Heinrich Recognizes 100th Anniversary Of Gila Wilderness

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on June 4, 2024
- 3:53 pm

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich

U.S. SENATE News:

SILVER CITY — Today marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Forest Service designating the Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico as the first designated and protected wilderness area on Earth.

Over the weekend, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, delivered keynote remarks at a community celebration of the anniversary in Silver City, N.M., the gateway community to the Gila Wilderness.

“Knowing what the Gila Wilderness has meant to me and my family over these last few decades, I appreciate that wild places like this are still here. They’re here thanks to the visionary Americans and New Mexicans who fought to protect them,” Heinrich said. “I want this wilderness—and the free-flowing waters that support it—to be there for future generations to make new, lasting memories. I can think of no more fitting way to honor the legacy that has been built by so many over the first century of our world’s first designated wilderness.”

Last week, a resolution that Heinrich led to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Gila Wilderness passed in the Senate. Heinrich is also continuing to lead the effort to pass the M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which would provide enhanced protections for the watershed that supports the Gila Wilderness.