Men Who Matched the Mountains: The Forest Service in the Southwest

Wilderness has magic in the very sound of the word, though it may mean many things to many people. It may be the poet's enjoyment of the quiet beauty, the artist's fascination with the colors of autumn, the hunter's excitement of stalking the trophies of the Forest, or the sightseer's delight over spectacular vistas. Whatever the magnet, there is strong empathy between man and wilderness.

As urban populations continue to swallow-up the greenery of the countryside, the importance of the existence of areas of unspoiled forests untouched by the inroads of modern civilization becomes all too apparent.

The pioneers of the Forest Service in the Southwest were men of vision. The technical forester had been trained to think in terms of years and decades, not merely days and weeks. They early saw the advantages of setting aside areas of the forest that would remain for all time in their primitive state, where no roads would be built, no trees cut, no mechanized equipment permitted. Such areas would be control plots in the forest for watershed protection for research and study and a tremendous recreation resource for those seeking solitude and refreshment of the soul away from the clangor and trappings of modern civilization.

Ward Shepard, who in 1914-15 had been a Ranger on the Gila National Forest when his District was part of the then-named Datil National Forest and who later served in the Regional Office was one of the first along with Aldo Leopold, the famous conservationist, to argue for setting aside wildernesses. They convinced John D. Jones, Chief of Lands of the Regional Office in the early 1920's, that an area in the Gila Forest should be set aside as a Wilderness.

"As Chief of Lands," Jones recalled, "I wrote the first plan—you might say the first limitations of what we would do. Ray Marsh signed it with me as Chief of Forest Management. It was about a paragraph and a half long. We made it fairly simple because we didn't know just how far we could go, so we left it so it could be amended later on. It was the first thing that was ever written in this Region, officially, on Wilderness areas. Leopold was always arguing for it, but Shepard was just as much in it as he was."

Gila Wilderness, Gila National Forest, was established by the Forest Service in 1924.

The first area of Wilderness in the Gila National Forest, the first in the Nation, was officially set aside by the Region in 1924. From that beginning evolved a National Forest Wilderness System comprising over 14 million acres in 73 National Forests.

In the Southwest—Region 3—there are now 1,669,535 acres within 16 wildernesses and Primitive Areas on 10 National Forests. Sixty percent of the Wilderness acreage is in New Mexico, the balance in Arizona.

Besides the Wildernesses, there were also Primitive Areas set aside by the Secretary of Agriculture in special recognition of their unique qualities and for further study for possible inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System.*

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*These are discussed in a later chapter.

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Recognizing the need and desirability of perpetuating Wildernesses, the Congress in 1964 adopted the Wilderness Act, setting up the National Wilderness Preservation System.

The Wilderness Act spells out the design of the Wilderness "in contrast to those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."

It is further defined to mean "an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural condition and which (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least 5,000 acres of land or is of sufficient size to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic or historical value."

The Southwestern Region Wildernesses that have been formally designated under the Wilderness Act are the Chiricahua, Galiuro, Mazatzal, Mount Baldy, Pine Mountain, Sycamore Canyon, Sierra Ancha and Superstition in Arizona, and the Gila, Pecos, San Pedro Parks, Wheeler Peak and White Mountain Wildernesses in New Mexico.

More than a quarter million visitors to the Wildernesses indicate their popularity in the Southwest. But such popularity also poses problems.

The colorful Sycamore Canyon Wilderness on the Prescott, Coconino, and Kaibab National Forests is sometimes called the "Little Grand Canyon."

A report by the Region 3 Office notes that a Wilderness "can properly accommodate only so much recreation use without damage." It goes on: "Uses and values vary among parts of an individual wilderness. There are wide differences in vegetative types and wildlife. Patterns of use, local customs, traditional attitudes of users and interested nonusers also differ. Consequently, acceptable uses and management practices necessary on one National Forest Wilderness are not always necessary on another.

"Wilderness values cannot be measured by the number of people who actually visit an area. Wilderness is a resource which can be destroyed. It has a capacity. It need not be used to realize its benefits."

