America's First Wilderness by Kathleen Orlinsky
The Gila Wilderness spans 2,250 square kilometres of rugged country in southern New Mexico, USA. In 1924, the Forest Service designated it the world’s first wilderness area. This milestone of American conservation largely came about thanks to a young forester called Aldo Leopold, who saw the wilderness as a place to be protected both for – and from – humans. However, the Gila has always been inhabited by people, from Mogollon cliff dwellers thousands of years ago to the more recent Chiricahua Apache, who lived in the region for centuries before they were forced onto reservations.