In 2014, three teenagers were researching the effects of fire on forest health as part of preserving the Gila River. Michael Sebastian Mahl, Ella Sala Myers, and Ella Jaz Kirk took to the skies in a private plane to observe a burn scar. But the plane crashed upon landing and all three were killed.
A new film focuses on the grieving mothers of those teens, who kayak down their children’s beloved river. New Mexico Wild will screen Journey Down the Gila on Wednesday at the South Broadway Cultural Center. KUNM spoke with New Mexico Wild’s Conservation Organizer Shelby Bazan.
SHELBY BAZAN: This film is really important to just telling the story of the Gila River, as well as telling the story of three mothers and their physical journey down the Gila along with their spiritual mental journey processing grief. The story is all about three children who were from Silver City, New Mexico, and were very passionate about protecting the Gila River and conducting research on the river, and they all worked really closely together as well. And we're actually out on a plane survey, and the weather unfortunately went bad, and they ended up passing away on this plane ride. And so this film is documenting their lives of working on the river and their advocacy work along the river, as well as what their moms are going through now, and also trying to carry that legacy forward that their children had really put forth and making sure that people know that this is an area that still needs protection, and that their kids worked really hard to get protection on, and that's an ongoing fight.
KUNM: For the Gila River, specifically, what sort of threats does it face?
BAZAN: There's been various threats throughout Gila in general, and largely, those have been threats to, dam or divert water for the Gila River. And the Gila is one of the last free flowing rivers in this state and in the Southwest, that's undammed. And so really, the fight continues to leave it that way and to make sure it stays. And so that has been going on for many, many years. But there's other other things too that are threats to this area, and that includes off-road vehicles in areas where they shouldn't be potentially contaminating areas, and also just potential logging, mining in these areas.
KUNM: Can you tell me a little bit more about this upcoming event?
BAZAN: So it's happening Wednesday, January 14. It is at the South Broadway Cultural Center, and the film screening will start at 6:30pm. There's going to be other conservation organizations there talking about their work and tabling. We're also going to have staff from Sen. Martin Heinrich's campaign there, as well as staff from Rep. [Gabe] Vasquez. And we're also really fortunate to have the filmmaker coming as well, David Garcia. And all of those folks will also say some words after the film as well. So we'll get to hear an update on what has been happening in terms of federal protections for the Gila River as well as hear from the filmmaker, which I think will be really amazing.
KUNM: Like you mentioned, representatives are strongly into this film, and the protections against the Gila River, has anything resulted from this?
BAZAN: Right now, it's still in the process. So this year, both Martin Heinrich and Gabe Vasquez have introduced a bill to protect the Gila River as wild and scenic. And so that is actually the highest level of protection that rivers can get to make sure that they are undammed, undiverted, as well as maintaining their recreational opportunities, and that the water quality stays intact as well. And so that has actually been introduced four times already, starting in 2020. So this film actually really leads into that permanent protection that is being introduced and hoping to be introduced. And even though right now it seems we are consistently fighting for just basic protections on almost everything, but particularly of our public lands and waters, that's not stopping us. We are making sure that we're continuing to fight this, and it's really great to have delegates who are passionate about that as well, and really want to make sure that they are still introducing bills like this, because they recognize how important these spaces are for New Mexicans, and how important it's been for many, many years and generations.
KUNM: And so for people that want to do more after watching the film, what do you suggest?
BAZAN: Yeah, well actually at the film,we are going to have a petition there so that people can sign our petition. You can also find that petition on the wildgilariver.org website, so anyone can sign that petition to make sure that we're getting as many names as possible, so that we can show our representatives and our congressional leaders that people do care about these areas, and we want to make sure that that's getting across. But also, you can show up, we're going to have a public lands rally on February 6, so physically show up to that.
KUNM: Do you have any plans for showing it again in the future?
BAZAN: So this film is only at these theaters right now. There's nowhere that you can buy it or stream it, so these are your only chances. So yeah, we're doing our showing in Albuquerque. We've done a showing previously in Santa Fe and in Durango, but we actually are going to do another showing in Taos on January 28 at the Harwood, and we have two other showings in the works right now, one again in Santa Fe, because that one was really successful and it sold out really quickly. So there definitely is a push for this and a need or a want for it. So we're doing another one, another showing at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, mid March, as well as one in the works right now in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
You can find tickets to Journey Down the Gila here.
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation and listeners like you.
