Calvin B. DeWitt Professor Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies University of Wisconsin-Madison
Mar 26, 2015
Calvin B. DeWittProfessor
Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Discovery about our Land and Life
We discovered that our rural town, which comes to us as a great gift that sustains our very lives, was seriously imperiled by human behavior.
We discovered that we were allowing the gradual degradation of human community and the living landscape on which everything depends..
We found that the costs of this degradation of land an life was becoming manifest throughout our town and surrounding region, and would adversely affect all generations to come.
Photo of our Town Garage
We Responded with Deliberate Action:
We…Selected and elected new Town Board MembersConducted a thorough Cultural & Landscape
InventoryUsed what we found to establish a Dunn Land
Ethic
The INVENTORY we conducted was:
Of all of our assets, human and naturalCultural AssetsSoils --- Using the Soil Survey and Local
ExpertiseWetlands, Woodlands, Farmlands, StreamsInventory of Plants, Vertebrates, Invertebrates…
Of degradations and threats to land and community
Soil lossLoss of farmsDegradation of streams and wetlands…
Ten Components of the Dunn Land Ethic
We Responded with Deliberate Action:
We…Selected and elected new town board membersConducted a thorough inventoryUsed what we found to establish a Dunn Land
EthicAdopted a land stewardship plan by referendumAdopted a purchase-of-development rights (PDR)
programVoted to raise our own taxes to pay PDR costs
We Responded with Deliberate Action:
We…Selected and elected new town board membersConducted a thorough inventoryUsed what we found to establish a Dunn Land EthicAdopted a land stewardship plan by referendumAdopted a purchase-of-development rights (PDR)
programVoted to raise our own taxes to pay PDR costsProvided for continual & consistent enforcementProvided for annual law corrections to maintain justice
Following Through… …an Invitation for Action
We act promptly and carefully, without delay.We maintain a democratic process at every level to
lead our town toward responsible con-service.We follow through with enforcement, without
favors.We work to improve achievement of our land and
community stewardship goals annually.We provide to other communities information and
assistance in taking similar actions.We invite others across the continent, and around
the world to join us in these efforts.
We came to realize that all of us are in a continual, sustained, and interactive relationship with lives and the landscape.
This is a RECIPROCAL SERVICE between land and people---a kind of negotiation between “garden” and “gardener”--- a “CON-SERVICE” between people and the biosphere in which biospheric service to human beings and other life is returned with service of our own.
Living with Plants & Soils in Town and Biosphere
Key Elements of the Dunn Land Ethic
Establish and Nurture CommunityContinually Practice Con-Service
Embrace Citizens & the Biosphere with Diligence
Thank you…