Events

1-2 pm ET

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In her new book, Closed Seasons: The Transformation of Hunting in the Modern South, historian Julia Brock traces the creation and evolution of game and fish laws in the Deep South from the Progressive Era to the 1930s, with a close eye on the social imagination of conservation advocates, the response by everyday southerners, the changing field of wildlife science, and the increasing role of the federal government in wildlife protection. She’ll introduce these themes in her talk and also consider how forestry and forestry laws were featured–or not–in new game and fish commissions.

Julia Brock is an associate professor of history at the University of Alabama, where she coordinates a Public History Concentration. Closed Seasons: The Transformation of Hunting in the Modern South (UNC Press 2025) is her first book.

Paul Johnson was a forester by training who became a farmer, Iowa state legislator, and a national leader in sustainable agriculture and private lands conservation. As chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service from 1993 to 1997, he helped develop and implement the conservation title of the 1996 Farm Bill, established the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, and implemented the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program to help landowners develop and improve high quality wildlife habitat for species of local and national significance. Upon his death in 2021, the NRCS reminded employees of "Chief Johnson’s inspiring call to remember the deep connections between America’s private farm, ranch, and forest lands and the health and prosperity of the whole nation." Join conservationist and historian Curt Meine, author of a new book about Johnson (We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy), for a conversation about his work and legacy.

Curt Meine is a conservation biologist, environmental historian, and writer. He serves as Senior Fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation and the Center for Humans and Nature. He is also a Research Associate with the International Crane Foundation and Associate Adjunct Professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. He has written and edited a number of books on conservation and environmental history, including the award-winning Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work (1988, reissued in 2010). His latest book, We Can Do Better, will be published in October.

*This webinar has been postponed. Date information will be updated when available.

1-2 pm

Register HERE

While Aldo Leopold’s impact on the conservation movement is broad and deep, he is best known as the author of the now classic book A Sand County Almanac. Translated into sixteen languages, it is one of the foundational texts for those around the world who care about people and places. But becoming a classic doesn’t happen overnight; it requires great writing, and often a few twists of fate. Buddy will introduce Leopold’s writing and publishing journey as well as the online archival resources at the University of Wisconsin and elsewhere available to do your own deep dive into the making of an American classic.

Buddy Huffaker has served as Executive Director at the Aldo Leopold Foundation since 1999. During his tenure the foundation has grown the Leopold Community by protecting the Leopold Shack & Farm (the inspiration and setting for much of the A Sand County Almanac) as a National Historic Landmark, constructing the LEED Platinum Aldo Leopold Legacy Center out of trees planted by the Leopold family, producing the Emmy Award–winning documentary GreenFire, and supporting ten different foreign translations of A Sand County Almanac. The foundation continues the Leopold family’s commitment to stewardship through the restoration and management of the 4,400-acre Leopold-Pines Conservation Area and by using this experience to inform and inspire other landowners to adopt and implement their own land ethic.