122 The Environmental Debate
Document 101: Stewart L. Udall on the Land Ethic (1963)
Stewart Udall came onto the national scene as a congressman from Arizona and later served as secretary of
the Interior in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. In the mid-1970s, Udall worked valiantly to guide the
Surface Mining Act (the strip-mining bill), which had twice been vetoed by President Gerald Ford, through the
House of Representatives. The bill, finally passed in 1977, reclaimed several million acres of coal lands. In this
selection he reminds readers of modern America’s need for a land ethic like that proposed by Aldo Leopold in
the 1940s [see Document 88].Beyond all plans and programs, true conser-
vation is ultimately something of the mind—an
ideal of men who cherish their past and believe
in their future. Our civilization will be measured
by its fidelity to this ideal as surely as by its art
and poetry and system of justice. In our perpet-
ual search for abundance, beauty, and order we
manifest both our love for the land and our sense
of responsibility toward future generations.
Most Americans find it difficult to conceive a
land ethic for tomorrow. The pastoral American
of a century ago, whose conservation insights
were undeveloped, has been succeeded by the
asphalt American of the 1960’s, who is short-
sighted in other ways. Our sense of stewardship
is uncertain partly because too many of us lack
roots in the soil and the respect for resources
that goes with such roots. Too many of us have
mistaken material ease and comfort for the good
life. Our growing dependence on machines has
tended to mechanize our response to the world
around us and has blunted our appreciation of
the higher values.
One of the paradoxes of American society is
that while our economic standard of living has
become the envy of the world, our environmen-
tal standard has steadily declined. We are better
housed, better nourished, and better entertained,
but we are not better prepared to inherit the earth
or to carry on the pursuit of happiness.
A century ago we were a land-conscious,
outdoor people: the American face was weather-
beaten, our skills were muscular, and each fam-
ily drew sustenance directly from the land. Now
marvelous machines make our lives easier, but we
are falling prey to the weaknesses of an indoor
nation and the flabbiness of a sedentary society.
A land ethic for tomorrow should be as
honest as Thoreau’s Walden, and as compre-
hensive as the sensitive science of ecology. It
should stress the oneness of our resources and
the live-and-help-live logic of the great chain of
life. If, in our haste to “progress,” the econom-
ics of ecology are disregarded by citizens and
policy makers alike, the result will be an ugly
America. We cannot afford an America where
expedience tramples upon esthetics and devel-
opment decisions are made with an eye only on
the present.Source: Stewart Udall, The Quiet Crisis (New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, 1963), pp. vii-viii, 188-90.others like them, we are adding a new chapter and
a new kind of havoc—the direct killing of birds,
mammals, fishes, and indeed practically every
form of wildlife by chemical insecticides indis-
criminately sprayed on the land.
* * *The questions is whether any civilization
can wage [such] relentless war on life without
destroying itself, and without losing the right to
be called civilized.
Source: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1962), pp. 1-2, 85, 99.