Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary

In defense of less yardwork:
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I just built a bird bath. Costco purchase, not too complicated. I set it in the middle of this mess of plants I've planted, which actually had some great color already this year. I have it in mind that I'm going to create a better backyard habitat for birds and other animals. The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife has an interesting program where you can apply to have your backyard listed as an official sanctuary, and get a certificate to prove it. I'm doing it. They provide instruction on how to make the backyard more hospitable for animals and birds.
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http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/backyard/
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There is actually a lot written about this sort of thing in environmental circles. Aldo Leopold is the author of a book called The Sand County Almanac, which is really well known for addressing the conservation ethic. I have it in mind that in this book he promoted letting things grow, and letting nature have its way in places, and appreciating nature in all its forms, nearby and far off. There are counterviews, even within environmental circles--Leopold's work is part of the debate between applying conservation or preservation principles to land management policy.
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I probably fall more out on the conservation side, but it depends sometimes. For example, I think we really need wilderness, even if we never go to it. Just knowing its there gives hope for getting away sometime. I think Ed Abbey said that, and I buy it. I like knowing Alaska is up there, that there are no roads in the North Cascades. One of my favorite poems is The World is Too Much With Us, by William Wordsworth, the basic idea of which is sometimes getting away is good for the soul. And less yardwork, good for the birds.
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To wrap this up--and really I just started this to toss up a link about the backyard sanctuary program, which I think is cool--but to wrap this up, here's a quote from Aldo Leopold's essay, Conservation Aesthetic--
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"Like all real treasures of the mind, perception can be split into infinitely small fractions without losing its quality. The weeds in a city lot convey the same lesson as the redwoods; the farmer may see in his cow-pasture what may not be vouchsafed to the scientist adventuring in the South Seas. Perception, in short, cannot be purchased with either learned degrees or dollars; it grows at home as well as abroad, and he who has a little may use it to better advantage than he who has much. As a search for perception, the recreational stampede is footless and unnecessary."