Sierra Club to host program on Utah's Red Rock Canyonlands Jan. 21

On Monday, Jan. 21, instead of the usual second Monday program, Elgin Green Groups and the Valley of the Fox Sierra Club invite you to "A Wilderness Icon: Utah's Red Rock Canyonlands," a special presentation by Clayton Daughenbaugh of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, at 7 p.m. at the Hawthorne Hill Nature Center, 28 Brookside Drive in Elgin.

America's wild public lands are a proud part of the national heritage. The sites in Utah are currently at the center of the controversy. President Trump has initiated what would be the largest rollback of conservation protections in the nation's history. He is seeking to repeal and replace the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments and reverse the steady progress toward protecting the largest unprotected wilderness area in the lower 48 states.

Daughenbaugh will show a new short movie "Wild Utah: America's Red Rock Wilderness," documenting citizen efforts to conserve public lands in southern Utah's spectacular canyon country. He will also provide an update as to what was gained and lost in the last Congress and what the prospects will be in the new Congress.

Clayton Daughenbaugh is the Midwest Conservation Organizer with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

The nature center is located just east of Randall Road. Turn east on Frontage Road, off Randall. The first road to the left is Brookside and the center is on the first drive on the left.

The monthly meetings are usually (but not always) held the second Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Batavia Public Library except for the months of July, August, and December. The public is invited and refreshments are typically available.

For information, visit www.sierraclub.org/illinois/valley-fox or www.facebook.com/sierraclubvof.