In his introduction to the 1987 edition of A Sand County Almanac, Robert Finch writes:

No other single book of American nature writing – with the exception of Walden – has achieved such lasting stature as A Sand County Almanac. Since it was first published by Oxford in 1949…it has become an established classic in the field…and providing the core of modern conservation ethics.

True to its name “The Almanac”, as many call it for short, is a collection of brief essays and journal entries, divided into three sections. Our October book club meeting, led by our friend, October 27th Sunday Platform speaker, and DendroLab founder Carey Russell, will examine selected readings from each section to provide an overview of the book’s content and major themes.

Please feel free to read these in advance, or join us without, as several will be read aloud during the online event. Please note that page numbers are intentionally not included, since these can vary by edition.

Together we’ll discuss the following selected readings:

• Foreword
• From Part I: December (including “Home Range”, “Pines Above the Snow”, and “65290”)
• From Part II: Thinking Like a Mountain (found within the section Arizona and New Mexico)
• From Part III: The Land Ethic (including “The Ethical Sequence”, “The Community Concept”, and “The Ecological Conscience”)

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About Host Carey Russell

Carey is a naturalist, photographer, and filmmaker. He founded The Dendro Lab, a platform to foster a broader public awareness of trees and forest ecology. As a photographer he is the author of The New Arcadians: Photographs from Scout Camp. As a filmmaker, he has worked with director Terrence Malick as an associate producer and editor of The New World; assisted cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki on The Tree of Life; and directed and photographed the 10-part documentary series Tibetan Stories.

Carey holds a master’s degree in forestry and is a member of the International Dendrology Society. He’s a certified Interpretive Guide through the National Association for Interpretation and a certified Master Naturalist in New York state where he is also a licensed trail guide. He lives in New York City where he can often be found botanizing in Central Park and leading tree walks to pass this literacy onto others.

Watch Carey’s August 2024 Sunday Platform: “The Making of a Young Naturalist”: