Location: Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park
Guests: Kim Stone, Boyce Thompson Arboretum Horticulturist
Summary: Hear an overview of Aldo Leopold Centennial Events, plus an introduction to Aldo Leopold's life and work.
Time: 7:30 See also Aldo Leopold Centennial Event Calendar
Intro Music
Host:
Welcome to the Arizona State Parks Audio Update. Starting in March of 2009 the states of Arizona and New Mexico, in conjunction with the Aldo Leopold Foundation will kick off a yearlong celebration of Aldo Leopold’s arrival in the southwest 100 years ago. In particular, in Springerville, Arizona in 1909. Arizona State Parks will be holding special centennial events at 8 Arizona state parks over the next year. The first centennial event will be taking place at Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park on Saturday, April 4. Joining us today to talk about the event and the park is Boyce Thompson Arboretum Horticulturist Kim Stone, welcome to the program Kim.
Kim Stone, Boyce Thompson Arboretum Horticulturist:
Thank you. Glad to be here.
Host:
Now Aldo Leopold was an ecologist, forester, and environmentalist. He was influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness preservation. He’s also considered by some as the Father of Wildlife Management in the United States, tell us more about him.
Stone:
You’ve pretty much summed up what’s made Aldo Leopold such a prominent figure throughout the years. He’s someone who started out small, just like the rest of us, sort of pursued a life, a sort of rural life in Iowa and developed a lot of skills and interests in hunting, especially from his father, and moved onto forestry school at Yale, Yale’s where he got his Masters in forestry and his first appointment was out in Arizona in 1909. From there, in Arizona, is where he really developed the rudimentary part of what would later lead to the land ethic and some of land conservation ethics and larger thoughts he would come up with and write in his landmark book A Sand County Almanac.
Host:
And what else can you tell us about his writings?
Stone:
Aldo Leopold was in fact as much as a writer as he was a scientist. In fact there were people who criticized him in certain respects because of his interest in writing. There was a quote that I read one time, he was criticized for being more interested in what some of his fellow foresters were reading that what they were actually writing or studying. So he always married his interests in education and research, in wildlife management, and his thoughts of the land very eloquently describing these experiences. A Sand County Almanac is actually not all about Wisconsin much of the writing was done in Wisconsin, but much of it was also about the Southwest and Mexico, some of the trips he had there, and also up in Canada. It’s really the last 40 to 60 pages of this book which he generally pulls together a lifetime of experience into the philosophies that we know today.
Host:
And at the April 4 event you’ll be bringing Aldo Leopold to life so to speak, by historically re-enacting him and participating in a number of activities. Tell us about those.
Stone:
It’s something called a Chautauqua. Now Chautauqua was probably more prevalent at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. These were groups that went around doing portrayals of famous figures and doing other kinds of entertainment in tents. They would go from one town to another. In this particular case there’s a formula where I will be the character of Aldo Leopold for approximately 45 minutes. And then I’ll be answering questions from the audience in character, so you’ll be asking questions to Aldo Leopold and he will be answering as Aldo Leopold we’re going to have on that day we’re going to have a wilderness hike, we’re going to have Where’s Aldo, sort of a take on Where’s Waldo, and that will be taking at about 2 o’clock. And then we’re also going to have a talk on Leave No Trace, a half hour lecture on the Leave No Trace ethic.
Host:
And finally, what else will be happening at Boyce Thompson in April?
Stone:
At Boyce Thompson, like most of the places in the lower desert is at about 2,400 feet elevation, which is about the same as Tucson. And we’re right, smack dab in the center of the Sonoran desert so many of our events are tuned toward the cooler temperatures of the spring months of March, April and May. We’ll be having wildflower tour that will continue everyday in March at 12 o’clock. We’re also having our last week of our Spring Plant Sale, which is our big, big annual fund raiser for the Arboretum. We also have weekend bird walks that we will be conducting on weekends all the way through March and April. We also have an edible and medicinal desert plants guided walk that will take place April 11, that’s a Saturday at 11:30 am. We also have photography classes running. We have our first butterfly walk on March 28. And also a brand new one called Arboretum Rocks, our new geology walking tour. We will have a tour guide, named Ben Henderson a professional geologist from Miami, Arizona
Host:
And could leave us with an inspirational passage by Aldo Leopold?
Stone:
“Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and aesthetically right as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It’s wrong when it tends otherwise.
Host:
Thank you for joining us today Kim.
Stone:
I appreciate you giving me the opportunity and I want to invite everyone out to see Boyce Thompson Arboretum.
Host:
Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park is located on Highway 60 three miles west of the town of Superior at milepost #223. About a 1-hour drive east of Phoenix or two hours north from Tucson Admission is $7.50 for adults and $3 for children ages 5-12. Annual memberships to the Arboretum begin at $45, and includes a year's access, guest passes for your friends and family, along with many other benefits. A membership may be purchased in the gift shop on the day of your visit. The first Aldo Leopold Centennial Celebration event is schedule for Saturday April 4 from 10 am to 4 pm. To learn about centennial events at other Arizona State Parks, visit our website azstateparks.com click on the Event Calendar button on our home page, then click the Aldo Leopold Centennial Events link. A Boyce Thompson Arboretum park map and interactive driving directions are also available on our site. Kim Stone may also be re-enacting Aldo Leopold at additional centennial events throughout the year. If you want to learn more about Aldo Leopold’s life and work visit the Aldo Leopold Foundation website at aldoleopold.org. For Arizona State Parks, I’m Tye R Farrell.
Music
Commentator:
Arizona State Parks: Managing and serving Arizona’s natural, cultural and recreational resources for the benefit of the people both in our parks and through our partnerships. Visit us on the web as azstateparks.com.
Music Ends
Photography courtesy Aldo Leopold Foundation. 
Copyright © Aldo Leopold Foundation. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.
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