Wilding

It was fortuitous that while heading deeper into New Mexico’s Gila National Forest, the local public radio station was broadcasting a Dave Foreman lecture. The talk must have been given around 7 or 8 years ago as it marked the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act (signed under Lyndon Johnson in 1964).  Foreman, pioneering environmentalist and principal defender of Wild, was speaking at the time in nearby Silver City, New Mexico.  The audience was made up of residents in a community with a long history of investing in the natural environment.  We were lucky, these years later, to catch the re-broadcast as Foreman was talking about Aldo Leopold and the Gila Wilderness - just where we were traveling on this sunny March morning.

The Gila River, Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Area

 The Gila Wilderness is the first designated wilderness in America.  It was designated as such in 1924 under Aldo Leopold’s concept of retaining large expanses of wild lands, free from mechanized vehicles and resource harvesting.  Leopold, renowned conservationist and a founder of the Wilderness Society was also a forester, wildlife manager, ecologist, and naturalist.   His A Sand County Almanac is a benchmark of environmental ethics.  There is a plaque at the Leopold Vista in the National Forest that describes him as a “practical idealist,” apt as it reflects the possibility of socio-ecological resilience by putting wild ideas into action as Leopold achieved.  This is evidenced at the vista as the onlooker sees the vast landscape Leopold helped to preserve.

Aldo Leopold Vista, Gila National Forest

 The Gila National Forest is a landscape with a layered history from Mogollon and Apache Indians, Spanish and Mexican settlers, transient miners, prospectors, and ranchers.  Entering the Wilderness, the area is a healthy representation of forests, semi-arid lowlands, and a wild Western landscape of mountains and canyons and rock architecture.  The Gila River flows, the trees are tall and numerous, and the role of fire is evident.  The Mexican Wolf, an apex predator reintroduced in 1998, has experienced a population increase in recent years after a fraught recovery effort. Rewilding, too, is a key component in modern wilderness. 

 In his talk, Foreman cites a Leopold quote: “There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.”  This was marvelous to ponder as we went to visit Wild.