Live out Your Land Ethic with My Wisconsin Woods

By Ari Zimney

Woodland owners are an important component to building an active land ethic in Wisconsin. Simple as that. Woodland is a vast habitat across Wisconsin, and a valuable place for much to be learned and shared. Aldo Leopold surely held on to his love of woodland, all while reworking a forgotten farmland into restored prairie, and we get to continue in his footsteps, caring for the land with thoughtful ownership.  

This thoughtful ownership can be tricky to go at alone, but when a robust thinking community is around you, it can be inspiring and worthwhile. The Aldo Leopold Foundation knows this, so that is why we partnered with the Wisconsin DNR and American Forest Foundation, with grant money through the US Forest Service, to bring My Wisconsin Woods into being. Through My Wisconsin Woods, landowners desiring to integrate management techniques on their land can be better informed and connect with intentional outreach efforts to create greater engagement among forest landowners. One of the ways to do this is to request a forester walkthrough. A reputable forester will come to visit the property and give suggestions or recommendations to the landowners.  

My Wisconsin Woods was strategically designed to work for landowners, helping them figure out what management is best for their woodland property. Through this free forester walk, the landowner can share what they desire to see on their property, from more scenic land to robust wildlife habitat. The landowner has total control regarding if or when they want to enact active management, with support every step of the way. Kim and John Annear, landowners from Richland County, remark in an email interview that, during their forester walkthrough on their property, they “learned a great deal about forestry management best practices, and how those practices can help reach goals for our property. [The forester] ‘looked’ at our woods with a perspective that was different from ours. This opened our eyes to management ideas and options that we would not have realized on our own.” Guided with Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, management decisions can be made with a large-scale awareness of the landscape, enhancing the health of the landscape while supporting the landowner vision.

Having a forester conduct a free, no obligation walkthrough of property is one of many ways to boost landowner confidence, relationship, and management of their land. It also allows for future management tasks to be less daunting—for landowners to want to pursue their management vision! Honing these ethics is the first step to better management. In A Sand County Almanac, Leopold writes, “All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts. His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in the community, but his ethics prompt him also to co-operate (perhaps in order that there may be a place to compete for).”

Building a personal land ethic is another special outcome of working with My Wisconsin Woods. Being able to craft a personal land ethic on private land is paradigm shifting! With love, respect, and admiration, a landowner can begin to feel as if they are part of the land-community, instead of just the owner of land parcels. This feeling of connection with land is the root of building a land ethic. Once again, in the philosophically dense A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold beautifully writes, “The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.” Building a land ethic can lead to more participatory engagement on the landscape, and a desire to listen to the needs of the land.

The partnership between The Aldo Leopold Foundation and My Wisconsin Woods helps forge the relationship between the land ethic and private landowners. Leopold, many times, reflected on how private landowners truly can do whatever they want with their property, but urged them to act in the interest of the ecosystem around them, as well as the public good. He writes in A Sand County Almanac, “Conservation will ultimately boil down to rewarding the private landowner who conserves the public interest.” Doug Duren, a Richland County landowner, mentioned in an interview that he is proud to work with My Wisconsin Woods, which has provided structure for how he can preserve both the public interest and his family land. He feels he can “...make decisions that are best for the land. I can focus on conservation-based management of the land, rather than agriculture productive property. I can make a contribution to conservation!”

Active management techniques that have been utilized by many woodland owners through My Wisconsin Woods result in cleaner water, cleaner air, healthier soil, abundant wildlife, and productive timber. These shared values of landowners and the public are in everyone’s best interest. Because of this, agencies and organizations offer money, technical expertise, and tax incentives to ensure land is well-cared for. Through this financial assistance, landowners can treat their land well with getting some added bonuses, besides a happy, healthy landscape, of course!

Whether you are searching to boost scenic beauty in your woodlands, looking to attract wildlife, or utilize your productive timber, your values are important. Afterall, Leopold did write in A Sand County Almanac, “I love all trees, but I am in love with pines.” So, he planted pines. But he also knew that to take care of his land, he needed to do right by the land, returning as much land back to native prairie and oak savanna as he could. He writes, “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” My Wisconsin Woods can help landowners do the same, preserving the integrity, stability, and beauty of their beloved landscape!

If you or someone you know is interested in managing their woodland property in Wisconsin but don’t know where to start, consider starting with My Wisconsin Woods. Guided by Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, My Wisconsin Woods can assist landowners in taking care of their land. Consider a no-cost property visit with a local forester, receive technical and financial assistance, and grow your thinking community by getting connected with other landowners.  

To learn about events, workshops, and e-newsletters geared to gather like-minded landowners to learn and grow together as landowners and conscious land managers, visit the My Wisconsin Woods website at: https://mywisconsinwoods.org/. If you do not live in Wisconsin, consider visiting your state’s DNR Forestry Division website or Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCRS) website for assistance in managing your property. Special thanks to Kim and John Annear, and Doug Duren, for interviewing and sharing their experiences working with My Wisconsin Woods.