In 2024, we have a good time the 100-year anniversary of the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico, drawing our consideration to the Gila River. A key tributary of the Colorado River, the Gila River originates within the Gila Wilderness—our nation’s first designated wilderness space (est. 1924)—and is wealthy in organic range and cultural historical past. However after generations of growth, prolonged droughts, and a altering local weather, the necessity to actively preserve this space is even better. With continued consideration to local weather resilience together with land and water stewardship, forest and watershed well being, outside recreation, agriculture, historic preservation and wildlife species safety, the Gila River and Wilderness might be protected for hundreds of years extra.
The Gila River is the house of historic peoples and Apaches and represents one of many final free-flowing rivers within the Southwest. This ecologically-intact river system, dominated nonetheless by multi-aged native species, has proven superb resilience, having recovered from channelization and over-grazing, and serves as a uncommon reference level for pure river capabilities within the arid Southwest.
The Gila River helps excellent examples of southwestern “bosque” or riparian forest and an abundance of wildlife. Due to the unimaginable outside recreation alternatives from bird-watching to sport-fishing to climbing and time within the wilderness, the Gila River offers vital financial worth to southwestern New Mexico. Cottonwood and willow forests alongside the river assist high-value hen habitat for greater than 250 species of birds—some say this river helps one of many highest concentrations of breeding birds in America, together with the federally-endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher and federally-threatened Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The Gila River encompasses three separate designated Necessary Chicken Areas (IBA) together with the Gila-Cliff Space IBA, Gila Chicken Space IBA, and Decrease Gila Field IBA. Audubon’s beginnings in New Mexico are linked to this space, as members organized to combat dams within the Sixties and shaped the primary New Mexico chapter, the Southwestern New Mexico Audubon Society.
The Gila River additionally helps many different essential species. It helps probably the most intact native fish communities within the Decrease Colorado River Basin together with the federally-endangered loach minnow, spike dace and federally-threatened Gila trout. Moreover, the federally-endangered northern Mexican garter snake and Chiricahua leopard frog dwell within the area.
In 2019, American Rivers, certainly one of Audubon’s conservation companions, designated the Gila River as America’s Most Endangered River due to a threatened diversion and infrastructure that threatened the well being and habitat of this important river.
In 2023, the State of New Mexico established the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund to dedicate sustainable funding for current land, water, and wildlife conservation packages by current state packages. Preliminary seed cash of $100 million was invested in 2023, and in 2024 the legislature invested a further $300 million to the fund, guaranteeing it may well survive by itself curiosity in perpetuity at present output ranges.
We’re grateful for this historic funding, realizing we are going to should be vigilant for the following 100 years to make sure the Gila River and the wilderness can even final in perpetuity.
