Aldo Leopold's Birthplace and Childhood Homes in Burlington, Iowa are owned by the Leopold Landscape Alliance (101 & 111 Clay Street).  This re-unites the original Starker-Leopold Compound for education and researcher/writer/artist-in-residence programs.  In addition to using the Leopold family homes for interpretation, the Alliance works on landscape scale conservation in the Iowa/Illinois Mississippi River region. 

LLA Announces the Kenneth J Branch Memorial Fund for College Classes

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LLA is proud to announce the Ken Branch Memorial Fund for College Classes at the Leopold Houses and Aldo's "tramping" sites.  Ken was a great friend and advisor to LLA and he will be sorely missed.  This wonderful memorial fund supports college class studies in the natural sciences, conservation and history in Burlington, Iowa where Leopold was born and raised.  It will help to defray the costs of their stay at the Leopold Compound.

 Rev. Dr. Kenneth J. Branch (PhD in sociology) was a "student" of Aldo Leopold and taught at Midland Univ. in NE and Bethany Lutheran College in KS. While his subjects were sociology and anthropology, Ken always managed to work in Leopold's Land Ethic.  Ken loved his visits to the Leopold Compound with his wife, Linda, a Burlington native. And he enjoyed experiencing all the Leopold tramping sites. Ken initiated the Leopold Exchange Program with Bethany Lutheran biology & English classes.

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 College classes have an opportunity for a variety of activities and experiencing some of Aldo's favorite "wild" places in the Burlington area.

 Ken's family and friends are pleased that through his Memorial's financial support, college classes will be able to overnight at the Leopold Compound and "share a moment" with Aldo.  Many thanks to Linda and all who made this memorial possible.

 

 

 

The Leopold Landscape Alliance

To honor LeGoldfinch-&-Coreopsis-Seed-.jpgopold's background here, we have created a non-profit organization to help private landowners with "land health" concepts and habitat restoration in the bi-state region of Iowa and Illinois.

While we rely on Aldo's legacy to guide our  projects, we also celebrate the conservation legacy of his siblings, parents, and the Starker grandparents.  Connecting the humanities to nature and aesthetics was a core part of the Starker-Leopold home ground education. 

Our Vision:

To see the Burlington area become a center for the celebration of Leopold’s ideas—connecting working landscapes and wild land recovery.

Our Mission:

1.  To support Aldo Leopold's "Land Ethic" by drawing attention to the Leopold childhood homes and natural areas in IA and IL that contributed to the development of his early years and later philosophy.

2.  To enhance, restore or acquire land for conservation projects within the watersheds of IA and IL along Pools 18 and 19 of the Mississippi River.

 

Our first step was to acquire Aldo Leopold's boyhood homes where he lived when he was first exposed to the natural world and encouraged by his family to explore the nearby wild lands. The Leopold Houses projected uses include facilities for 1) guest residence for Leopold researchers, artists and Leopold family visiting Burlington.  2)  interpreting Leopold family conservation history.  3) collection point for conservationists to gather natural science information for the region.

The Burlington area could become a center, along with Wisconsin and the Southwest, for the celebration of Leopold's philosophy--connecting working landscapes and wild land recovery.

Celebrating Leopold in the Iowa-Illinois bi-state region will have long range benefits for economic development and tourism. Conservationists from around the world are interested in Leopold's writings and seek out places where his experience and values continue to be relevant in today's changing culture and increasing need for environmental awareness.

 

 

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The Leopold House Mortgage is retired!! 

Let's say that again--The mortgage on the Leopold Childhood Home (111 Clay Street) is paid in full!  We couldn't have done it without the support of our wonderful volunteers and donors.  Thanks to everyone who has worked so hard to make this project a reality.   What a great way to go into the new year! Now our fund-raising can target special projects funds and paying down the mortgage on the Starker-Leopold House (101 Clay).    

