Brilliant. Elegant. Excellent. Freyfogle's critique of the American land ethic penetrates deeper than most contemporary efforts and is especially praiseworthy because it goes the next step to explain and defend an alternative ethic based on good (ecological) land use, diffuse property rights, and revitalized communities. Bottom line: Freyfogle provides powerful and compelling arguments that cultural changes are needed if humanity ... Read moreis to address the environmental challenges of the Anthropocene. He weaves threads of his arguments through the works and lives of Aldo Leopold, David Orr, Garrett Hardin, and Wendell Berry, which he then uses to interpret and reinforce Pope Francis' encyclical on climate change. A masterful work. Freyfogle gives us the reasons to change and charts a path forward.
R. Bruce Hull, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, coeditor of Restoring Nature and author of Infinite Nature Show Less