Journey Down the Gila film showing
Monday, January 8, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
On Zoom
Journey Down the Gila is a film exploring grief, renewal and hope along the Gila River in New Mexico, telling the story of three New Mexico teens who died in service to the wild places they loved, their mothers’ trip down the river they sought to protect, and the struggle to keep the Gila flowing free. This feature-length documentary is the first film to offer a visual journey down the 37-mile Gila Wilderness run of the river and chronicles the long struggle to keep the Gila free-flowing, with interviews from long-time advocates for the Gila.
Patrice Mutchnick, one of the principals in the film, will introduce the film and give updates. Register to get the Zoom link at https://bit.ly/Jan2024Program.
Note this is Jan. 8, not 15.
The Gila River is one of the longest rivers in the West, originating above 10,000 feet in the Mogollon Mountains of the Gila Wilderness and from the headwaters of the Black Range in the equally wild Aldo Leopold Wilderness to the east. Originally flowing 500 miles to its confluence with the Colorado River near the Mexico border, the Gila is now drained dry halfway through its journey due to large irrigation and municipal diversions in Arizona.
Where it still flows wild in New Mexico, the Gila supports a vibrant riparian forest community of cottonwoods, sycamores, willows and alders. Black hawks, eagles, elk, javelina, cougars and black bears all roam the river corridor and Ponderosa pine forests that climb the rugged canyon hillsides.
The three forks of the Gila River Headwaters, the West, Middle and East, are dotted with natural hot springs, and are the home of the endangered Gila trout, loach minnow and the rare Mexican spotted owl. The Gila River provides a flyway and nesting ground for an array of neotropical migrant birds, like the endangered Southwest Willow Flycatcher, the Yellow Billed Cuckoo and as an wintering over habitat for many northern species, like the Gila Woodpecker.
Register at https://bit.ly/Jan2024Program.