Norfolk Reads Leopold: A Community Reading Event

March marks the return of geese, the flow of maple sap, and the celebration of Leopold Week! Each year around the first week and weekend of March, organizations and individuals across the country celebrate Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic® through community readings, film screenings, outdoor activities, and more. From the first planned event in Lodi Wisconsin in 2000 to the plethora of events held today, Leopold Week has been going strong for over 20 years now, bringing people from every corner of the United States and across the globe together in celebration of Aldo Leopold’s lasting legacy.

On Sunday, March 8, the Norfolk Library is hosting a Community Reading of selections from A Sand County Almanac. This event has been planned with the support of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, which has helped produce Community Reading events throughout the country since 2000. Norfolk Reads Leopold will enhance the town’s awareness of the Land Ethic and the transformative power a community has in living with and caring for the land. Copies of A Sand County Almanac will be distributed at the event.

A Sand County Almanac achieved prominence around the first Earth Day in 1970 and has been reborn for Earth Day 50.  The 2020 edition of this timeless writing meets a new generation of readers with an introduction by famed author and conservationist Barbara Kingsolver.  Through science, history, humor and prose, Leopold uses A Sand County Almanac and its call for a land ethic to communicate the true connection between people and the natural world.  The hope: that readers will begin to treat the land with the love and respect that it deserves.

Please register below for this program.

As part of Leopold Week, the Norfolk Church of  Christ will be screening Green Fire on Thursday, March 5. Follow Aldo Leopold’s journey from forester to influential conservation visionary. Through restoration work at his Wisconsin farm and writing “A Sand County Almanac,” Leopold developed his revolutionary “land ethic.” Today, his impact is felt in conservation efforts worldwide. The film challenges us to consider our own relationship.

Leopold Week 2026 includes a virtual speaker series, sponsored by the Aldo Leopold Foundation, featuring Alexis Nikole Nelson (@TheBlackForager), Dr. Jennifer Grenz, and Dr. Dacher Keltner. From harvesting edible plants and medicines to seeking out jaw-dropping landscapes and ancestral connections that make us feel a true sense of belonging, these speakers will share the healing forces that can help lead us back to healthy, fulfilling relationships with the natural world.  

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