Community invited to share in Aldo Leopold Day events

February 21, 2019 – The community is invited to celebrate Wisconsin’s world-famous conservationist Aldo Leopold on Wednesday, March 6, from 4-7 p.m. at Rush River Brewery, 990 Antler Ct., River Falls. The free community event is hosted by the River Falls Public Library, Rush River Brewing, the St. Croix River Association and the UW-River Falls Sustainability Faculty Fellows.

Considered by many to be the father of wildlife ecology and the U.S. wilderness system, Leopold was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer, and outdoor enthusiast. Among his best-known ideas is the “land ethic,” which calls for an ethical, caring relationship between people and nature.

Join community members from the River Falls Public Library, the St. Croix River Association, and UW-River Falls to view and discuss Leopold’s life and work.
    •     4 p.m. - Screening of a one-hour documentary, "Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for our Time," about Leopold’s life, environmental values, and work.
    •     5 p.m. - "Community Reads" - an opportunity for members of the River Falls, Hudson, and surrounding communities to read a short selection (three minutes) from Leopold's “A Sand County Almanac: Sketches Here and There,” and say a few words about its relevance to their own lives--their citizenship, environmental values, civic values, family life, and more.
    •     6 p.m. - Second screening of a one-hour documentary about Leopold’s life and work, "Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for our Time."
 
Leopold, as chair of wildlife management, taught at UW-Madison and used his spare time to launch an ecological restoration experiment on a worn-out farm along the Wisconsin River outside of Baraboo. During weekends at “The Shack” (a refurbished chicken coop), the Leopold family planted thousands of pine trees and restored prairies.

For more information, email Greta Gaard, coordinator of the Sustainability Faculty Fellows and the sustainable justice minor at UW-River Falls, at greta.gaard@uwrf.edu or call 715-425-3537.