Aldo Leopold: The Man Behind Our Name

Highway Marker on I-94 Honoring Aldo Leopold
Highway Marker on I-94 Honoring Aldo Leopold

Our clients and customers often wonder why our company is named Sand County Services. I went to college at the University of Wisconsin in Madison where students are introduced to a professor, author and environmentalist Aldo Leopold. His most famous book is called “A Sand County Almanac”. It’s a series of essays describing the environment around his cabin near the Wisconsin River, north of Madison. It reminded me of our family cabin on Prinel Lake, here in Burnett County.

When my parents, the founders of our company, moved here in 1984 to start a new life “Up North,” I gave them a nice copy of “A Sand County Almanac” for Christmas. As they explored ideas for starting a business as property managers and real estate sales, they were looking for a name. They wanted to have a name that described the area and did not specify the location, so they could expand the business in the future to the neighboring counties.

I suggested Sand County Services. The description in Aldo Leopold’s writings of the sandy soil, lakes, rivers, wildlife and nature was very similar to this area. I encourage anyone who loves nature to pick up a copy of “A Sand County Almanac” to enhance your view of our area. – Dave Boldon, Jr.