Madison Reads Leopold is a community read-aloud celebrating the life and legacy of Aldo Leopold. MRL has been a celebratory gathering for more than fifteen years.
In 2025, Madison Reads Leopold: Voices of a Land Ethic will take place on March 1 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Arboretum Visitor Center. Join us for a community reading of selections from A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold and writings by other environmental thinkers, including Ada Limón, Camille Dungy, and Robin Wall Kimmerer. Listeners may come and go throughout the event.
Throughout the afternoon, community members will give voice to Leopold’s keen observations and eloquent conservation philosophy. The readings will include the well-known “calendar” essays as well as other pieces chosen for their relevance to the Arboretum, UW–Madison, and the State of Wisconsin. Readings from contemporary environmental thinkers will be incorporated to amplify perspectives, values, and experiences of ethical relationships with the land.
After a welcome at 1 p.m., the afternoon will kick off with selections from Aldo Leopold’s speech at the Arboretum’s dedication ceremony on June 17, 1934. Leopold was the Arboretum’s first research director and closely involved in its design; his words are as timely, eloquent, and inspiring today as when he penned them.
Also for Leopold Weekend, join us March 2 at 1 p.m., for the nature hike Walking in Leopold’s Footsteps to visit key sites and learn about Leopold’s work as the Arboretum’s first research director.
First published in 1949, A Sand County Almanac has prompted generations of people to take better notice – and care – of the natural environment. Madison Reads Leopold is a community celebration organized for Aldo Leopold Week.
Visit the Aldo Leopold Foundation website for more Leopold Week programming, including a special Land Ethic Live! virtual speaker series with Margaret Renkl, Camille Dungy, and Amy Tan.
“What a wonderful event to be part of every year to honor Leopold, and to start to know our ecological community. Thank you for this tradition!” — Reader
Reading Schedule
Times are approximate, please arrive ten minutes early for any particular reading. Schedule is subject to change.
1 p.m. – Welcome – Maddie Smith, community education coordinator, UW Arboretum
1:06 p.m. – What is the Arboretum? (1934 dedication address) – Patrick Bohlen, director, UW Arboretum
1:12 p.m. – Foreword to A Sand County Almanac – Kathy Miner, naturalist, UW Arboretum
1:18 p.m. – January Thaw – James P. Roberts, Sterling North Society
1:23 p.m. – The Geese Return – Christian Schmidt, Madison Trail Runners
1:32 p.m. – Draba – Estelle Katz, Former Madison School Forest guide
1:34 p.m. – Sky Dance – Jim Berkelman, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, UW–Madison
1:43 p.m. – Prairie Birthday – Mia Keady, Research Fellow, UW Arboretum
1:49 p.m. – Letter to a Wildflower Digger – Jim FitzGibbon, naturalist, UW Arboretum
1:54 p.m. – Smoky Gold – Ryan Dostal, Community member
2:02 p.m. – 65290 – Stu Levitan, Historian
Poetry
2:13 p.m. – “Hackberry” by Cecily Parks – Josh Goldman, Associate Director, UW Arboretum
2:17 p.m. – “On the Fifth Day” by Jane Hirschfield – Megan Link, community member
2:19 p.m. – “Instructions on Not Giving Up” by Ada Limón – Bill Barker, Friend of the Earth
2:21 p.m. – “The Ritual of Season” by Remica L. Bingham – Lacinda Athen, community member
2:24 p.m. – BREAK
2:34 p.m. – Welcome back
2:36 p.m. – Good Oak I – Madelyn Leopold and Addie Fry-Meunier, community member, Madison West HS student
2:46 p.m. – Good Oak II – Eric Liljequist, retired teacher at Aldo Leopold School
2:53 p.m. – Good Oak III – Ken Cameron, UW–Madison Botany and Conservation Biology, and Wisconsin State Herbarium
From Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
2:57 p.m. – Preface – Chris Gavin, interpretive guide with The Aldo Leopold Foundation
3:01 p.m. – Maple Nation: a Citizenship Guide I – Anne Edwardson, Oblate of Holy Wisdom Monastery
3:11 p.m. – Maple Nation: a Citizenship Guide II – Jonathan Rosenblum, community member
3:17 p.m. – Maple Nation: a Citizenship Guide III – Kate VandenBosch, president, Friends of the Arboretum, and community member
From Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy
3:23 p.m. – Introduction, and poem – Betsy Hagens, community member
3:26 p.m. – Excerpt 1 – Timothy Bauer, community member
3:32 p.m. – Soil II (Camille T. Dungy) – Lisa Laschinger, Madison Parks
Final Readings from A Sand County Almanac
3:38 p.m. – Thinking Like a Mountain – Rebecca Wallace, U.S. Forest Service
3:43 p.m. – The Land Ethic: Community Concept – Susan Carpenter, UW Arboretum native plant garden curator
3:51 p.m. – The Land Ethic: The Outlook – Nick Utphall, pastor, Advent Lutheran of the Madison Christian Community