(NOTICE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO MAY 15. IT WAS ORIGINALLY SET FOR EARLIER IN THE MONTH)
By BEN NEARY
NMWF Conservation Director
Marking the 100th anniversary of the designation of the Gila Wilderness, naturalist Steve Morgan will appear in the role of legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold to give a living history presentation at the New Mexico Wildlife Federation’s “Wildlife Wednesday” event in Albuquerque on May 15.
Morgan, a landscape architect from Hillsboro, has been performing “Chautauquas,” or performances in which he takes on the persona of Leopold, for about 10 years. He studied Leopold extensively for years before he began appearing in public in the role.
Morgan’s presentation will include a talk of about 45 minutes that he delivers in the character of Leopold. That will be followed by question/answer sessions with the audience both in character, and with Morgan answering as himself.
Morgan’s performances are particularly timely this year – the 100th anniversary of the designation by the U.S. Forest Service of the Gila Wilderness, the world’s first recognized wilderness. Special events to celebrate the Gila Wilderness’s 100th birthday are happening throughout the year, including speakers, hikes and volunteer opportunities.
Leopold was a young forester over a century ago when he proposed setting aside the GIla Wilderness. Forty years after the USFS declared the area as wilderness at his suggestion, it was among the first wildernesses recognized by Congress with the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964.
Today, the Gila Wilderness remains one of the largest, wildest areas in the Lower 48. It draws hunters, hikers, and naturists of all sorts to revel in its beauty and unspoiled nature.
“With the centennial, I’ve been doing several of these presentations,” Morgan said. “It’s kind of a history of how the wilderness came to be, and how I thought about that. And also, just really getting into the land ethic as well, because that ties into it. The importance of having that because it gives you the wild land to respect.
“If Leopold hadn’t done that, when he did, at that time period, we wouldn’t have much,” Morgan said. “It was going fast. And it’s been a battle ever since. Even since 1964, with the Wilderness Act, it’s still been a battle.”
Conservationists have beaten back several proposals to dam the Gila River over the years and conflicts over cattle grazing and the reintroduction of the Mexican Gray Wolf continue to flare up.
Leopold’s insights into the importance of preserving land, wildlife and diversity were far ahead of his time. His most famous book, “A Sand County Almanac,” lays out his philosophy of the importance of keeping ecosystems intact.
Among Leopold’s many accomplishments, he founded the organization that ultimately has become the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. He also pushed to create New Mexico’s game commission, intended to insulate wildlife management from political meddling.
When Leopold first proposed protecting the Gila as wilderness, he noted in an article in a forestry journal that the United States was quickly losing the large, undisturbed areas where a hunter could take a two-week pack trip and find the necessary combination of unspoiled, wild country and good game populations.
“Even in 1924, when he got that to go through, the GIla at that point was one of the last fairly untouched areas because it’s so damned rugged,” Morgan said.
“That was Leopold’s whole thing at the beginning – he was a sportsman,” Morgan said. “And his whole push for wilderness originally was to make sure that land was set aside to ensure that we had good hunting lands. That was the main reason at the beginning. And then you started seeing how important keeping the natural system in place, how important that actually was. So he changed a lot, he really did.
“One of the things Leopold said later in his life is that there were two things that he was really fascinated about,” Morgan said. “One of them was the relationship between people and people, and then the relationship between people and the land. Which pretty much covers everything. And he was fascinated with all of those relationships, because when you study those relationships, you start seeing patterns and that’s when you can start making good decisions.”
Morgan said his presentation covers how Leopold came to be in the West and how his experiences changed his thinking and ultimately convinced him that the growing nation needed to set land aside as wilderness.
Erosion control was one of Leopold’s passions and he saw as a forester that overgrazing was causing erosion, Morgan said. Leopold stated that stockmen need to realize that grazing livestock on public lands is a privilege.
“I’ve met a lot of ranchers who say, ‘it’s the way we’ve always done it; it’s the way we always should be able to do it.’ And I disagree,” Morgan said. “And Leopold did too, I know.’
After Leopold’s time in the Southwest, he worked as a professor in Wisconsin, from 1933 until his death in 1948.
“He taught and so that’s what I try to do with my performances now,” Morgan said. “I try to teach using his words as much as I can.
“I try to leave the audience with a few challenges of what to do the next day so it’s not just a one-time kind of performance,” Morgan said. “Hopefully, it leaves them with some things they can think about and go, ‘I need to do this.’
Morgan’s free presentation will start at 5:30 p.m. Wed., May 15, at Marble Northeast Heights Tap Room, 9904 Montgomery NE, Albuquerque.