Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia is holding two free screenings of the first full-length documentary film ever made about legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold, author of the classic conservation novel, A Sand County Almanac.
Hosted by UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and funded by the Jones Ecological Research Center, the viewings of Green Fire are open to the public and will be held Sept. 8 at 4 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. in Forestry Building 2, room 100.
Leopold (1887-1948) is renowned for his work as an educator, philosopher, forester, ecologist and wilderness advocate. His legacy lives on in the work of conservationists and environmental organizations across the world, said Buddy Huffaker, executive director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation.
“What is exciting about Green Fire is that it is more than just a documentary about Aldo Leopold,” Huffaker said. “It also explores the influence his ideas have had in shaping the conservation movement as we know it today by highlighting some really inspiring people and organizations doing great work to connect people and the natural world in ways that even Leopold might not have imagined.”
Green Fire illustrates Leopold’s continuing influence by exploring current projects that connect people and land at the local level. The film portrays how Leopold’s vision of a community that cares about both people and land-his call for a land ethic-ties modern conservation stories together and offers inspiration and insight for the future. Leopold regarded a land ethic as a product of social evolution. “Nothing so important as an ethic is ever ‘written,'” he explained. It evolves “in the minds of a thinking community.”
The Aldo Leopold Foundation is distributing the film to community screeners and is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization based in Baraboo, Wis. The foundation’s mission is to inspire an ethical relationship between people and land through the legacy of Aldo Leopold. For more about the Aldo Leopold Foundation and the Green Fire movie, see www.aldoleopold.org.
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