NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release: Oct. 8, 2014
Contact: Lisa Ronald
Wilderness50 Communications Coordinator
406-396-3607
Backcountry Cook-off Serves Up Wilderness Cuisine
Wilderness Act 50th anniversary cookbook and event featured at public festival
(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Oct. 8, 2014) A backcountry cook-off will be staged by wilderness rangers Saturday, Oct. 18, 5-6 p.m,. in Albuquerque’s Civil Plaza as part of the ‘Get Wild’Festival to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Featuring camp recipes from the newly published “Wilderness Ranger Cookbook,” the free, public event is among activities hosted throughout the month by Wilderness50.
“The cook-off will teach insider tips and secrets to make nutritious wilderness meals cooked over a one-burner stove taste great and clean up easy,” said Ralph Swain, cookbook author, cook-off chief and former wilderness ranger.
The cookbook, published in honor of the 50th anniversary, is a compilation of breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert recipes solicited from current wilderness rangers and tested for flavor, ease of preparation, and ease of cleanup. During the cook-off, Swain will join rangers whose recipes were chosen for the cookbook to cook Burrito Power, Superstition Surprise, Spinach and Black Bean Quesadillas, Backcountry Quesadilla, and Blue Range Gorp. Copies of the cookbook will be available for sale during the cook-off. Orders can also be placed online at
The ‘Get Wild’ Festival,which featureseducational demonstrations, recreational activities, performances, and live music, will be held in conjunction with the National Wilderness Conference, the first national gathering of wilderness advocates, stewards, educators, students, and researchers in 25 years.
National Wilderness Conference events include more than 20 dynamic keynote speakers and plenary panelists such as author Terry Tempest Williams, long-time activist Dave Foreman, astronaut Joseph Acaba, and U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell; an opening ceremony and reception with special video welcome by former President Jimmy Carter; 84 presenter sessions and a poster session exploring contemporary topics in wilderness and wildlands stewardship; more than 20 field trips to New Mexico wilderness areas and cultural sites; a sponsor and partner exhibit hall featuring photographs from the recent “Wilderness Forever” photography exhibition that opened in September in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.; K-12 teacher workshops deploying the Wilderness Investigations curriculum; the Wilderness Awareness Trail, a station-based, experiential learning area that will be visited by private, public, and tribal grade- and middle-school students as part of official school field trips; and the two-night People's Wilderness Film Gala.
A full schedule of National Wilderness Conference and Get Wild Festival events can be found at
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About the Wilderness Act
Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on Sept. 3, 1964, the historic Wilderness Act established the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) and set aside an initial 9.1 million acres of wildlands for the use and benefit of the American people. Over the past 50 years, and as a result of America's support for wilderness, Congress has added more than 100 million acres to this unique land preservation system. The 1964 Wilderness Act defines "Wilderness" as areas where the earth and its communities of life are left unchanged by people, where the primary forces of nature are in control, and where people themselves are visitors who do not remain.
The NWPS was established for the use and enjoyment of the American people and provides many direct and in-direct benefits relating to ecological, geological, scientific, educational, scenic, spiritual, economic, recreational, historical, and cultural uses and activities. The 758 wilderness areas within the NWPS are managed by all four federal land managing agencies—the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, and National Park Service. To learn more about the Wilderness Act and the NWPS, visit the official wilderness information website providing both general information about wilderness and specific information about each of the wilderness areas.
About Wilderness50
Wilderness50 is a coalition of more than 30 non-profit organizations, academic institutions, companies, government agencies, and concerned citizens that is planning and implementing local, regional, and national events and projects to raise public awareness of wilderness and engage youth during 2014, the 50th anniversary year. For more information about Wilderness50, visit
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