By BEN NEARY
NMWF Conservation Director
New Mexico, birthplace of the wilderness movement, remains one of the best places on the planet for those who enjoy getting away from it all. But a top federal land manager says it’s increasingly important that state residents not take its vast wilderness resources for granted.
The Gila Wilderness, the world’s first designated wilderness, was created in 1924 at the urging of Aldo Leopold, the founder of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. Since then, dozens of other wilderness areas have been designated around the state.
Dr. Karl Malcolm, regional wildlife ecologist for the Southwestern Region of the U.S. Forest Service, plans to speak on the importance of wilderness at a lecture organized by the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. The free event is from 5:30-7:30 p.m., Wed., May 15, at Marble Brewery’s Northeast Heights location, 9904 Montgomery Blvd., NE, in Albuquerque.
A biologist whose studies have taken him around the world, Malcolm received his PhD in Wildlife Ecology in 2011 for his studies on the role of nature reserves in sustaining biodiversity in southwestern China. He completed the degree through a joint appointment with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
Malcolm said his international work has made him appreciate the public land system in the United States even more. New Mexico’s significance in the history of the wilderness movement was critical in his decision to accept a Presidential Management Fellowship with the Forest Service’s Southwestern Region in 2012.
In a recent interview with the NMWF, Malcolm said his talk will cover the history of the wilderness movement, starting with the establishment of the Gila Wilderness in 1924. He will also address the wide range of outdoor recreation opportunities that wilderness provides to New Mexicans.
Pioneering conservationists such as Leopold and President Theodore Roosevelt first set aside wilderness areas.
“You end up having these remote places to allow people who like to hunt and fish an opportunity to escape the masses,” Malcolm said.
Malcolm himself is an avid hunter and frequent guest on the MeatEater podcast with Steven Rinella. Malcolm just returned from a week-long turkey hunt in the Gila Wilderness and said he plans to relate some of his experiences on the hunt.
Malcolm said his talk also will include an overview about how federal land management agencies work to safeguard the core values of wilderness.
Malcolm plans to talk about the distribution of wilderness areas throughout New Mexico. He said he will allow attendees to provide him with their email addresses so he can send them information about all the dozens of wilderness areas in the state.
In addition, Malcolm said he will talk from a wildlife ecology standpoint about how wilderness areas are critically important for providing habitat for rare, endemic species, including the Gila trout, the Rio Grande cutthroat trout and others.
One of the biggest challenges facing land managers is the question of how to respond to global climate change, Malcolm said. When the Wilderness Act was signed in 1964, he said the idea wasn’t on anybody’s radar.
“So the idea at the time was you could establish an area that was big enough that it could be spared the effects of human activity, modern human activity,” Malcolm said “Now, of course, we know that there’s nowhere on the globe that’s not subjected to human influences, climate change being the predominant example of that. And so, how do you strike that balance between allowing a place to be wild while it simultaneously could be undermined through climate change? I think is a big challenge, a big threat.”
Malcolm said he’s also concerned that the increasing urbanization of mankind poses another threat to the future of wilderness.
“There’s probably kind of a small and shrinking proportion of the citizenry that cares about whether or not we have super wild places at our disposal,” Malcolm said. “Which is why, I think having an opportunity to be talking to a bunch of folks, like I’ll be doing (on May 15) is the kind of thing I think we should be doing as much of as we can, because that awareness, I think, is key.”
The relative value of wilderness areas has increased since they were first created as surrounding areas have become increasingly developed, Malcolm said.
“To me, it’s one of the things that makes this country super unique and wealthy in a way that is hard to describe in financial terms, but maybe easier to describe in spiritual or social terms,” Malcolm said of wilderness. “And if you think about, within this country, New Mexico is one of the premier places to be a person seeking that kind of opportunity, because it’s everywhere.”
