Wisconsin Idea Seminar: Monday, May 21

Map of Wisonsin showing Madison, Baraboo and Fond Du Lac

Photo of Aldo Leopold outside the family shack near Baraboo

Aldo Leopold walking outside his shack near Baraboo, Wis.

Photo: courtesy University Archives

After a light breakfast at the Pyle Center, the 40 or so participants in the 2007 Wisconsin Idea Seminar boarded a bus and headed off—by a circuitous route—to the Aldo Leopold Shack in Baraboo.

The Shack provided a scenic and historic backdrop to learn about Aldo Leopold, the UW–Madison professor who championed the land ethic, the idea that people have an ethical responsibility to manage and sustain the land. The Shack, a revamped chicken coop, served as a rustic weekend getaway for Leopold, his wife and five children. Leopold’s many visits to this site provided the fodder for his famous book, “A Sand County Almanac.”

After grabbing lunch at the Log Cabin Restaurant in Baraboo, Wisconsin, the group drove on to Vir-Clar Farms, where owners Gary and Rose Boyke led tours of their 1500-head dairy operation located near Fond du Lac. The Boykes described the day-to-day realities and challenges of running a dairy farm, from basic herd management to controlling stormwater runoff to using a methane digester to produce electricity from manure.

The first day of the tour wound down with a dinner hosted by UW-Oshkosh faculty.

First-person impressions

Tina Frailey

Director of communications, School of Business

On: The Aldo Leopold Shack and property, along the Wisconsin River near Baraboo

For someone who’s just planted 15 trees on five acres of property near McFarland, Frailey was amazed that the Leopold family planted an average of 3,000 trees every year on the fabled property around “The Shack.”

Says Frailey: “What a tremendous legacy … I feel really inspired after visiting The Shack. I am reminded that I really am the steward of the land. I have been working really hard to get rid of invasives and cut back buckthorn on my property. It was really inspiring to sit back today and read excerpts from the Sand County Almanac.”

Listen to Frailey’s comments (3.2 Mb mp3; 3 min., 30 sec.)

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