Aldo Leopold`s call for a `land ethic` is still needed, as we grapple with a social and environmental crisis

An ongoing reckoning with race in American history has drawn attention to racism in the environmental movement. Critiques have focused on themes such as forced removal of Indigenous peoples from ancestral lands, early conservationists’ support for eugenics and the chronic lack of diversity in environmental organizations.

They also have scrutinized the racial views of key figures such as John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt. Critics argue that these men valued pristine lands but cared little about poor and Indigenous people who occupied them...
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Ken Notes: We may need to readdress this in light of the politics of today. I think we should use our "wilderness" as an economic engine to promote tourism, and pro environmental uses. If we can not tie this to jobs and economy we are fighting an uphill battle. I like the Nelson and even Tommy Thompson models that build bridges. I like the use of conservancies to acquire lands and control the use. We need to be buying not just wilderness, but farm lands and then promoting best practices on them...