Urban Ecology Center
Posted inColumns

Viewing The Heavens From Our Own Backyard

by Nature Notes

Living in a densely populated area of the city has its rewards: cultural diversity, a wide array of independent businesses and shops, and potential for a dynamic, vibrant community. But if you happen to be an amateur astronomer, living in the middle of a big city must be a nightmare, right? Well, according to a recent meeting of interested stargazers at Riverside Park, nothing could be further from the truth.

Posted inFurther Down Stream

March 2003

by Editor

New Boathouse – Antler – Community Union – Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers 8th Annual River Clean Up – New Parish – COA Summer Programs – Element/Black Elephant – Demands and ‘plaints – Welfare Warriors/4th Annual Global Women’s Strike Against No Pay, Low Pay, And Overwork – Convicted Pedophile Evicted – Feast of St. Casimir – Matyas Rehab/Rental for Non-Profits – Humbolt and Kane Ward Yard to Become Restaurant

Posted inColumns

Stewardship Means Caring for the Natural Part of Our Community

by Nature Notes

“The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land. This sounds simple: do we not already sing our love for and obligation to the land of the free and the home of the brave? Yes, but just what and whom do we love? Certainly not the soil, which we are sending helter-skelter downriver. Certainly not the waters, which we assume have no function except to turn turbines, float barges, and carry off sewage. Certainly not the plants, of which we exterminate whole communities without batting an eye. Certainly not the animals, of which we have already extirpated many of the largest and most beautiful species. A land ethic of course cannot prevent the alteration, management, and use of these ‘resources’, but it does affirm their right to continued existence in a natural state.” — Aldo Leopold, Sand Co. Almanac 1949