Land ethic refers to an approach to issues of land use that emphasizes conservation and respect for our natural environment. Rejecting the belief that all natural resources should be available for unchecked human exploitation, a land ethic advocates land use without undue disturbances of the complex, delicately balanced ecological systems of which humans are a part. Land ethic, environmental ethics, and ecological ethics are sometimes used interchangeably.

Discussions of land ethic, especially in the United States, usually begin with a reference of some kind to Aldo Leopold. Many participants in the debate over land and resource use admire Leopold's prescient and pioneering quest and date the beginnings of a land ethic to his A Sand County Almanac, published in 1949. However, Leopold's earliest formulation of his position may be found in "A Conservation Ethic," a benchmark essay on ethics published in 1933.

Even recognizing Leopold's remarkable early contribution...