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Article: The Los Utes case: forestry seeks its soul; frank talk about a bungled timber sale stirs up ghosts of Pinchot and Leopold and poses haunting questions about environmental ethics. (Gifford Pinchot, Aldo Leopold) (includes related information on Forest Service)
- Article from:
- American Forests
- Article date:
- November 1, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 American Forests. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Everyone knows that timber harvesting is a mess business a messy business, hard on sensitive soils and sensitive souls. A badly botched recent timber sale on the Santa Fe National Forest raised questions in my mind about where the ethical soul resides in today's practice of forestry. Can there-and should there-be an environmental ethic for foresters?
The father of the land ethic, Aldo Leopold, started his career here in New Mexico. In Leopold's day New Mexicans knew foresters as heros. They were responsible for the successful rehabilitation of our watersheds from the tragic 19th-century grazing and timbering frenzy that devastated our state. Since the days of ...