The Pecos Wilderness, which was the second one to be established in New Mexico, has gained great popularity in recent years.

In the past several years the Forest Service has had an intensive program to survey trail construction, rehabilitation and maintenance needs in the Pecos Wilderness. This has resulted in an improved trail system for safer, more enjoyable hiking, pack tripping and trail riding.

A. J. Riggs was a Ranger on several Districts in the Gila Forest, and when the Wilderness District assignment opened up in 1949, he asked to be transferred there.

"I think I enjoyed the Wilderness District as much as any, even though I did have some bad fires there," Riggs said. "It was wonderful country to be in during the summer time—wonderful country to hunt in, and fish if you were a fisherman."

Long-time career man Zane Smith credits Henry Woodrow with the fine system of trails that existed in the Gila Wilderness country.

"He was quite a colorful character—one of the most colorful old-time Rangers the Southwest ever had," Smith said.

"He had the adjoining District to the Mimbres, on which I was located, and my lookout served a lot of his country. At least, it overlapped with lookouts that were on his District, and some of his country was blind except to my particular lookout. Henry had lots of fires. He was a pretty rugged, self-sufficient individual and he didn't call for help. He took his little trail crews and he put 'em out. They used to call up Henry because the lookouts would be reporting in that smokes were boiling up. They'd ask Henry if he needed any help. We'd have to make a special damage report on any fire that exceeded 10 acres. It was kind of a joke around the Gila that Henry Woodrow never had fire over nine acres in extent.

"I remember how effective Henry could be sometimes in handling situations. It was contrary to the usual practice, but for some reason or other, it was a stepson of Henry's that was employed on one of his lookouts up there. I guess it was at a time when help was pretty hard to get. They were probably pressed to get someone who knew the country. This fellow, named Bob, was certainly an excellent woodsman, knew that country well, and was employed by Henry on Granite Peak. The lookout tower was about a mile from the cabin. Bob rode up to the lookout each morning and stayed until sundown, then rode back to his cabin. Henry became a little suspicious that Bob wasn't handling his job according to instructions. One morning when he gave the test call, which was a particular ring on the old grounded telephone line that connected all the lookouts and all the stations in the Mogollon Mountains, why he checked off each lookout very carefully. When he got all through, Bob checked in properly for Granite Peak lookout. Henry said, 'Bob, are you up in the tower?' Bob said, 'Sure.' Henry said, 'That's funny, I am too.'"

Riders in the high country of the Pecos Wilderness, Santa Fe, and Carson National Forests.

Henry Woodrow's reports were as laconic and to the point as his speech. "During the year 1909 about all I could do in the way of trail work was to blaze a trail up to Mogollon Baldy and down Mogollon Creek," he wrote, "cut out a log here and there in box canyons where I had to get through."

His report for each year showed new trails built or old ones undergoing maintenance work, as for example in 1915: "I hired a crew of men and started trail work at head of Little Creek—followed down Big Turkey Creek to a point one mile above Bear Moore Cave, then turned out across ridge to Miller Springs and over Granny Mountain to Gila River, two miles above Sapillo Creek, then down to Sapillo and out across ridges to the Davidson saw mill."

Woodrow remained on his Wilderness District until 1942 and his reports show trail work each year, even the last year when he reported that "We went into White Creek and got a trail crew started on some of the trails to get them opened up for the fire season."

Today the work that Henry Woodrow did is a major part of the Gila Wilderness trail system and something of a monument to a pioneer Ranger.

The Pecos Wilderness, which used to attract a few hundred people annually, recorded 58,600 visitor days of use in 1971hikers, campers and trail riders. Perhaps the most famous who went in was Greer Garson, the motion picture star, who hiked to Hamilton Mesa.

A new Forest Service employee in the Wildernesses is the "wilderness contact," whose job is just what the title implies. Craig Nordyke, formerly of the Pecos, is typical. He rides the trails all summer long, stops to visit with hikers and campers, accompanies trail rider groups, answers questions, gives nature talks, and generally keeps track of what is going on in the Wilderness, and keeps in touch by radio with Ranger headquarters.