Curt Meine - Aldo Leopold's Life, Work, and Enduring Legacy

Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson

Curt Meine is a Senior Fellow at the Aldo Leopold Foundation and one of the world’s foremost experts on the life, work, and legacy of conservation icon Aldo Leopold. Curt is the author of the biography “Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work,” and he also works as a conservation biologist, a professor, a senior fellow with the Center for Humans and Nature, and much more.

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Since the very beginning of Mountain & Prairie, Aldo Leopold has been one of the most referenced, admired, and influential conservation thinkers whose name and ideas have been referenced over and over on the podcast. Whether I’m talking to people in agriculture or entertainment, writing or athletics, history or politics, there always seems to be a thread of thinking that connects many Mountain and Prairie guests to the Land Ethic of Aldo Leopold.

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So, I was long overdue in devoting an episode exclusively to Leopold, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with Curt, one of our most admired and trusted Leopold scholars. Whether you are brand new to the work of Leopold or you’ve read A Sand County Almanac a hundred times, I think you’ll learn a lot from this episode. Curt has a real gift for discussing the details of Leopold’s life in an amazingly engaging way, while also helping us to understand Leopold’s legacy in the context of the broad history of North American conservation.

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We start the conversation with an overview of Leopold’s early years and upbringing, and his eventual enrollment in the Yale School of Forestry. We discuss Leopold’s formative years in the American Southwest, how his outside-the-box ideas about wildlife sometimes clashed with the status quo, and his eventual move back to Wisconsin. We talk a lot about Leopold’s personality and how it compares to other conservation icons, how his work was received both in his lifetime and after his death, his surprising challenges finding a publisher for A Sand County Almanac, and that book’s long-lasting influence. We also discuss criticisms of Leopold’s work, some of his ideas that may not hold up as well today as they did in their time, and Leopold’s abundant curiosity and willingness to change his mind. We also discuss books, the very important work of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, and much more.

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Be sure to check out the episode notes for a full list of topics and links to everything. And also, I want to thank my friend, the great conservationist and all-around amazing human Doug Duren for so generously introducing me to the team at The Aldo Leopold Foundation and being such a steadfast champion of Leoplod’s legacy. Enjoy!

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• Curt Meine
• The Aldo Leopold Foundation
• "Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work"
• Complete episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/curt-meine/
• SIGN UP: Ed's Book Recommendations

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TOPICS DISCUSSED:

3:45 - Aldo Leopold’s upbringing

11:15 - Leopold’s work in the Southwest

16:30 - How Leopold’s persona may or may not have helped (or harmed) him in his efforts to implement conservation 20:!5 - What brought Leopold back to his home state of Wisconsin

22:45 - How Leopold’s novel ideas for wildlife management were received by the Forest Service establishment

26:45 - How Leopold’s ideas influenced forestry and conservation thinking outside of the Forest Service, and whether or not this influenced FDR’s conservation work

32:45 - Whether or not Leopold ever lost his cool in his fight to change land stewardship thinking in the US

37:00 - Discussing A Sand County Almanac, and how long it took to be viewed as the influential work it is considered by many to be today

43:15 - Leopold’s passion for, and balance between, science and art

45:45 - Which of Leopold’s stances or ideas do not hold up today

50:45 - Leopold’s willingness to accept change and criticism, and its importance today

53:15 - An overview of the Aldo Leopold Foundation

57:45 - Curt’s book recommendations

1:01:30 - Curt’s parting words of wisdom

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