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Weed Laws Article on Landscaping (John Marshall Law Review) Page 5 of 27 member of a community of interdependent parts. His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in that community, but his ethics prompt him also to co- operate (perhaps in order that there may be a place to compete for). The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively, the land. In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land- community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow- members, and also respect for the community as such.44 Aldo Leopold began practicing his Land Ethic through natural landscaping in the late 1930s. In central Wisconsin, he "sought to take a tract of wornout land and bring it back to its original state.i45 On the "Sand Farm," as it was known, Leopold was inspired to compose the Sand County Almanac. In addition to practicing rural natural landscaping at his Sand Farm, Leopold was responsible for the first urban American natural landscape.46 In 1932, Leopold oversaw the restoration of two square miles of derelict farmland to its natural state at the University of Wisconsin aboretum.47 The Land Ethic he espoused and the practice of ecological restoration he began in Madison and on his farm are the foundational precursors of the modern natural landscape movement. This movement, however, must overcome regressive weed laws and uniformed public officials who reject the Land Ethic. E. The Judicial Acceptance of the Land Ethic The biocentric Land Ethic, the welding of ecology, esthetics, and ethics to recognize humankind's inter - dependence with Nature, is part of the common law. In Southern Illinois, for example, the Cache River Natural area once considered a swamp whose raison d'etre was to be drained by farmers, is now a National Natural Heritage Landmark, the preservation of which an appellate court held takes precedence over the desires of farmers.48 In Minnesota, Leopold's Land Ethic was expressly adopted by the state's supreme court as the guiding principle for construction of state envirommental law.49 Justice Douglas relied on Leopold to support his argument for a broad definition of standing in environmental cases.5o The Land Ethic, unfortunately, has not penetrated the minds or affected policy decisions of some city legislators and officials who cling to archaic and environmentally hostile weed laws and prosecute natural landscapers. Such actions contradict. humankind's true relationship with Nature. The history of local weed laws explains their intransigence. Slowly, through the efforts of various citizens and groups, the ignorance and history that girds these laws, is being wittled away. This article now turns to that history. III. A HISTORY OF WEED LAWS AND THE BATTLES OVER THEM A. Why We Have Weed Laws http: / /www.epa.gov /glnpo /greenacres /weedlaws /JMLR.html 2/22/01