In 1922, a Forest Service supervisor named Aldo Leopold proposed a crazy idea: we don’t actually need to have roads or structures everywhere. In fact, it’d be better if some land stayed undeveloped on purpose. Not like a national park, where lodges and parking lots are still built. Leopold defined the idea as “a continuous stretch of country preserved in its natural state, open to lawful hunting and fishing, big enough to absorb a two weeks' pack trip, and kept devoid of roads, artificial trails, cottages, or other works of man.” Two years later, the Gila Wilderness in southwest New Mexico became the result. It was the first wilderness area ever designated, anywhere in the world. The area covers 558,014 acres across the Mogollon Mountains, canyons, and high desert. The Mogollon people built cliff dwellings into the canyon in the 1280s that are still standing. The Gila River, the last free-flowing river left in New Mexico, runs through the middle with natural hot springs along the shores. The land also helps protect many at-risk species. Mexican gray wolves, once gone from the wild entirely, were released in Arizona in 1998 and are now in the Gila. The rare Gila trout is found in the creeks. Black bears, cougars, and large populations of Mexican spotted owls inhabit the rest of it. Many Americans know of wilderness areas, but they don’t know where they started. We have Aldo Leopold and the Gila Wilderness to thank for spreading the idea across the country.