Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2013 --- 7:55 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The University of Wisconsin-Madison is celebrating conservationist Aldo Leopold this weekend.

The UW-Madison Arboretum will host a daylong public reading from Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac" on Saturday. A mix of people will read essays about Leopold's conservation philosophy and his observations of plant and animal life cycles, including his granddaughter Madelyn Leopold.

Leopold archive materials and artifacts will be on display in the reading room.

The first weekend in March is always chosen because March 4, 1948 is the date Leopold added to the foreword to the book. It was the last piece of writing he contributed to it. Six weeks later he died of an apparent heart attack.

There will also be a free "Walk with Leopold" tour Sunday. Leopold was the arboretum's first research director.

Copyright 2013: Associated Press