A land ethic for tomorrow should be as honest as Thoreau’s Walden, and as comprehensive as the sensitive science of ecology. It should stress the oneness of our resources and the live-and-help-live logic of the great chain of life. If, in our haste to “progress,” the economics of ecology are disregarded by citizens and policy makers alike, the result will be an ugly America.

Udall argues for a future “land ethic” that marries moral candor with scientific breadth. By invoking Thoreau’s Walden, he calls for personal honesty and restraint in how Americans relate to nature; by invoking ecology, he insists that policy must reflect the interdependence of living systems. The “oneness of our resources” and “live-and-help-live” logic frame nature not as a set of isolated commodities but as a connected community in which human prosperity depends on the health of soils, waters, plants, and animals. His warning about an “ugly America” suggests that ignoring ecological limits in the name of economic progress will degrade both landscapes and civic life.