Page 12 November 1977 RAIN • Study how a society uses its land and you will come to some pretty reliable conclusions as to what its future will be. -E. F. Schumacher Our future, based on those criteria, will be-like the land's The land ethic is really an extension of the ethics governing -an impoverished one. We clearcut our vi~gin redwoods, allow- our behavior toward our neighbors and toward our communiing irreplaceable topsoil to wash down the hillside and be ties. The notion of ethics colors humankind's naturally selfish carried away forever by winter rains. We gouge out the earth behavior with a touch of respect for other human beings and to extract coal. We terrace the foothills to release geothermal cooperation as a member of the community. Leopold writes, steam for one quick energy fix. We ignore the contour or "The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the comcharacter of the land in planning, or planting, most buildings. munity to include soils, waters, plants and animals, or collecWe pave as much as 60 percent of our cities to accomm.odate tively, the land." the land-hungry automobile. And, in this sophisticated year Don't think that the land ethic is too esoteric or too comof the Lord 1977, we still convert our best croplands and plex for decision-makers today to deal with. In fact, the best orchards to condominiums. expression of the land ethic in this country is also the most Why do we so abuse the earth? simply stated. It was adopted by the Humboldt County, CaliOne reason, of course, is that there has always been so fornia, Board of Supervisors in August 1972: "We, the people much land in this country. As noted in Frederick Jackson of the County of Humboldt, recognize and acknowledge our Turner's seminal essay on the frontier in American history, total dependence upon the land and accept our obligation to and further documented in David Potter's classic People of use the land in a manner which will sustain and benefit man Plenty, the restless American pioneer always knew there was and all other living things." Not a bad beginning-nor end! another valley, another forest, another meadow just over the Last year, the Office of Planning and Research assembled horizon. There was little incentive to do otherwise than move 150 land managers-developers, farmers, realtors, elected in, exhaust the land, and move on. George Washington, himself officials, environmentalists, state and federal bureaucrats-to a farmer and close to the land, gives early evidence of this discuss the wisdom of a land ethic for California. The con- "frontier mentality" in his letters: "We cut down more wood, clusions of their two-day deliberations reflected an amazing if we have any, or move into the western country." consensus: "This is the land ethic. First, the land is the basis As America moved westward, the General Land Survey of all life. Second, that land is a very valuable, a very limited set the tone by establishing the rectangular, grid pattern as the and an irreplaceable resource. Third, that we as temporary basis for dividing frontier lands. The same pattern was applied stewards on the land have a responsibility to care for the indiscriminately to most cities: four intersecting straight lines, land, to nurture it, and to turn it over to those who follow us permitting easy-to-merchandise land parcels, quick sales and in better condition than we found it." limitless expansion onto surrounding agricultural lands. One further example, lest I appear too radical. The Code Another reason is that the great majority of Americans have, of Ethics of the National Association of Realtors begins: by birth or by choice, alienated themselves from the land and "Under all is the land. Upon its wise utilization and widely sought refuge in the cities, where appreciation of the land can allocated ownership depend the survival and growth of free never be the same. Even more unfortunate for this nation, as institutions and of our civilization." Wendell Berrymovingly relates in A Hidden Wound, is the fact that too many of those who stayed behind on the land turned over the thousands of menial tasks by which the land is maintained-and by which we develop a closeness to the land-to people they considered their racial inferiors: black slaves, Chinese laborers, or migrant workers. People who, of course, lacked the means to own the land and thereby earn the only "ticket" required for admission to Western society. A third reason is that we now have in hand greater tools of destruction than ever before in human history. For the first time our technological capacity for destruction exceeds the land's physical capacity for renewal. Compare the years of primitive manpower that would be required to equal the change to the landscape wrought in one day by one 20th century American on one earthmover. The degree of difference is staggering. I know it is considered heretical among naturalists, but I believe that the easy availability of such tools of destruction- more than any basic philosophical difference- has made contemporary Americans more destructive of the land than their native American predecessors or other "primitive" peoples who are universally praised for their gentle treatment of the good and generous earth. I believe, with Schumacher, that "before our policies with regard to the land will really be changed, there will have to be a great deal of philosophical, not to say religious, change." In other words, unless we in this country begin to think of, or deal with, the land as the limited resource it is, we will never develop any closeness to, or respect for, the land. And until that happens, there will be no policy change, and no amount of planning will work. In short, we need what Aldo Leopold first called a "land ethic" for this nation. Bill Press is a person whose head is in the right place. As director of the Office of Planning and Research in the GoverThe land ethic, then, is one of reverence, respect and responsibility. Reverence: for the life-giving, almost divine nature of the earth; its beauty, its bounty, its mystery, its blessings, its unique role in the well-being and survival of all living things. It is no surprise that the most common trait of all primitive peoples is worship of the earth. Respect: a healthy respect for the ability of the earth, properly cared for, to sustain a nation for centuries; or, neglected or abused, to topple an entire civilization in decades. The barren rim of the Mediterranean is stark proof that proper or improper use of the land is one of the most powerful forces shaping history. Carter and Dale's Topsoil and Civilization should be required reading for every elected official, if not every landowner. Responsibility: for the tremendous heritage that is ours, over which we exercise temporary stewardship, making the daily decisions- in our private lives and in our public institutions-that will determine what shape the land will be in for generations that follow. It is difficult to define a land ethic. It is more difficult to put it into practice. I believe we must do both and change our attitudes toward the land from one of ignorance and abuse to one of care and kindly use. The health of the people and the land, our two greatest resources, depend on it. -Bill Press nor's Office, he can be counted on to push good ideas and programs. - LdeM
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