On A Transition Of Aldo Leopold'Early And Late Opinion And Significance

With global environment problems becoming seriously, the scholars and the public paid more attention to the issue 'how to protect the environment', and two opinions what were protectionism and conservationism were coming out. The opinion of protectionism held on that the humanity took over the nature, nature was looked only as the methods and the tools for the human motive, the purpose of protecting the nature was only for the human perennial benefits, Gifford Pichot was on behalf of this theory; But the theory of conservationism insisted on the nature owns immanent value which nonrelianced on the humanity and was for itself, the protection of the nature was not the humanity but the nature, this thesis was represented by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In Leopold's early period , he supported the opinion of protectionism because of Pinchot's influence, but with the deepening practising and promotion of the thought, he got to know the limitation of protectionism, in the late period he converted to the opinion of conservationism.In this thesis, part one introduced Leopold's life in the three aspects of which were his family, study and work according to the time order. From this, we not only discovered that his family deeply influenced him and his family which was wealthy offered condition for him, but also his conversation was slow and thorough.; Part two assayed the background of his conversation and pointed out what converted his opinion were about the suspicion about developing economy fiercely, the government 's more attention to the nature resource, the culture of transcendentalism and liberalism, and the development of the ecology. So the internal and external reason caused Leopold's conversation; In the end, this article investigated Leopold's conversation which was from protectionism to conservationism, and pointed out this transition was carried on around economics and ecology. Leopold's early thought was based on economics, and according to it, he devoted himself for the human perennial benefits. In the late period, he thought over the relationship of the humanity and the nature in terms of ecology, and called for the harmonious development of them. Hisconversation not only contributed to the development of American forestry work , and promoted American conversation from traditional protection of resources to radical environmental protection, but also it played an inestimable role in American environment movement since the sixties of the 20th century, and had influenced the environmental protection sports from all parts of the world indirectly.