Road Journals – Easter 2008

-The Finale-

“We must think like a mountain,

Not like men.”

Aldo Leopold,

Philosopher, Educator, and Conservationist

It’s my favorite place in New Mexico

A place that I have visited many times

A vast, wondrous, truly natural landscape

A place still so superbly, wild and sublime

Home to a very ancient race called the Mogollon

Who resided here in the Gila, as early as 300 B.C.

Every time I gaze upon its wild, wondrous landscape

The thought of these ancient cliff dwellers amazes me

Next came a race of people from the frozen north

Who called themselves ‘The People’ or, the ‘N’de

My wife’s ancient ancestors, who came from Alaska

We call these ancient nomadic people, ‘Apache’ today

And from the days of the Mogollon, in the year 300 B.C.

To when Geronimo finally surrendered, in the year 1886

This vast, glorious, natural paradise had not changed at all

But a mere 30 years later, settlers were ruining it, bit by bit

That’s when Aldo Leopold started advocating that we should save it

We should start ‘thinking like a mountain, not like men’ he would say

And in 1924, our government leaders finally began agreeing with him

About 500,000 acres of this vast glorious wilderness, still remain today

But there are many politicians, timber companies, and special interest groups

That now have their sights set on chopping down its wondrous ponderosa pine

So I pray that a truly dedicated generation of nature lovers will rise up to save it

It’s one of the last pristine areas in the lower 48 states, and to me, it is truly divine

New Mexico’s ancient Gila Wilderness once encompassed over 775,000 acres of land, and it was once home to the ancient wolf, the ancient grizzly bear, and numerous bands of ancient, nature revering, Native American peoples.

Thanks to the efforts of Aldo Leopold, nearly 500,000 acres of this glorious wilderness still remain today; and the Gila was the very first ‘administrative wilderness’ ever established in our nation’s National Forest System.

And today, it is still home to the mountain lion, black bear, elk, bighorn sheep, mule and white-tailed deer, javelina, coatimundi, blue grouse, red-tailed hawk, Mexican spotted owl, and bald eagle.

What remains today of this vast, ancient, natural, paradise, is still an exceptionally vibrant, exceptionally rich, and exceptionally diverse wilderness habitat; and it still contains the world's largest remaining virgin ponderosa pine forest.

But I hope that the Gila is still here, in all its ancient glory, a hundred years from now.  If only many more can somehow learn ‘to think like a mountain,’ perhaps, they might save it, somehow.

©2008, Mr. Ed