Aldo Leopold

The Land Ethic

When god-like Odysseus returned from the wars in Troy, he hanged all on one rope a dozen slave-girls of his household whom he suspected of misbehavior during his absence.

A Survey of Over-Populated Deer Ranges in the United States

This survey was first undertaken for the purpose of compiling a countrywide map of deer problem areas for use in classes. There is no such map. When the job was half done, it was mentioned to a meeting of deer men at the 1946 Wildlife Conference. This group asked that the findings be published. We were told that the findings, however crude, were needed in other states. Apparently deer men everywhere have found it hard to convince the average citizen, and especially the average deer hunter, that (1) delay in reduction of overpopulated deer ranges means ultimate shrinkage of both the herd and the range; (2) reduction is the only remedy, nothing else works; (3) to accomplish a reduction, female deer must be killed.

Population Turnover on a Wisconsin Pheasant Refuge

The population occupied a winter range of 600 acres on the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. It was fed in winter, was unshot, and doubled in numbers during the study period. It sustained a trap mortality equivalent to light shooting. The study area includes 500 acres of marsh, 60 acres of oak-hickory timber, and 40 acres of old fields. The area has been ungrazed, unmowed, and unburned since 1932, and offers heavy winter cover. It serves as winter range for the pheasants of a larger adjoining

History of the Riley Game Cooperative, 1931-1939

In 1940 the Riley Game Cooperative will celebrate its ninth birthday. Any farm game organization which promises to survive a decade is worth describing, for most of them die in infancy. Of some 350 started in the north central region since 1931, the survivors in 1936 (1) could be counted on five fingers. The most vigorous survivals today are in Ohio (2). Of the six projects started in Wisconsin, two remain: Faville Grove (3) and Riley. This is the history of Riley.

Wisconsin Pheasant Movement Study, 1936-37

Ohio has shown that wild pheasants for restocking purposes can be produced in quantity and at surprisingly low costs. The wild birds are live-trapped from refuges in which they concentrate during the winter. Hicks (1) reports one township, which, after sustaining a legal kill of 2,366 cocks, yielded 2,049 trapped pheasants from its central refuge. The residual breeding stock of 800 birds was sufficient to repeat a similar yield the next year. The refuge was maintained at a cost of 24 cents

Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work

This biography of Aldo Leopold follows him from his childhood as a precocious naturalist to his profoundly influential role in the development of conservation and modern environmentalism in the United States.