"For 40 years Sumner has regularly made time to record the stories of
Wisconsin field biologists, ecologists, conservation biologists, and
land stewards. Among them are the well-known and recognized as well as
the more obscure and overlooked. All made vital contributions to natural
history and conservation in Wisconsin. Some were scientists and
teachers. Others were writers and advocates, public servants and
citizens. All, in some way, were wisdom-keepers. Their lives span a
century and a half, and many never met. Yet they are connected across
their diverse places and times and experiences. They shared a passion
for what Aldo Leopold called "things natural, wild, and free." They
carried the same conviction that we are bonded to the land and all its
inhabitants and to one another upon it. Sumner's perseverance in
gathering their voices has only increased the value of his work. In
fact, we need these voices and stories now more than ever. We need them
to ground us as we face a future of rapidly changing social, economic,
and environmental realities, most especially the uncertain effects of
accelerating climate change. We need them, more than anything, to
nurture the next generation of citizen-conservationists." --From Curt
Meine's Foreword to Afield.