Outdoor enthusiasts and especially those with an interest in birds may want to set aside Sept. 30 for a trip to northern Arizona.
That’s when the public is invited to watch California condors — so spectacular to see in flight — released to the wild at Vermillion Cliffs National Monument at 11 a.m. The event is part of National Public Lands Day, the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance America’s public lands.
To reach the site from Utah, take Highway 89A from Kanab to BLM Road 1085. Drive north 3 miles to the release site. Bring binoculars, sunscreen, water, a snack, chair and layered clothing. There are an informational kiosk, shade structure and restroom at the site.
According to the BLM, this will be the 21st public release of condors in Arizona since the program began in 1998. The large birds are hatched by The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey in Idaho, reared in captivity and transported to release to the wild.
As of June 30, there were 74 wild condors in northern Arizona and southern Utah. The population is now more than 450, up from a low of 22 in the 1980s.
(Chris Parish | Courtesy The Peregrine Fund) An adult California condor from the Arizona/Utah population.
Tom Wharton has written high school sports and the outdoors for more than four decades. Though he retired in 2016 from his full-time position after working more than 45 years at The Tribune, the University of Utah graduate continues to write about prep sports, Utah history and the outdoors part-time.