Summary of “Thinking Like a Mountain” Aldo Leopold's essay “Thinking Like a Mountain” sheds light on an important question in the ecosystem regarding the importance of a single organism. Leopold attempts to help the reader understand the importance of all animals in the ecosystem by allowing a wolf, a deer, and a mountain to represent the ecosystem and how changes between them cause negative effects on each other. Leopold recounts killing a wolf and seeing "fierce green fire" dying in his eyes, this became a transformative moment in his life forcing him to rethink the beliefs he had grown up with. By linking the death of the wolf to the health of the mountain, he was inspired to promote the idea that all predators are important to the ecosystem. He therefore believed that all native organisms are fundamental to the health of the land, if a change occurs in one part of the circuit, many parts will have to adapt to it and if something is removed the consequence can be harmful. The essay highlights the idea that all living things on earth have a purpose and that everything is interdependent on each other. Each organism has a role to play in the ecosystem and each has its effects on the others. To explain this idea the leopard begins by describing the wolf's howl: “A deep pectoral cry echoes from rock to rock, rolls down the mountain and vanishes into the distant darkness of night. It is an explosion of wild, defiant pain and contempt for all the adversities of the world. Every living being (and perhaps even many dead) heeds that call. Leopold explains how the wolf's howl has different meanings for different organisms in the ecosystem. The howl is not simply a wolf call, but generates a...... middle of paper...... which was not very prominent at that time. He worked to learn about it so he could help other people understand. In conclusion, Leopold explains the importance of the wolf and its effects on others. By doing this it is clear that every part of the ecosystem plays an important role and the effects that each individual organism has on each other are great. Leopold personifies the mountain so that people can think objectively about the environment and act so as not to harm it. Humans have become alienated from the rest of nature, and Leopold wants everyone to understand that we are all part of one large, interconnected system. Leopold does not want us to parallel his youthful actions by continuing to be ignorant towards the environment and by writing this essay he is able to help educate people. Works Cited http://www.eco-action.org/dt/thinking.html