The fifth annual Sonoran Shindig is a howling good time to celebrate the Sonoran Desert and its community of life in Ajo on Saturday, February 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ajo's Bud Walker Park. This free festival promotes public awareness of our Sonoran Desert ecosystem, its wildlife, plants and history, and the contemporary lifes and society that depend upon this environment. The Sonoran Desert theme for 2005 is "Celebrate and Educate," and eleven conservation agencies, offices and organizations will participate in the event.
Activities include live music with local recording artists Tim Lengerich and Joe Marts, disc jockey Luis Netherland playing recorded music, a children's arts and crafts center, Sonoran Desert land and resource management exhibits, ?conservation conversation? presentations, food, games, raffles, merchandise and gifts, a photography exhibition, and the World Coyote Howling Contest. In all, nearly 80 booths will provide food, information and entertainment.
The Cabeza Prieta Natural History Association, a cooperating partner with Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, is providing essential information and assistance to Shindig visitors, issuing free permits to use nearby lands, and conducting free tours of the Refuge Visitor Center and nearby Childs Mountain , a prominent local landmark from which one can view the 860,010 acre wildlife refuge.
The Sonoran Shindig is a partnership between Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and the Ajo District Chamber of Commerce, with additional support from local merchants and residents. The Shindig, like the Sonoran Desert , connects two nations, and the Mexican Pinacate National Biosphere Reserve and the International Sonoran Desert Alliance will be present to reflect the international nature of the event.
Admission is free. Access Bud Walker Park from Highway 85 in downtown Ajo. Take 1st Street east to Cedar, then turn left. At 5th Avenue turn right and park in designated areas--please avoid driveways!
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses nearly 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
