Put the wild back into your life, celebrate the Wilderness Act 50th Anniversary

ST. GEORGE — The Bureau of Land Management Utah St. George Field Office and Southwest Utah National Conservation Lands Friends are hosting a Wilderness Fest in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. The public is invited to enjoy a free night of festivities and discover all that America’s wilderness has to offer at LaVerkin’s Confluence Park from 3-7 p.m. on Friday.

Meet Brad Petersen, Utah’s first Director of Outdoor Recreation, as he kicks-off the event.  Prepare for your next outdoor adventure with complimentary wilderness workshops and interactive booths supported by businesses and organizations from surrounding communities. Learn from experts about animal tracking, canyoneering, photography, and survival skills. Enjoy local live music, presented by KTIM Radio, and bring the kids, for a chance to earn a 50th anniversary limited edition Wilderness Explorer Junior Ranger badge.

The benefits of wilderness are well known. Wild places provide pristine areas to travel and camp, hike and fish. The BLM and its partners recognize that Utah’s wilderness lands provide these benefits as well as a huge variety of other uses and values – from non-motorized and non-mechanized recreation to critical wildlife habitat, clean water and air, and unmatched opportunities for solitude.

Bureau of Land Management

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.

Event details and contact information

  • When: April 25
  • Where: LaVerkin Confluence Park
  • Contact: Iris Picat | Telephone: 435-688-3346
  • Website: Wilderness Fest

Related posts

Ed. CORRECTION:  The date for the event is April 25, which is Friday, not Saturday as originally published.

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21 Comments

  • Dave Whipple April 23, 2014 at 11:12 am

    Really – Now – with all that is going on 35 miles south at the Bundy Ranch? This is crazy… or the government really doesn’t care what American’s think or do. Was the Cliven Bundy family invited? Will BLM Rangers with assault rifles be there to point weapons at citizens?

  • Zionbluesky April 23, 2014 at 11:54 am

    I laugh! More and more access in Southern Utah is getting closed and denied by the BLM. I am not a hunter, I just enjoy exploring and the outdoors on established roads. Not feeling festive here!

  • Paul Jensen April 23, 2014 at 12:49 pm

    Why would we want to celebrate the fact that our land is being closed down all around us? Screw the BLM. They need to take a course in opening up, and giving back the land that they’ve taken.

  • Brian April 23, 2014 at 2:33 pm

    I love it when the government says something is free. Come celebrate “a free night of festivities” paid for by YOU, the taxpayer. Exactly how is that free? The BLM, the IRS, and a host of other 3 letter government agencies need to be abolished and demolished.

  • IstandwithCliven April 23, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    Better bring your umbrellas, its supposed to rain all Saturday. Oh and don’t forget
    your bullet or tazer proof vests either. Just in case you accidently step off the designated trial that the BLM has said you can be on. And I am bringing my leather chaps in case I step on one of the protected plants. I would assume they would send their attack dogs on me for that sort of infraction!

  • Maggie April 23, 2014 at 5:17 pm

    Will they be armed?

  • Ron McKinney April 23, 2014 at 7:23 pm

    The wilderness act seemed so good at first, then it turned into one big land grab by the feds.

  • Ann April 23, 2014 at 8:03 pm

    Is this Friday or Saturday? The article states Saturday, but the date given is Friday.

    • Avatar photo Joyce Kuzmanic April 24, 2014 at 7:52 am

      Our mistake, the date is right – it is April 25 which is Friday, not Saturday. Thank you, Ann. Correction made.
      ST. GEORGE NEWS | STGnews.com
      Joyce Kuzmanic
      Editor in Chief

  • IstandwithCliven April 23, 2014 at 10:29 pm

    Of course they will be armed, they are the BLM. I have never met or come into contact with a BLM agent who wasn’t. Have any of you? Except for the secretary at the BLM office I guess. They should give her an assault rifle too in case some one asks her a question that the agency doesn’t approve of.

  • IstandwithCliven April 23, 2014 at 10:35 pm

    I am mostly surprised that the BLM has the time to do this happy feel good sort ‘of event while they are down on the Texas/Oklahoma border trying to steal another 90,000 acres, Check it out. Do your research folks. The BLM is a rogue federal out of control agency folks. Then check into the EPA land grabs as well. Welcome to Germany America!

  • Wizzle April 23, 2014 at 10:46 pm

    So some guy from Nevada does not pay his dues, while EVERYONE else who uses PUBLIC land does, becomes a “hero” to most of you. So if I decide to quit paying taxes, which I hate paying just like EVERYONE else, should I still be allowed to use public roads? Or am I a hero too.

  • Simone April 24, 2014 at 2:51 am

    I thank God for Cliven Bundy. If it weren’t for him, Some heinous crime might have happened at this event. Now that he has all of Americas criminals hootin and hollering at his ranch in the middle of nowhere, decent hardworking Americans have a chance to enjoy themselves in a nice crime free and family friendly environment.

  • Thoroughbred1021 April 24, 2014 at 8:05 am

    Are you kidding me? BLM can go pound sand!

  • COMBAT VET AND CONSERVATIVE April 24, 2014 at 8:24 am

    Whos idea of a sick joke is this? The BLM wants to happily interact with the public?!?!?!?!? Are you serious?? No thanks….I would rather sit on my patio with an ice cold adult beverage and watch my grass grow…..a lot safer.

  • JAR April 24, 2014 at 9:11 am

    Wow!
    Judging by the comments on this public service announcement, most folks can see right through the ‘We are your friends’, ‘we’re here to serve you’ BS.
    And anyone not showing up to thank us? well, we know who you are and where you live. Look for a visit from our agents with guns in hand, to see if your really who you say you are.
    I like Thoroughbred 1021 response the best; Go Pound Sand partner.

  • SouthernUtah Hillbilly April 24, 2014 at 10:57 pm

    WooooooHoooooo!!!!! Go Clive! …* …………Who is the sheep now? You dumba …* for being led down a road you don’t wanna go down. This guy is not a good person. Are you?
    Ed. Ellipses: …*

  • Roger April 24, 2014 at 11:54 pm

    245 million acres controlled and restricted from the public by the very government that is funded by the public…. For the people by the people? A free to the public BLM event costs taxpayers which by the way is another name for the public.

  • Mark April 25, 2014 at 5:09 am

    Not surprised by the 95% who support that cheat Bundy, what a bunch of wackos. It also would not surprise me if those same people are on welfare having a bunch of kids, I see it at stores all the time with the EBT card and nice cars, yet they hate the gubment.

  • rukidding April 25, 2014 at 10:13 am

    The Bundy Ranch has warmly invited the “minorities” to their next event. Just because they “never learned to pick cotton” doesn’t mean they can’t pick up Bundy celebratory trash right? A white faced gun fest will keep a “certain crowd” busy south of our border. This is a great opportunity for the rest of us to show support for our NATION. Still trying to figure out how saying the pledge and hanging the flag of a country you don’t acknowledge makes sense, Or how people who aren’t cashing some form of government check aren’t having to go to work- direct deposit? When they start burning their SS, Medicare, SSI, government retirement (ex law enforcement/military wackos), unemployment checks and EBT cards they’ll gain some respect from me. Also, did I miss the Bundy rant about “Federal Cattle Ranch Subsidies”???

  • IstandwithCliven April 25, 2014 at 5:38 pm

    Just got off work and hurried and drove through confluence park. Not one
    protester down there. Guess all the conservatives are still at work paying for it!
    Way to go BLM. Your a bunch of hero’s!

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