This past year has had many activities surrounding the Gila Wilderness Centennial. We started off with the Natural History of the Gila Symposium the end of February. Then there was a series of talks and films related to the theme of wilderness, past, present and future. Most of the communities surrounding our local wildernesses, the Gila, the Aldo Leopold and the Blue Range, all within the Gila National Forest, held celebrations of many kinds. The official Centennial celebration was May 29 – June 2, 2024 in Silver City. There were two days of watching 7 most excellent, short films on all aspects of the Gila Wilderness created by the students of the Gila Film School. There was an outstanding exhibit of 135 pieces of local student Wilderness Prose, Poetry, and Art on display in the lobby of the Silco Theater in Silver City. Students from Hot Springs High School in Truth or Consequences, Stout Elementary and Aldo Leopold Charter School in Silver City all took part and displayed pieces of inspiring art and poetry from their hearts. Then there was a fascinating series of Speaker Panels featuring speakers from all over the United States with differing views on the meaning of Wilderness. Then followed a family day in Gough Park, Silver City with many informative booths, Some dancing by indigenous tribes and even a cross-cut saw competition. But this Centennial was just a momentum builder as the necessary discourse about our wild lands continues on.
On June 2 there was a large presentation event at Los Ranchos Agri-Nature Center in Los Ranchos, New Mexico featuring an experienced panel of experts on the wilderness theme and finishing with a presentation by Aldo Leopold himself. Several members of the audience commented on how well he looked for someone who had recently celebrated his 137th birthday.
In the midst of all of these activities, the New Mexico Humanities Council reached out to me about a new program they wanted to start called Starting Conversations. In late April, our crew met on AT and Cinda Cole’s Pitchfork Ranch, an hour south of Silver City. The Humanities Council provided the expertise for filming the project with Goiyo Perez, Videographer running the filming along with Bethany Tabor, Senior Program Officer of the Council. We came up with four topics to explore:
#1 Wilderness with Henry Provencio, retired Gila Forest Wilderness District Ranger and Aldo Leopold (aka Steve Morgan)
#2 Indigenous Peoples Land Ethic Influence on Aldo Leopold’s thinking with Dr. Dan Shilling, Historical Archeologist and Aldo Leopold
#3 Land Restoration and the Southwest Cienegas with A.T. Cole, owner of the Pitchfork Ranch (south of Silver City) with his wife Cinda, and Aldo Leopold
#4 The Land Ethic with Dr. Dan Shilling and Aldo Leopold
The first two have been posted on the New Mexico Humanities Council u-tube channel and I have included their links for you to watch. The next two come out on August 1st and August 15th, 2024. I will post those links when they become available.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gF3rvPY0Tc
https://youtu.be/0d-zRZynJmE?si=7yROTUNzaSMDkWpL
I think that Aldo Leopold would have closed with a statement like this: With all of the misinformation out in our society today, it is important to filter facts from fiction. The internet is an amazing tool when it comes to quickly researching a topic and learning what we know. Repeating fantastical stories seems to be a current theme amongst many of our community members. Best to check something out for yourself if your goal is to practice honesty, integrity and good ethics. There are a good many people out there today which a friend of mine calls Sheeple. They have a shepherd who keeps them content and they do not ask questions. Please leave the flock and join those of us who truly believe in compassion for all.
Respect each other and the life and land that surrounds us. Laugh with life or at yourself but not at somebody else’s expense. Look at the world around you and be honest in your observations. As Aldo Leopold kept up his keen observations on the life going on around him, he actually realized that some of his earlier thinking was flawed and HE CHANGED HIS THINKING. Hope you enjoy the podcasts and keep asking questions, real questions.