Wild & Scenic

The Gila Wilderness, the world’s first designated wilderness encompasses 559, 688 acres and is located in the Gila National Forest in southwest New Mexico. . It is the sixth largest designated wilderness area in the United States, covering an area of over 1.3 million acres and is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including pronghorn, elk, mule deer, and black bears. The area is known for its unique geology, with steep canyons, river valleys, and high mesas, as well as its wide variety of plant life, including piñon, juniper, and ponderosa pine. The area is popular with hikers, backpackers, and campers and offers opportunities for fishing, hunting, backpacking, grazing, horseback riding and camping, with many miles of hiking and horseback trails. Private property, water rights and man-made structures line the Gila River Systems.

New Mexico…

Historically Is A Ranching And Mining State

Traditional Use

Designating a river as Wild and Scenic can be bad for local water and property right owners because it can restrict their ability to use the river for activities such as fishing, boating, and swimming, as well as limit the development of new structures along the river. Additionally, Wild and Scenic status can limit the ability of landowners to access river water for agricultural and other purposes, leading to decreased profits. Finally, the designation can lead to increased regulation and oversight of activities along the river, which can be burdensome for local property owners.

For generations, the Gila River and its tributaries have been the lifeblood of the people in the Southwest. All who have spent their lives here have irrigated, watered, and depended upon the Gila River Systems. New Mexico became a state in 1912. In Grant county, three decades prior to that, the Shelley family arrived on Mogollon Creek with 80 head of cattle and made a home out of raw wilderness. Their descendants are currently ranching on the original homestead. The Kiehne family arrived in Catron county in 1884, and their descendants currently ranch in Catron county and throughout New Mexico. Although their story is amazing they are not entirely unique. Similar families such as Gutierrez, Billings, Rice and Eby families of Grant county; the McKeen, Bustamante and Atwood families in Catron County; the Welty and Henderson families in Sierra county; the Hiatt, Swapp, Nunn and McSherry families of Luna county; the Anderson, Jones, Reynolds and Wright families of Hidalgo county, and many more, all share the same legacy. These families represent the heritage of our area. They worked the land, irrigated fields of vegetables, grains, and hay, raised families and helped settle the wild lands that others feared. Because of their work and dependency on the water, they came to know our streams and river. Some streams only ran above ground in places, some dried up in the heat of the summer, all were dangerous when they flooded. Because of that, they learned to use this resource wisely. They kept the ditches clean and the water unpolluted, the forest's selectively thinned with logging so all trees could have enough water and fires didn’t burn hot and completely destroy the landscape. They knew the wild animals that roamed the country and could hunt and fish for survival. They came to understand the rich mineral sources of the area and the importance of water in obtaining those minerals. They worked with the land and water, built homes and communities that make our area what it is now. This is our heritage, not a commodity to be traded by power hungry politicians. The Wild & Scenic River designation provides the means of taking property and water rights from rural citizens by those who look with greedy eyes, at what does not belong to them.