SUWA Invites Redrock Supporters to 40th Anniversary Celebration on September 9 at the Natural History Museum of Utah

August 3, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260 (grant@suwa.org)

Salt Lake City, UT – The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is celebrating 40 years of protecting and defending Utah’s incomparable redrock wilderness! SUWA invites you to join them on Saturday, September 9 for their 40th Anniversary Celebration at the National History Museum of Utah. Details can be found below. 

Who: Anyone who loves Utah’s wild places

What: SUWA’s 40th Anniversary Celebration

When: Saturday, September 9 from 6:30 – 10 p.m. Special address by Executive Director Scott Groene and members of the board at 8:00 pm.

Where: Natural History Museum of Utah (at the Rio Tinto Center); 301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, Utah 

Registration: Required. Tickets are $35 and include a year-long membership but must be purchased by Friday, August 25. Discounts are available for members, students, seniors, and veterans. 

Additional information: Mingle with fellow redrock supporters while enjoying a DJ, drinks, delicious appetizers, and more. We’re going to party like it’s 1983, so retro attire is highly encouraged—or simply come as you are!

For a limited time, enjoy 40% off all gear in SUWA’s online store. Every purchase helps SUWA in its ongoing mission to preserve and defend the beauty of Utah’s spectacular wild lands. 

“For 40 years, no organization has been more dedicated, persistent, and successful at protecting and defending Utah’s redrock wilderness than SUWA,” said Grant Stevens, Communications Director. “Our power comes from people in Utah and across the US who want to protect this extraordinary landscape, now and into the future. Please join us in celebrating our past accomplishments and looking forward to the next exciting chapter in the Utah Wilderness movement!”

SUWA’s Mission:

The mission of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is the preservation of the outstanding wilderness at the heart of the Colorado Plateau, and the management of these lands in their natural state for the benefit of all Americans.

SUWA promotes local and national recognition of the region’s unique wilderness character through research and public education; supports both administrative and legislative initiatives to permanently protect the Colorado Plateau wild places within the National Park and National Wilderness Preservation System, or by other protective designations where appropriate; builds support for such initiatives on both the local and national level; and provides leadership within the conservation movement through uncompromising advocacy for wilderness preservation.

SUWA’s History and Priorities:

In 1983, SUWA was founded around a kitchen table by a small group of people who loved Utah’s redrock wilderness and wanted to protect the best of it.  They laid the foundation for an organization—and a national movement—out of their passion for one of the most amazing landscapes on earth. Forty years later, SUWA is stronger than ever thanks to the support of tens of thousands of people who share a love for these special places. Against the odds, more than 98 percent of the wild lands in Utah that SUWA works to protect are still wild.

Thanks to a dedicated base of supporters and staff at offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, SUWA has secured wilderness designations in the Cedar Mountains (2006), the Zion-Mojave region (2009), Labyrinth and Desolation Canyons, (2019), and the San Rafael Swell (2019); they’ve helped establish and defend monument designations for Grand Staircase-Escalante (1996) and Bears Ears National Monuments (2016); and protected vast expanses of Utah’s redrock country from mining, fossil fuel development, off-road vehicle damage, vegetation removal, and other ongoing threats.

SUWA’s flagship legislation is America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, which would protect iconic western landscapes with evocative names like Labyrinth Canyon, Robbers Roost, and the Kaiparowits Plateau. This wild and expansive landscape comprises a prime piece of what scientists say is needed today—protecting 30% of America’s lands and waters by the year 2030 in order to prevent a catastrophic collapse of our natural systems. These lands are also a vital link in the interconnected chain of largely undisturbed ecosystems running from the Grand Canyon to Glacier National Park, providing important migration corridors for wildlife. 

First introduced in the House of Representatives in 1989 by Utah Rep. Wayne Owens, America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act is sponsored in the 118th Congress by Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico in the House and Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois in the Senate. In 2021, the Navajo Nation Council endorsed America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, followed by the Hope Tribal Council in 2023. All lands proposed for wilderness designation in America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act are owned by the American public and administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The bill is supported by SUWA, Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Wasatch Mountain Club, and more than 200 other national and regional conservation organizations belonging to the Utah Wilderness Coalition.

How to get involved:

SUWA staff work to identify how and when your voice will make a difference on a range of important issues affecting the redrock—from fossil fuel leasing, to off-road vehicle policies, to statewide land use planning. Show your support and stay on top of breaking issues and action opportunities by:

• Becoming a member
• Subscribing to our email list
• Signing up for text alerts
• Requesting your own “Protect Wild Utah” yard sign (We are only able to deliver to residents in the following Utah counties: Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Cache, Weber, Wasatch, Summit, Washington, Iron, and Grand). 
• Listening to our “Wild Utah” podcast catalog
• Reading past issues of our newsletter, Redrock Wilderness (mailed to members)
• Joining public land managers for hands-on work trips in various backcountry locations through our Stewardship Program
• Following us on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn

Want to get more involved? No matter where you live, the best way to learn more about activities, events, and action opportunities in your area is to get in touch with a regional SUWA organizer.