.  Following the screening, there will be a panel discussion moderated by Dick Cates, CIAS. Scheduled panelists include:

• Paul Johnson, past chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Curt Meine, Aldo Leopold Biographer and Scholar
• Stanley Temple, Emeritus Leopold Chair in Wildlife Ecology
• Joy Zedler, Professor of Botany and Aldo Leopold Chair in Restoration Ecology
• Michael Bell, CIAS Director 

What:  Green Fire, Agriculture and the Land Ethic: Leopold’s Legacy, Screening and Panel Discussion 

When:  Wednesday, December 5, 2012 (7:00 PM) 

Where:  Biochemistry, Room 1125 (420 Henry Mall)

This event, a CIAS Culture of Agriculture event, is free and open to the public. 

"We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes – something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."

--Aldo Leopold, "Thinking Like a Mountain," Sand County Almanac with Essays on Conservation from Round River

Of related interest do consult the Aldo Leopold Archives, UW Digital Collections.

Print an event poster. (PDF)

Madison Reads Leopold, March 3

Come visit the UW Arboretum for a special public reading from Aldo Leopold’s seminal treatise on life in the natural world and conservation ethos, A Sand County Almanac, Saturday, March 3 (beginning at 9:30 AM).

Scheduled readers include Kevin McSweeney (Director of the Arboretum), Madelyn Leopold, Ray Guries, Ron Seeley, Marie McCabe, and Chuck Quirmbach, among other students, naturalists and leaders from community organizations.

The "Madison Reads Leopold" events are free and open to the public with light refreshments to be served in the visitor center lobby.

The Arboretum Visitor Center is located at 1207 Seminole Highway.

On Sunday, the Arboretum will host a "Walk with Leopold" tour beginning at 1:00 PM.

For more information about these events, phone the UW-Arboretum Visitor Information Desk (608-263-7888) or visit the Website.

View the campus press release.

Green Fire, Madison Premiere (March 4, 6)

Mark your calendar for a screening of Green Fire, a feature-length documentary film about the life and legacy of Aldo Leopold. The film is narrated by Curt Meine, Nelson Institute alumnus and Leopold Scholar. Madison screenings will be hosted by two locations detailed below, the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (March 4) and the Barrymore Theatre (March 6).

New! The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery has been sold out, but tickets remain for the Barrymore Theatre.

Date: Friday, March 4, 2011
Time: 7:00 PM, (Reception to follow screening)
Location: Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, Town Center (1300 University Avenue)

Date: Sunday, March 6, 2011
Time: 7:00 PM, (Reception to follow screening)
Location: Barrymore Theatre (2090 Atwood Avenue)
Tickets: Available through Barrymore Theatre, $8 advance ; $10 at the door

The Madison premiere screenings are sponsored by the following:
Barrymore Theatre
Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, UW-Madison
Steenbock's on Orchard
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
First Business Bank
Foley and Lardner, LLP
Dane County Pheasants Forever
Gathering Waters Conservancy
The Prairie Enthusiasts
University of Wisconsin Arboretum
Wegner LLP

Arboretum Celebrates 75 Years!

Seventy-five years ago, Aldo Leopold, John Curtis, Norman Fassett and students reclaimed a piece of Wisconsin’s ecological heritage and sparked a movement. With support from the university, Madison community and Civilian Conservation Corps workers, they re-seeded a prairie--documenting their efforts in what would become a "recipe" for ecological restoration efforts, locally and nationally.

Today, the 1,200-acre Arboretum showcases a variety of restored Wisconsin landscapes, but, the centerpiece for many remains the 72-acre Curtis Prairie.

On Sunday, June 21, the Arboretum celebrates its birthday with naturalist-led walks, cake, and punch at its Visitor Center (1207 Seminole Highway). All events are free and open to the public. For more information, see the Arboretum events calendar.

Digital Leopold

UW Digital Collections is pleased to announce that diaries and journals from the Aldo Leopold collections are now available online.

The project to digitize the University Archives’ complete collection of Leopold materials is being done through a grant awarded to the Aldo Leopold Foundation by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

The diaries and journals consist of US Forest Service diaries and miscellany from 1899-1927, hunting journals from 1917-1945, and shack journals from 1935-1948. Browse this collection.

Other pieces of the Leopold collection will be coming online during 2008, with the next installment anticipated to be Leopold’s correspondence—mostly during his UW years from 1933-1948.

Finding Aid to the Aldo Leopold Papers

Madison Reads Leopold

In order to celebrate Aldo Leopold’s profound and seminal contribution to our contemporary conservation ethos, the public is invited to the Arboretum Visitor Center for a reading of selections from A Sand County Almanac and other works, Saturday, March 1 (9:00 AM – 12:30 PM). Scheduled readers include Madelyn Leopold (granddaughter of Aldo Leopold), Ron Seely from the Wisconsin State Journal, Linda Brazill from the Capital Times, and Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz.

Following the readings, participants can muse upon Leopold’s vision with guided walking tours of the Arboretum. Tours begin at 1:15 PM.

The Madison Reads Leopold events are free and open to the public.
The Arboretum Visitor Center is located at 1207 Seminole Highway.

The following day, March 2, whet your appetite with a pancake breakfast at the Riley Tavern and more Leopold with a discussion and presentation by Professor Emeritus, Stanley Temple. His presentation will speak to Leopold’s conservation work and its influence upon private land use and restoration efforts in the Riley area.

The pancake breakfast is slated from 9:00 AM until noon. The Riley Reads Leopold event will be held from 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM in the Riley Tavern Annex, 8205 Klevenville Riley Road (Verona).

Other Leopold Weekend events: http://aldoleopold.org/Weekend/weekend.htm