NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release: Oct. 8, 2014

Contact: Lisa Ronald

Wilderness50Communications Coordinator

406-396-3607

NationalConference, Festival Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Wilderness

Events feature wilderness experts, music, films, food, photography, educational activities

(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Oct. 8, 2014) Wilderness50 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act by hosting the National Wilderness Conference and other associated events on Oct. 15-19in Albuquerque, N.M.

Events include:

National Wilderness Conference

The National Wilderness Conference, held Oct. 15-19 at the Hyatt Regency is the first national gathering of wilderness advocates, stewards, educators, students, and researchers in 25 years. This multi-day event includes: more than 20 diverse plenary speakers including U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, author Terry Tempest Williams, astronaut Joseph Acaba, Native American educator Dr. Greg Cajete, and longtime wilderness activist Dave Foreman; opening ceremony and reception with performances and a special video welcome by former President Jimmy Carter; 84 sessions presented by outdoor business leaders, renowned wilderness researchers, environmental historians, educators, and land managers; andover 20 field trips to New Mexico wilderness areas and cultural sites.

‘Get Wild’ Festival

Thefree, family-friendly, outdoor ‘Get Wild’ Festival will be held Saturday, Oct. 18,2-10 p.m. in Civic Plaza. Festivities kick off with an opening ceremony performance by contemporary Dineh (Navajo Nation) flute player, Andrew Thomas. Visitors can enjoy live, acoustical music and tales told around a campfire by chautauques (storytellers). Scheduled performances include Native American dance and drumming by the Jicarilla Apache Nation Butterfly dancers and the Toya Pueblo Dancers, along with mariachi, breakdancing and local bands: Le Chat Lunatique, Animal Opera and Let it Grow.The festival will also feature rock climbing, survival skills lessons, Girl and Boy Scout encampments, participatory earth art with Daniel Richmond, animal ambassadors, a backcountry cook-off, cross-cut saw and horse-packing demonstrations, and an Aldo Leopold impersonator who will give the history of wilderness. Speakers include Rue Mapp, founder of Outdoor Afro and Juan Martinez, National Geographic Explorer and director of the Natural Leaders Network.

People’s Wilderness Film Gala

The People’s Wilderness Gala, a film festival, will take place at the KiMo Theater on Tuesday, Oct. 14 and Sunday, Oc. 19. The Gala will showcase over 20 short, long, new and old films on the beauty of wilderness, its meaning, importance, history and issues related to its preservation. The first showing will be 7:30-10:15 p.m. Oct. 14, the second, 1:30- 6:15 p.m. Oct. 19.

Wilderness Celebration Exhibition

Sponsors and partners will fill the Albuquerque Convention Center’s Northwest Exhibit Hall with educational booths and special exhibits, including photographs from the “Wilderness Forever” photography exhibition that opened in September in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Exhibits are open to conference participants on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17 and to the general public from 9 a.m. -noon on Saturday, Oct.18, prior to the ‘Get Wild’ Festival.

Wilderness Awareness Trail

On Friday Oct. 17, public, private and tribal students will be bussed in to the conference venue from Albuquerque and nearby schools to experience the Wilderness Awareness Trail, a station-based immersion learning experience for children, led by Youth Leader Wilderness Scholarship recipients. Durham School Services, a private bus company, is donating transportation for more than 220 students from Desert Ridge Middle School, John Adams Middle School, San Antonito Elementary School and Hubert Humphrey Elementary School.

K-12 Teacher Workshops

A series of teacher workshops introduce formal and non-formal educators to the new ‘Wilderness Investigations’ curriculum, a rigorous, standards-correlated program that focuses on key elements of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Workshops will be hosted at the Bosque School (Oct. 8-9), Los Lunas High School (Oct. 10), and Sandia Mountain Natural History Center (Oct. 24-25).

For a complete listing of National Wilderness Conference and Festival events, visit

For more information about the Wilderness Act or Wilderness50, visit

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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 758 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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