118 HCON 108 IH: Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the designation of the Gila Wilderness. U.S. House of Representatives 2024-05-23 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. CON. RES. 108 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 23, 2024 Mr. Vasquez submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the designation of the Gila Wilderness.

Whereas, on 3 June, 1924, the Forest Service set aside 755,000 acres as the Gila Wilderness; Whereas this was the first designated wilderness in the United States of America and the world; Whereas this designation marked the beginning of a national system of wilderness areas and helped inspire the Wilderness Act of 1964; Whereas Aldo Leopold, a Forest Service employee in New Mexico, worked to initiate a Federal wilderness concept in the back country of the Gila National Forest; Whereas Arthur Carhart, a Forest Service employee, argued that wilderness recreation would help to develop individual and national character; Whereas the Apache and Mimbres people have been stewards of this land from time immemorial; and Whereas these 100 years later, the character of the Gila remains without permanent human-built structures, protected and managed to preserve this condition, and remains a place unrestrained by human development: Now, therefore, be it

That we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the designation of the Gila Wilderness.