Leopold Discussion

My viewpoint on Leopold's piece will be coming from a Christian perspective. Leopold's central point is that humans must develop a code of ethics between man and the land on which we live and grow. Leopold states, and I agree, that we must have more respect for the land on which we reside, and that we must treat the land and its resources with greater care. In Genesis 1:26 God says "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So I believe that God has given man dominion over the earth, and that God wants us to use the gifts within the earth to our benefit; but with this privilege I believe God has entrusted to us the responsibility of maintaining and protecting the earth from being destroyed.
I did not agree with Leopold that we should become members and citizens of the earth, coexisting with animals and plants, because I believe that man is a higher form of life than the animals and plants, and- going back to the scripture- we have dominion over these things, therefore we cannot be their equals but are required by God to be their superiors. To sum up my point of view, I believe that God has given man a responsibility to the world to cultivate it, take advantage of its resources, and to maintain and protect it.