Location: near Nutrioso, AZ
Cost: member $125, non-member $150
In the Footsteps of Leopold Broadband Leader Billie Hughes is our host for this incredible experience. Join us camping on her private land in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona near the New Mexico border where we’ll learn about the White Mountain Conservation League’s Escudilla Wilderness Proposal, the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery program, Wallow Fire recovery, the Four Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI), the history of Aldo Leopold (considered by many the father of wildlife management and of the U.S. wilderness system), and more.
This will be a classic Broadwalk with hikes into the proposed wilderness, a service project, informational presentations on a broad range of wilderness and wildlife management topics, a wildlife tracking workshop, and lots of Broad socializing. On Saturday, we’ll join others at Big Lake for a full-day celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Mexican gray wolf re-introduction.
Our campsite is surrounded by the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest at an elevation of 7,680 ft, ensuring pleasant temperatures and likely afternoon thunderstorms. We’ll have shelter if needed.
Cost includes camping, breakfasts and dinners each day, speakers, and more. Information about the area and wilderness proposal is at www.azwmcl.org.
To register, send full payment to:
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
PO Box 2924
Durango, CO 81302
Or go to our on-line payment page at greatoldbroads.org/events-payment.
Questions? Contact Rose at rose@greatoldbroads.org or 970-385-9577.
More information about Broadwalks
Billie was the subject of a Study a Broad column in the Spring 2011 issue of Broadsides (pg 8).
Billie Hughes lifts a cast of Mexican wolf tracks.
From the Apache and Sitgreaves National Forests website:
The Escudilla Wilderness w has been severely affected by the Wallow Fire of June 2011. The area is currently open to public use and entry, HOWEVER – The trails may not yet been assessed or maintained for hazards associated with the fire. The Escudilla Lookout was severely damaged by the fire, and there are overhead hazards to being in the area below – the lookout and the fenced area below it are closed to all public entry due to safety concerns.
Please keep in mind that any area affected by the wildfire can be prone to hazards such as falling trees, flooding and burned out stump holes. The environment you are entering is highly susceptible to rainstorms and wind events. Any time you enter the forest, you should be aware of your environment and changing weather conditions. You are responsible for your own safety! Always look up, look down, and look all around.
You can see towering Escudilla Mountain from just about anywhere in the neighborhood (the neighborhood of eastern Arizona, that is). The Wilderness encompasses the upper reaches of the mountain, which at 10,912 feet is the third highest in the state of Arizona. The last known grizzly bear in Arizona was killed here, and Leopold wrote: “Somehow it seems that the spirit of the bear is still there, prowling the huge meadows, lurking in the thick stands of aspen and spruce, wandering the steep slopes that looking down from is like looking out of the window of an airplane.”
Escudilla Mountain photo courtesy of the USDA Forest Service. 
Wallow Fire regrowth photo by James Tanner- Photoarizona360.blogspot.com
– See more at: http://greatoldbroads.org/broadwalk-leopold-az/#sthash.014Nn2YW.dpuf
