The new campus is essential to the foundation's mission of fostering land ethic nationally through educational outreach, land stewardship initiatives and research. The Leopold Legacy Center serves as an extension of Leopold's philosophies in the 21st Century by serving as a model of ecological fitness.

The cluster of buildings were built near the Shack on the land where Aldo Leopold died in 1948 fighting a neighbor's brush fire. The design and construction of the cluster of buildings utilized the high standards set by the USGBC and combined energy efficiency, local and recycled materials and ecological components and systems.

After considerable soul-searching, Leopold's surviving children decided the pines planted by their father with their help 70 years ago needed to be thinned to limit disease and promote healthy growth. Part of the deal was that the logs remain the property of the Aldo Leopold Foundation and were the primary source of posts, beams and trusses for the Leopold Center. The smaller pine logs were used for flooring, paneling and trim. Even the logging slash and small trees were turned over to the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory on the UW campus, where Leopold once served as assistant director, to be used as pulp for making paper. The paper will be used to print even more meaningful copies of "A Sand County Almanac."

The Leopold Center includes classrooms for educational programming and outreach, an exhibit area featuring authentic Leopold artifacts, an archives and library space that will provide access to digitized writings, photos and sketches and will employ web-based distance learning technology. The Center also features laboratories, workrooms and equipment to allow work to continue in ecological restoration and to conduct scientific and social research pertinent to the development, adoption and implementation of the land ethic.

The Aldo Leopold Foundation is a non-profit group that seeks to further land conservation concepts, living with the land and improving our environment.

• Photovoltaic System
• Harvesting On-Site Lumber
• Ground Source Heat Pump
• Natural Daylighting
• Recycled Materials
• Waste Recycling Plan
• Erosion Control Plan
• Rainwater Harvesting
• Composting Toilets
• Waterless Urinals
• Energy Efficient Lighting
• Earth-Coupled Natural
• Ventilation System