Aldo Leopold: A Retrospective
By richard D. Taber, ph.D.
Aldo Leopold was born toward the end of a century during which the United States had expanded enormously westward. American
settlers swarmed over the land. Among them was
Carl Leopold, a barbed wire salesman, a native of
Germany, and the future father of Aldo Leopold.
Richard D. Taber,
Ph.D., is Professor
Emeritus of Forest
Resources at the
University of
Washington and an
Adjunct Professor
at the University of
Montana.
Credit: Herbert maier
An enthusiastic hunter and outdoorsman, Carl
became a successful businessman, eventually settling in Burlington, Iowa. Wanting his son to have a
gentleman’s education, he sent Aldo to prep school
in the East and then on to Yale. Aldo wrote home
regularly, describing the pleasures of his frequent
excursions out of the classroom to enjoy the world
of nature.
Leopold felt that human predation of wildlife—
predators as well as game—would lead to control
through regulations and enforcement. It would
also benefit national forests by keeping deer
populations in check. In the southwest, however,
regulations were few and poorly enforced. Educated sportsmen, including Leopold, felt that if
state regulations could be clarified and enforced,
more progress could be made in game restoration
and protection. Young Aldo was well-suited to help
push for such reform.
At Yale Leopold became interested in the relatively
new field of forestry. Yale had just established a
Forestry School, and Aldo was in the second graduating class, in 1909. After graduation he became an
enthusiastic, though inexperienced, young officer in
the U.S. Forest Service.
Finding His Voice
If Aldo lacked anything in his education, it was rap-
port with the average run of Americans, particularly
on the Western frontier. When he was assigned, in
1909, to lead a crew of timber cruisers in the most
untamed part of the frontier—the southwestern
mountains—Leopold had to deal with less-educated
but more-experienced outdoorsmen. Out of his social
depth, he was reassigned to the Carson National For-
est in New Mexico, where he soon found his voice.
Always an avid writer, Aldo began to write for his
district’s newsletter, The Pine Cone, which promoted
“the protection and enjoyment of wild things.”
To better understand the issues, he gathered and re-
corded information on the history and status of game
populations in local national forests—studying what
game was there, how it was faring, and how its wel-
fare might be improved. His efforts resulted in the
“Game and Fish Handbook” for forest officers pub-
lished in 1915, just five years into Leopold’s career.
In it he wrote: “North America, in its natural state,
possessed the richest fauna in the world. Its stock of
game has been reduced 98 percent. Eleven species
have already been exterminated, and twenty-five
more are candidates for oblivion. Nature was a mil-
lion years, or more, in developing a species… Man,
with all his wisdom, has not evolved so much as a
ground squirrel, a sparrow, or a clam.”
Publication of this handbook was well received, both
within the Forest Service and the conservation-minded
public. Though the Forest Service originally had a
strong utilitarian philosophy, political pressures
toward recreational values were growing. One result
was the creation in 1916 of the National Park Service.
Leopold’s writings reflected the evolving views of
the time. By the early 1900’s, the study of natural
history in the U.S. had shifted from exploration
and identification to consideration of human uses.
Humans raised livestock. Wolves, cougars, and
grizzly bears preyed upon livestock. It therefore
seemed reasonable that humans should control
all predators. Reflecting the general opinion of
the time, The Pine Cone called for “reduction of
wolves, lions, coyotes, bob-cats, foxes, skunks,
and other varmints.”
Trail-Blazing in New Mexico
In 1916 the Chief Forester wanted to add Leopold to
his Washington headquarters, but Leopold resisted
this proposition, pointing to his personal role in
pushing the successful formation of the New Mexico
Game Protective Association. “I have stirred up
plenty of force and energy,” wrote Leopold, “but it
has needed constant ‘steering’… If I am not at the
convention there will be a squabble or somebody
will run off hog-wild on some entirely impracticable proposition…. I say this not from theory but
from experience. I know everybody who will be
there, and I know what each will want to do.”