 


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The Leopold Compound

Our thanks to all our generous donors who made the property purchases a reality, and to previous homeowners, Carl & Billie Hays and Mary Shier, for being supporters.    Many individuals and foundations have insured that the 'Leopold Park' neighborhood where Aldo grew up will continue to tell the story of the Starker-Leopold family's conservation legacy and interpret the roots of Aldo's 'Land Ethic'.

Now we begin the second phase of fund-raising. Our aim is to raise $750,000 toward retiring the mortgage on 101 Clay St. and creating a maintenance fund for the 'Compound', while continuing the development of our active programs such as the Children's Nature Library and Landscape Management Program for private landowners.

To protect the historic environment of Aldo's youth we are focusing on conservation education programs for small groups.  This allows visitors to enjoy a "moment" where Aldo started on his life's journey.   

 Uses for the properties include:                                                                                

1.  An Environmental Studies and Researcher/Writer/Artist-in-Residence Program--studying the natural sciences and the humanities, utilizing Leopold's writings to investigate the relationship between humans and nature in today's society.  The residency program will be open to individuals, colleges, agencies and non-governmental organizations. 

2.  Conservation education and activities for children and their families.

3.  Interpretation of the Starker-Leopold family conservation legacy on the home grounds and in the region where Leopold began to realize the importance of the biotic community to include people. 

4.  A collection center for information and conservation help for private land owners in the region.

The Compound will serve as a hub that can further conservation projects in Leopold's home ground of Iowa and Illinois.   Conservationists from across the country recognize the significance of Leopold's Burlington roots and are enthusiastic about the project.

Leopold is especially relevant to this region because it is our landscape that set him on the path to his "Land Ethic."  The changing culture for todays' children needs the same stabilizing force of nature that kept Aldo grounded during the rapid cultural change at the turn of the last century.

Surprises in nature and discovering the feeling of freedom in the outdoors leads to a renewal of the human spirit.  Throughout Aldo's career he drew strength from memories of his childhood tramps and continued to seek out new adventures, using these reflections to stay invigorated.

The Historic Leopold Houses fund-raising project is not so much about the past, as it is understanding the sources of Aldo's success.  Leopold's life can help guide us and our children to a better and more balanced future.  The Starker-Leopold home compound provides an important opportunity for more detailed interpretation of Aldo's "Ethics and Esthetics" approach to humans as a part of the biotic communities.

The Starker-Leopold values evident at the family compound give conservationists and environmental historians a direct connection with the beginnings of the new conservation era Leopold helped develop in the early 20th century. Buying the Leopold boyhood homes is the first step toward larger landscape scale conservation projects.

 

 

 Aldo Leopold, Burlington's Native Son

Aldo Leopold, world renowned conservationist was born and raised in Burlington, Iowa where he developed a love of the outdoors.  He is widely known as the author of A Sand County Almanac (1949).  This collection of observations and essays has become a conservation classic and is still in print with over three million copies sold.  Leopold is most famous for his expression of the idea he called a "Land Ethic." 

Much of the bCarl-&-Aldo-smaill.jpgasis for his concern about wild places and human values grew from childhood discoveries in the Burlington area--the bluffs, rocky ravines, islands, bottomlands on both sides of the Mississippi and the sand prairie-black jack oak savannah of Illinois.   Leopold's extraordinary family grounded him in the humanities and connected these arts to nature.  For a discussion on how Leopold's early sources of family and wild places stimulated his imagination, contact the Alliance for a program on Leopold' s Burlington years.  (Visit the Contact Us page.)

We hope the Burlington Leopold story will add another layer to your study of conservation.  Perhaps knowing more about Leopold's childhood will open new doors of understanding and help explain the need for nature in our lives.

Aldo and Father Carl at Crystal Lake

For more information on Leopold's career visit our friends at the Aldo Leopold Foundation in Baraboo, WI or check out the Leopold documentary at  www.GreenFireMovie.com.

                                   

"The Land Ethic was the end result of a long process of experience and reflection.  In many ways it was the culmination of his life journey."   -- Curt Meine, Green Fire