A majestic Oak stands just behind a large boulder, both symbolizing the sturdiness of individual members of a community of a healthy habitat. Two Shagbark Hickories position themselves as sentinels on either side of the Oak in the woods of the Weiler-Leopold Nature Preserve. The 179-acre property, under the care of the NICHES Land Trust, once belonged to Emanuel Weiler, founding dean of Purdue’s School of Management, and Carl Leopold, an internationally known plant physiologist and son of renowned naturalist Aldo Leopold.

“All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts. The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants and animals, or collectively the land.” The Land Ethic (1949) by Aldo Leopold