Thinking Like a Forest

Old growth forest, Dark Divide Roadless Area, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington Cascades. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

In his classic book of essays, Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold described his changing view of wolves. Initially, like many men of his era, Leopold shot wolves whenever he could. However, over time, Leopold came to see that wolves played a critical role in the ecosystem, and he urged us to think on a different timescale and to recognize that the wolf kept the deer...