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A Land Ethic

 

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Chapter 6 - Summary & Conclusions

A Brief Project Reprise  |  Conclusion from The Analysis  |  Limitations of The Study  |  Strategies for Further Study  |  Land Use & Land Cover Dynamics  |  A Land Ethic

A Land Ethic

Patterns of land use and land cover are changing in this rural landscape of northwest Arkansas as small-scale farmers and ranchers clear more land in an attempt to increase their economic well-being by increasing broiler and cattle production; essentially, these landowners are converting their forested lands to improved pastures to take advantage of a growing agricultural economy. Although there has also been a moderate increase in the county human population during this same period, Carroll County is still considered to be a rural county. In addition, most of the forest clearing as classified from satellite imagery have occurred predominantly in the rural countryside and not within city limits associated with increased urbanization. Thus, the deforestation which has occurred in Carroll County, Arkansas during the past 15 years, 1984 - 1999, appears to be linked to increased agricultural production of poultry and cattle. In many cases this land conversion is occurring on environmentally sensitive areas, those with slopes greater than seven degrees and on highly erodible soils.

Aldo Leopold has argued that a land ethic must become instilled as a primary component of global society. In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land community to member and citizen of it. It reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land. It also implies respect for his fellow members and respect for the community as a whole. Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. Mankind must take on a new role in conservation as husbandry of the land (Leopold, 1949).

Although written over fifty years ago, the words of Aldo Leopold speak louder than ever and hold more truth as mankind continues to modify his environment to suit its needs. On the Earth at this moment, estimates suggest that an acre of forest disappears every second of every day. There are only so many acres on the planet (Sagan, 1990).