“Redefining Conservation on the Leopold Memorial Reserve: A New Era of Cooperative Land Stewardship” will be presented Stephen Laubach at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, by at the Waupaca Area Public Library.

The program is hosted by Winchester Academy of Waupaca as part of its Fall 2016 speaker series.

In 1935, Aldo Leopold purchased an abandoned farm along the Wisconsin River near Baraboo. An old chicken coop, later to become famous as the Leopold “Shack,” was the property’s only intact structure.

The Leopold family embraced this spent farm as a new kind of laboratory – a place to experiment on restoring health to an ailing piece of land. It was here that Leopold found inspiration for writing “A Sand County Almanac,” his influential book of essays on conservation and ethics.

The land that is now the Leopold Memorial Reserve provided the families of Aldo Leopold and Thomas Coleman an ideal setting for pioneering experiments in ecological restoration and cooperative conservation.

Laubach, author of “Living a Land Ethic,” will discuss the formation of the 1,600-acre reserve surrounding the Shack; he will examine the evolution of the reserve idea and how it demonstrates an innovative effort to carry on the Leopold tradition of land stewardship.

Drawing on correspondence, photo and interviews from the archives of both the Sand County Foundation and the Aldo Leopold Foundation, he will share the Reserve’s untold history and its important place in the American conservation movement.

His program will offer insightful reflection on what it means to live the “land ethic” that is relevant today.

Laubach works for the Earth Partnership program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. His teaching, outreach and consulting in schools and communities are inspired by Aldo Leopold’s writings. He has a doctorate in environmental studies and science education.

 Laubach’s program is free and open to the public. Cookies and coffee are served at 6 p.m. and the program begins promptly at 6:30 p.m.

Winchester Academy program expenses are funded through sponsors and through gifts and donations from community members who support the Academy. Donations are tax deductible.

This program is sponsored by Jim and Mary Trainor.

For more information about Winchester Academy, visit winchesteracademywaupaca.org, follow us on Facebook, or contact executive director Ann Buerger Linden at 715-258-2927 or [email protected]