The Independent
As part of National Get Outdoors Day (GO Day) on Saturday, June 13, Dixie Arizona Strip Interpretive Association and partnering land management agencies will host an event at the Tuacahn Outdoor Amphitheater Plaza in Ivins. Participating partners will offer opportunities for families to experience traditional and non-traditional types of outdoor activities. The primary goals of the day are reaching first-time visitors to public lands and reconnecting our youth to the great outdoors. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is free to the public.
This is the eighth year of National Get Outdoors Day, an annual event designed to encourage healthy, active outdoor fun. This year’s GO Day event will offer a mix of information centers and active fun areas where guests can see desert tortoises, learn outdoor survival skills, experience the heavens with a sun telescope and see the stars in Bryce Canyon National Park’s StarLab. Photo opportunities with Smokey Bear and Seymore Antelope will be provided.
The pilot effort of National Get Outdoors Day was launched on June 14, 2008, and has grown every year. Building on the success of More Kids in the Woods and other important efforts to connect people—especially children and families—with nature and active lifestyles, the USDA Forest Service and the American Recreation Coalition led an inclusive, nationwide effort focusing on a single day when people would be inspired and motivated to get outdoors.
Last year, over 171 official GO Day sites across the nation welcomed over 48,000 new faces to the joy and benefits of the great outdoors. GO Day is an outgrowth of the Get Outdoors USA! campaign, which encourages people, especially youth, to seek out healthy, active outdoor lives and embrace our parks, forests, refuges, and other public lands and waters. Working with the Forest Service, Get Outdoors USA! hosted six recreation forums in early 2007 and learned that public lands were missing the right triggers to capture the attention of today’s youth. The GO Day concept was first tested at the Outdoor Recreation Village at Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Arizona, which drew over 100,000 visitors.
For more information about National Get Outdoors Day, visit http://www.nationalgetoutdoorsday.org/.
