It is important … that the budding layman-ornithologist be taught to grasp the principles of biological science, but it is also important to show him the personal satisfaction to be derived from the scholarly development of his hobby. —Aldo Leopold, The University and Conservation of Wisconsin Wildlife (1937) I am now acquainted with 274 species of birds in the United States. Of course this is but idle talk and not by any means the end or object of my study of Ornithology, but still rather interesting to note. —Aldo Leopold in a letter written to his mother on May 18, 1904 In the 60 years since its first publication, Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac (1949) has been consistently revered for its groundbreaking insights into practical American ecology, the clarity of its prose, and the infectiousness of its spirit. Likewise, Leopold himself has never faded from the various discourses of American environmentalism, serving as one of a handful of figures routinely upheld by natural historians, environmentalists, scientists, anthropologists, ecocritics, philosophers, economists, and educators alike.1 Thus it is understandable that the last 20 years would see the publication of several full-scale biographies of his life and career, since the literature produced by Leopold beyond A Sand County Almanac—itself published posthumously—is indeed scarce: his textbook on game management, a few collections of essays, speeches, and journal entries, and a lengthy work on his most quotable quotes.2 Readers of A Sand County Almanac looking for deeper insights into Leopold's work must turn to the biographies, hoping to catch a further glimpse of the brilliance found in his canonical work's too few pages. Given the collective scope and quality of these biographies—Curt Meine's encyclopedic Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work (1988), Marybeth Lorbiecki's slimmer Aldo Leopold: A Fierce Green Fire (1996), and Julianne Lutz Newton's recent Aldo Leopold's Odyssey (2006)—readers have little reason to feel disappointed.