January 11th marked the 124th anniversary of Aldo Leopold’s birth. For Madison, Wisconsin we are fortunate to be able to walk through Leopold’s legacy to our community-the UW Arboretum at 1207 Seminole Highway.
The Arboretum was founded in 1934 in the depth of the Depression. The previous year, Aldo Leopold was appointed a Professor of Game Management in the Agricultural Economics Department at the UW-Madison. He was the first professor of wildlife management at the university. He essentially created his own academic discipline.
One of Leopold’s first assignments was to oversee research at the UW Arboretum and Wildlife Refuge (as it was originally called). Aldo Leopold’s vision was to create a relationship between civilized man and a civilized environment. Specially, he saw the Arboretum as an opportunity to recreate the ecological Wisconsin of the 1840’s when settlers first came to our state in large numbers.
Leopold is given credit for developing the theories and practices of restoration ecology. The Depression proved to be an excellent time to initiate this revolutionary land management project for two reasons. First, due to the Depression, land was inexpensive and available for purchase. In the 1930’s the land where the Arboretum is located was the outskirts of town. Second, labor for the project was provided by the Civilian Conservation Corp(CCC) from 1934 to 1941. Curtis Prairie was the first project completed. Cabins where CCC workers were housed can still be found at the UW Arboretum.
While Leopold viewed the Arboretum as a living research laboratory to restore the historical ecology of Wisconsin, we have the gift of the UW Arboretum to learn about wildlife, natural environments and a place to enjoy walks, cross country skiing and educational opportunities.
Visit the UW Arboretum website: www.uwarboretum.org for more information and take a tour online at their new I Map.
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