A Descriptive Study of Visitation and Interpretation at the Leopold Center

Abstract

This study aimed to reveal the best ways to connect visitors with history, nature, culture, and sustainability at the Leopold Center. In our increasingly urban society, many people have largely lost their connection to the natural world. In A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold writes, “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace” (Leopold, 1949). Leopold suggests that to avoid these dangers, one must reconnect to the natural world, and treat it with the same love and respect with which we treat other people. This concept, dubbed “the land ethic,” is at the heart of Leopold’s ideas, and is the foundation of the interpretive program at the Leopold Center. Since the center opened in April 2007, visitation has skyrocketed—over 6,000 visitors took part in on-site programming in 2008. Visitation is expected to grow in coming years to nearly 10,000 people annually. Data from this study (demographics and feedback from a representative group of visitors to the center) will inform the development of a successful visitor experience plan for the entire site. The site has always had many layers of information to share—Aldo Leopold’s life and work draw from and impact many disciplines. The addition of a sustainably constructed visitor center adds to the layers of information that can be presented on the site, and present unique challenges for conveying information to a diverse group of visitors. The Aldo Leopold Foundation’s ultimate goal for the interpretive program is to weave the thread of Leopold’s land ethic through the historic Leopold Shack and Farm site, binding it tightly with the modern day applications of conservation ethics on the Leopold land today, also embodied in the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center itself. To achieve this, core messages will remain focused on Aldo Leopold’s land ethic and his concept of land health, allowing ALF to communicate with diverse audiences and engage them as partners who will catalyze change, just as Aldo Leopold did so effectively during his life.