Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument
| Contacts: | Scott Sticha 435-688-3377 |
Southern Utah Get Outdoors Day Family Expo
If you missed celebrating Get Outdoors Day this past Saturday, there is another chance for local residents and visitors to attend the Southern Utah Get Outdoors Day Family Expo on Saturday, June 16 from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm at the Tuacahn Saturday Market in Ivins, Utah. Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, a National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management jointly managed Service First organization, is partnering with many other land management agencies and affiliated organizations to sponsor a day of fun-filled activities to encourage children and families to get out into the great outdoors.
Activity stations will include desert hiking, regional recreational information, wildlife viewing, the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Explore! Mobile Exhibit, an interactive caving challenge, a dinosaur murder mystery exhibit, knot tying competition and rock climbing gear demos. Techniques and skills for amateur emergency radio use, OHV safety skills, and information on primitive camping tools and fire safety will be included. Southern Paiute youth dancing, archeology discovery tools, and wellness and sports performance training information will also be demonstrated. Smokey Bear, Seymour Antelope and Mohave Max will make appearances and be available for photos with the children, while the regularly scheduled Saturday Farmers Market hosts numerous food vendors with plenty of healthy eating options.
“Outdoor physical activity is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle and the St. George area is a great place for families to get out and enjoy learning about public lands and recreating in the majestic settings that surround us every day,” said Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument Superintendent Rosie Pepito.
National Get Outdoors Day, now in its fifth year, encourages Americans, especially youth, to participate in outdoor activities while enjoying the beauty of public lands such as national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges. Nationwide, hundreds of organizations and businesses will partner with Federal, state, and local agencies to provide fun and healthy events at sites throughout the country.
President Barack Obama has proclaimed the month of June as Great Outdoors Month and encourages all Americans to share in the natural splendor of which we are all proud inheritors. Nearly every state governor, including Utah’s Gary Herbert has proclaimed June as Great Outdoors Month.
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. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.