Service Kicks Off America's Wild Read, a Virtual Book Club

Service Kicks Off America's Wild Read, a Virtual Book Club
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today the launch of a new virtual book club aiming to engage and inspire readers to connect with the outdoors and nature.
 
America’s Wild Read will feature noted ecologist E.O. Wilson’s first novel Anthill, the story of a boy whose Huck Finn-inspired summer in rural Alabama teaches him deeper understandings of nature and its most ruthless predators. Readers will also share insights on two related essays: Thinking Like a Mountain by Aldo Leopold, an early founder of the land conservation movement, and Once and Future Land Ethic, by Dr. Curt Meine, senior fellow at the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Both essays can be accessed online at http://AmericasWildlife.org/WildRead.
 
The online discussions of the essays and Anthill will begin on May 1, 2011, and May 15, 2011, respectively. Conservation writers Curt Meine and Will Stolzenburg (author of Where the Wild Things Were) and other scholars, poets, and even an ant expert will moderate the virtual book club organized by the Service’s National Conservation Training Center. A complete list of moderators and discussion questions is available at the link above.
 
America’s Wild Read will culminate the week of July 10, 2011, when the National Wildlife Refuge System unveils its new 10-year vision, Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation,during a conference to be held in Madison, Wisconsin, near Aldo Leopold’s family home. The conference will feature a live Wild Read dialogue for readers attending the event and readers participating via the Web. Learn more about the effort to craft a renewed vision for the Refuge System at http://AmericasWildlife.org.
 
The National Conservation Training Center is the home of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a leader in environmental sustainability. The center provides quality training tailored to support Service employees and conservation partners in the accomplishment of the agency’s mission. For more information about NCTC or our green practices, visit http://nctc.fws.gov.