Nurturing our Conservation Land Ethic

Wednesday, February 7 at 6:00 PM
Western Reserve Land Conservancy’s Harmony Hall
3850 Chagrin River Road
Moreland Hills, OH 44022

The in-person event is sold out, but we have added a virtual option to watch this presentation live. It will also be recorded and available on our YouTube channel for those who register. Click here for the virtual registration option.

Join us for an in-person gathering to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of Aldo Leopold’s book A Sand County Almanac. We will welcome Buddy Huffaker, the Executive Director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, to our Conservation Center in Moreland Hills for his presentation Aldo Leopold, the Land Ethic, and A Sand County Almanac: The Making of an American Classic. Mr. Huffaker will discuss Aldo Leopold’s most famous book and his appeal for us to develop a strong conservation land ethic. The presentation will be followed by a reception with Mr. Huffaker, as well as a conservation book fair coordinated by Loganberry Books. Copies of A Sand County Almanac, as well as many other titles will be available for purchase.

While Aldo Leopold’s impact on the conservation movement is broad and deep, he is mostly known as the author of the now classic A Sand County Almanac. Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2024, A Sand County Almanac has been translated into sixteen languages and serves as one of the foundational texts for anyone that cares about people and places. But becoming a classic doesn’t happen overnight, it requires great writing, and often a few twists of fate. Buddy will provide a quick biographical sketch of Aldo Leopold and then focus on the people and events that have kept A Sand County Almanac and the call for a Land Ethic as relevant as ever.

Special thanks to Tom and Kathy Leiden for sponsoring this program. The Leidens are devoted supporters of conservation and understand the importance of protecting diverse, balanced ecosystem for the survival of all plants and animals. We are proud to partner with them to bring Mr. Huffaker to Northeast Ohio.

Buddy Huffaker joined the Aldo Leopold Foundation in 1996 as a seasonal intern and has served as Executive Director since 1999. During his tenure the foundation has grown the Leopold Community by protecting the Leopold Shack & Farm (the inspiration and setting for much of the classic A Sand County Almanac) as a National Historic Landmark, constructing the LEED Platinum Aldo Leopold Legacy Center out of trees planted by the Leopold family, producing the Emmy Award winning documentary GreenFire, and supporting ten different foreign translations of A Sand County Almanac. The foundation continues the Leopold family’s commitment to stewardship through the restoration and management of the 4,400-acre Leopold-Pines Conservation Area and by using this experience to inform and inspire other landowners to adopt and implement their own land ethic. Buddy’s leadership in the conservation movement includes service on state and federal advisory committees and participation in three White House Conferences on conservation and environmental education.