Land-Use Ethic

At its core, Landsward is about discovering and describing a Land-Use Ethic through science and experience. Inspired by the writings of Aldo Leopold, years of living and working with the land and deep respect for the ageless processes of the natural world, a Land-Use Ethic defines the relationships among people and nature and between humankind and the earth. It broadens our concepts of the land to be inclusive of humans and our impact on the complex community that is the environment. This concept of the land serves as a platform from which the Land-Use Ethic grows and creates an ethical obligation on the part of the landowner and land managers.

A Land-Use Ethic begins with an awareness of the land and its ecological processes, and a desire to understand and appreciate land's essential values. This awareness then promotes a sense of responsibility and obligation to acknowledge these values and be accountable for our actions, as those actions affect the plant, wildlife and other land communities and the land's productivity to meet greater needs.

By recognizing our place within the land community, we become willing to further embrace these values; the result is good land stewardship. The process is circular. The more we interact with and understand the land, the more we value the land's complex ecological processes. This relationship is what is meant by conservation: to know, to understand and to participate.

The Land-Use Ethic uses several key principles as a guide:

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•  Minimizing impacts where it matters most.

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•  Being deliberate with impacts where they count.

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•  Making decisions based on current dynamic information.

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•  Living off interest, not principal.

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•  Embracing uncertainty and change.