Benefit screening at the Cozmic Café

On Saturday, March 2, the El Dorado Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, along with the Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation and the Placerville Natural Foods Co-op will host a benefit screening of the film “Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and A Land Ethic for Our Time,” with filmmaker and director Steve Dunsky of the US Forest Service on hand to introduce the film and answer questions.

“Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and A Land Ethic for Our Time” is the Emmy award-winning, full-length HD documentary, produced by the U.S. Forest Service, about the life and legacy of conservationist pioneer Aldo Leopold, author of “A Sand County Almanac” and the man who “saved” the American wilderness.

His influence is felt throughout the world of forestry, wilderness and conservation, from Trout Unlimited and similar hunting and fishing groups that help protect and restore healthy habitat for game and other species, to the Wilderness Society and the USFS work to preserve American wilderness and public lands, and ensure that their management preserves and maintains healthy habitat for all species.

The preservation of Desolation Valley Wilderness and Mokelumne Wilderness in the Sierra, as well as all federally designated and protected wilderness areas throughout the country, is owed to Leopold’s influence.

The designation of the Gila Wilderness, straddling Arizona and New Mexico, was due to his personal efforts, and was the first Federally designated Wilderness Area in the U.S. Leopold’s book,” A Sand County Almanac,” stands beside Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” as the seminal work in the development of American and worldwide environmental and conservation concern and action.

“Green Fire” is a production of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Center for Humans and Nature. The film shares highlights from Leopold’s life and extraordinary career, showing how he shaped conservation in the twentieth century and continues to inspire people throughout the world today.

“Aldo Leopold’s legacy lives on today in the work of people and organizations across the nation and around the world,” said Aldo Leopold Foundation Executive Director Buddy Huffaker. “What is exciting about ‘Green Fire’ is that it is more than just a documentary about Aldo Leopold; it also explores the influence his ideas have had in shaping the conservation movement as we know it today by highlighting inspiring people and organizations doing the great work to connect people and the natural world in ways that Leopold could not have imagined.”

“Green Fire” illustrates Leopold’s continuing influence today by exploring current projects that connect people and land at the local level. Viewers will meet urban children in Chicago learning about local foods and ecological restoration. They’ll learn about ranchers in Arizona and New Mexico who maintain healthy landscapes by working on their own properties and with their neighbors in cooperative community conservation efforts. They’ll meet wildlife biologists who are bringing back threatened and endangered species like cranes and Mexican wolves to landscapes where they once thrived.

“Green Fire” film portrays how Leopold’s vision of a community that cares about both people and land — his call for a land ethic — ties all of these modern conservation stories together, and offers inspiration and insight for the future.

“Green Fire” is being presented by the El Dorado Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, part of the statewide non-profit parent CNPS. EDC CNPS works to identify, protect and preserve the great and diverse florist heritage of the Sierra Nevada foothills and mountains, and works to educate visitors and residents alike about our rich natural heritage, ensuring that future generations will enjoy and appreciate this very special place where we live.

Proceeds from the “Green Fire” screening go to student and youth environmental education programs in El Dorado County.

For more on EDC CNPS see eldoradocnps.org or visit the El Dorado CNPS on Facebook at ElDoradoCNPS.

This program is also being co-sponsored by the Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation, an organization that works to protect and preserve sensitive habitat in the Sierra mountains and foothills, and the Placerville Natural Foods Co-op, a member owned food cooperative committed to “local, sustainable, choices” for all food shoppers in the Placerville area and El Dorado County.

The film will be shown at the Cozmic Cafe, 594 Main St. in Placerville, on March 2 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $10 at the door, $8 in advance and $7 for student. Children 12 and under are free. Advance ticket purchase is encouraged due to limited seating. All proceeds benefit student environmental education programs in El Dorado County.

Tickets are available at the Cozmic Café or at the Placerville Natural Foods Co-op at 535 Placerville Drive.