Moab Utah Meetings and Events

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2014 National Park News -- Arches and Canyonlands

The Southeast Utah Group of the National Park Service (Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Hovenweep and Natural Bridges National Monuments) is joining all national parks across the country in waiving entrance fees several days in 2014 as a way to encourage people to get outdoors and spend time with their friends and family in the national parks this year.

Up-coming fee free days this year will be Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 20), Presidents’ Day Weekend (February 15-17), First Weekend of National Park Week (April 19-20), National Park Service Birthday (August 25), National Public Lands Day (September 27), and Veterans Day (November 11).

Park visitors are reminded that the fee free designation applies to entrance fees only and does not affect fees for camping, reservations, tours or other special uses. Park entrance stations will have Interagency Senior and Annual Passes available for those who wish to purchase them.

Also for 2014 Canyonlands National Park turns 50!

The Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks and the National Park Service have been working with community officials from Grand County and San Juan County, retired park rangers, and Canyonlands Natural History Association to plan the celebration, for the 50 year anniversary of Canyonlands National Park.

In the coming year there will be a series of events including lectures held in the Moab Information Center and the park, exhibits and programs culminating with the re-dedication ceremony of the park on Friday September 12, 2014 in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. More information on a dutch oven community dinner, historic film festival held in Historic Star Hall and other upcoming events and programs will be available on the anniversary website soon.

The Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks was founded by family members of Bates Wilson, who was instrumental in the establishment of Canyonlands and served as its first superintendent from 1964 until his retirement in 1972. Bates dedicated countless hours exploring and mapping Canyonlands diverse geology. His famous camping trips and cowboy cookouts helped persuade the country's decision makers that Canyonlands was worthy of national park status. On September 12, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation creating Canyonlands National Park.

More history can be found in the Museum of Moab. Add a stop, 118 East Center Street, just a block off of shopping and dining on Main Street, to note more local history about the national park and surrounding region.

The Artist in the Park has been selected for 2014. This program has been active since 2009. Serena Supplee is an artist who rows her boat upon the river and captures inspiration from rivers and canyons. Be certain to look for the schedule of meet-ups with this artist in the park, the schedule is coming in the New Year. Find her gallery in Moab on 400 East and Millcreek Drive to view highlighted landscapes less known to visitors. Her art takes her to the roadless area of Cataract Canyon in the heart of Canyonlands National Park on either the Green or Colorado Rivers and many other river canyon corridors.

For more information on the Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks, please go to www.bateswilson.org For information on Canyonlands National Park, please go to www.nps.gov/cany/index.htm.For travel plans, SkyWest Airlines will be providing flights between Salt Lake City and Moab's Canyonlands Airport for the 2014 travel year. Reservations can be made online NOW using www.delta.com for flights occurring March 2nd and beyond.