Nature's Second Chance: Restoring the Ecology of Stone Prairie Farm
Renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold once wrote, "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it does otherwise."\ Few have taken Leopold's vision more to heart than Steven I. Apfelbaum, who has, over the last thirty years, transformed his eighty-acre Stone Prairie Farm in Wisconsin into a biologically diverse ecosystem of prairie, wetland, spring-fed brook, and savanna. In healing his land, Apfelbaum demonstrates...
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Renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold once wrote, "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it does otherwise."Few have taken Leopold’s vision more to heart than Steven I. Apfelbaum, who has, over the last thirty years, transformed his eighty-acre Stone Prairie Farm in Wisconsin into a biologically diverse ecosystem of prairie, wetland, spring-fed brook, and savanna. In healing his land, Apfelbaum demonstrates how humans might play a starring role in healing the planet. Publishers Weekly This page-turner for nature lovers will captivate readers who have harbored fantasies of moving back to the land and who will appreciate its mingling of environmental theory, policy prescription and vivid personal anecdote. Inspired by Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac, Apfelbaum, founder and president of Applied Ecological Services, "dreamt of a home that would allow me... to become deeply involved with the land, where I could live simply." He founded Stone Prairie Farm in southern Wisconsin on 80 acres, surrounded by cornfields, farm machinery and grazing cattle. The book relates the 30-year adventure of restoring the farm to prairie, following the author as he befriends the neighbors and finds a mate. With her, he gathers native seeds by bicycle, engages in controlled-and some not-so-controlled-burning, negotiates with hunters and gardeners as the land becomes a prime spot for deer and wild turkeys, and inspires his local community, as well as the reader, to consider a more ecologically friendly and spiritually satisfying relationship with the land. (Feb.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Foreword Nina Leopold Bradley Bradley, Nina LeopoldIntroduction: A Place for LandPt. I Focus and IntentionsCh. 1 A Place to Settle 3Ch. 2 Ancient Landforms and Modern Inhabitants 13Ch. 3 Jump-Starting Land Restoration 28Ch. 4 Formative Ideas and Understandings 42Pt. II What Really MattersCh. 5 The Past Revisits and the Future Begins 61Ch. 6 Taming the Old House 82Ch. 7 Planting the Seeds of Restoration 96Ch. 8 The Doctor Is In - Symptoms of Ecological Health 108Ch. 9 Playing with Fire 120Ch. 10 Getting to Know Your Neighbors 135Ch. 11 Globally Connected 147Pt. III Preparing for the FutureCh. 12 Gone 157Ch. 13 Exotic and Invasive Species 169Ch. 14 The Invading Humans 184Ch. 15 Ecological Reserves 197Ch. 16 A Healthy Earth Ethic 211Conclusion: Land Community Membership 219Afterword: Lively Seasons on the Restored Stone Prairie Farm 222
\ Publishers WeeklyThis page-turner for nature lovers will captivate readers who have harbored fantasies of moving back to the land and who will appreciate its mingling of environmental theory, policy prescription and vivid personal anecdote. Inspired by Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac, Apfelbaum, founder and president of Applied Ecological Services, "dreamt of a home that would allow me... to become deeply involved with the land, where I could live simply." He founded Stone Prairie Farm in southern Wisconsin on 80 acres, surrounded by cornfields, farm machinery and grazing cattle. The book relates the 30-year adventure of restoring the farm to prairie, following the author as he befriends the neighbors and finds a mate. With her, he gathers native seeds by bicycle, engages in controlled-and some not-so-controlled-burning, negotiates with hunters and gardeners as the land becomes a prime spot for deer and wild turkeys, and inspires his local community, as well as the reader, to consider a more ecologically friendly and spiritually satisfying relationship with the land. (Feb.)\ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.\ \
