[PCA] QUESTION: Origin of "ecological restoration"?

[Peter Rauch]

Danielle's sense asks whether the term may be closer to a recognized "origin" in the UW / Leopold era. 

It's kind of hard to sort out the distinction between the general notion of "restoration" (of landscapes) from the explicit birth of the term "ecological restoration", both as a concept and as a specific terminology. I suppose which sense Danielle is interested in knowing about will have to be clarified by her. "Terms of art" can be very formal and discipline-constrained, or very general, in their origin/definition.

E.g., see http://uwarboretum.org/news/singlePost.php?id=313&origin=news where the suggestion is that "restoring lands" and "ecological restoration" has been a living concept, as in "For 75 years the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum has been dedicated to restoring the land, advancing the science and practice of ecological restoration...."

And, no doubt, if one goes back into the past, to various poets', essayists', naturalists',  writings, the notion of healing the land can be found as well, even if the literal term "ecological restoration" may not have been explicitly used.

Peter

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:17:28 -0700 (PDT)
>From: steve williams <steelheadwig at yahoo.com>
>To: Olivia Kwong <plant at plantconservation.org>
>Subject: Re: [PCA] QUESTION: Origin of "ecological restoration"?
>
>Wikipedia indicates late 80's, Aber and Jordan  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restoration_ecology   S
>
>
>----- Original Message ----
>From: Olivia Kwong <plant at plantconservation.org>
>To: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org
>Sent: Tue, April 20, 2010 3:09:40 PM
>Subject: [PCA] QUESTION: Origin of "ecological restoration"?
>
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:00:02 -0500
>From: Green.Danielle at epamail.epa.gov
>
>Where did the term of art "ecological restoration" originate?  I have a
>sense that it was coined at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum,
>following on Aldo Leopold's work, but am not sure.
>
>Thanks.
>Danielle
>
>Danielle Green
>U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
>Great Lakes National Program Office
>77 W. Jackson Blvd.  (G-17J)
>Chicago, Il  60604
>(p) 312-886-7594  (f) 312-353-2018
>green.danielle at epa.gov