Stewardship describes the desire of people to care for and live compatibly with the natural environment. It is not some lofty ideal that views people as isolated from the land. Instead, it is a practical approach to everyday life, whereby people consider the natural environment in their decision-making and, at every opportunity, make an effort to accommodate, enhance, and protect their land.
Stewardship invites a broad perspective.
It asks a landowner to step back and view the natural areas on his or her property as an assembly of communities that take their strength from relationships. It considers the role of the property in the context of neighboring lands and the larger, regional landscape. To look at land in this way is both thrilling and humbling. The truth is, we can't, which is why preserving the integrity of an existing natural area is always preferable to trying to restore or create one. But many lands have already undergone dramatic change, and can surely benefit from our efforts to replace what has been lost and create at least the opportunity for the natural relationships to begin establishing anew.