One showing only! Wednesday, Aug 15th 2012 at 6:30pm at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway

$8.00 in advance at Summit Hut, Antigone Books, and the Tucson Audubon Nature Shop
$10.00 at the door and online at http://www.sonorandesert.org

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival brings together a selection of films from the annual festival held each January in Nevada City, CA, which is now in its 10th year! The films speak to the environmental concerns and celebrations of our planet. “Films featured at Wild & Scenic give people a sense of place,” says Tour Manager Lori Van Laanen. “In our busy lives, it’s easy to get disconnected from our role in the global ecosystem. When we realize that the change we need in this world begins with us, we can start making a difference.”

This event will inspire the people of Tucson to go out and make a difference in the community. Because of engaged citizens who were motivated by what they saw in last year’s featured film, Bag It, the City of Tucson is now seeking solutions to reduce plastic bag consumption!

This year’s slate of films is bound to be just as motivating and entertaining. Mining Patagonia explores the issues and consequences that an open pit mine would impose on this environmentally rich yet fragile town just an hour south of Tucson. Connecting the Gems follows two hikers as they traverse the northern Rockies, seeking out wildlife corridors and identifying the challenges faced by wildlife as they journey between wildland “gems.” In Meet the Beetle we see how even the tiniest of critters plays an important role in keeping our world a vibrant place and how school children can get engaged in conservation in a powerful way.

The festival is a natural extension of the work of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection. The Coalition, comprised of 41 conservation and community groups, works to create a community where ecosystem health is important, nature and healthy wild animal populations have value, and where visitors, children and future generations can all drink clean water, breathe clean air, and find wild places to roam.

This year’s festival is once again being held in conjunction with Tucson Audubon Society’s annual Bird & Wildlife Festival. Visitors from all over the world will be converging on Tucson for a week of birding and wildlife-related activities and the Coalition is excited to share the film festival as one of the featured evening programs.

Special thanks go out to local event sponsors Summit Hut and Betts Printing, the event’s major national sponsor Patagonia, as well as other local and national sponsors.

For more information contact Gabe Wigtil, gabe.wigtil@sonorandesert.org, 520-388-9925 or visit www.sonorandesert.org.

THE WILD & SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL / Presented by the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection
Wednesday, August 17th at 6:30 p.m. at the Loft Theatre, 3233 E. Speedway

Tickets are $8 in advance and can be purchased at Summit Hut, Antigone Books, and the Tucson Audubon Nature Shop, or $10 at the door and online at www.sonorandesert.org.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival brings together a selection of films from the annual festival held each January in Nevada City, CA. The films speak to the environmental concerns and celebrations of our planet. “Films featured at Wild & Scenic give people a sense of place,” says Tour Manager Susie Sutphin. “In our busy lives, it’s easy to get disconnected from our role in the global ecosystem. When we realize that the change we need in this world begins with us we can start making a difference.”

Featured films of the evening include Bag It, Walking the Line, and Wild vs. Wall. Bag It seeks to unravel the complexities of our modern plastic world. What starts as a film about plastic bags evolves into a wholesale investigation into plastic and its effects on our waterways, oceans, and our bodies. Walking the Line follows thru-hiker Adam Bradley as he walks 500 miles of a proposed transmission line – a line through some of the West’s most remote landscapes – to find out how our country’s transition to renewable energy will affect the land, wildlife and people. Wild vs. Wall examines the environmental impact of the current border policy. Created by the Borderlands Campaign of the Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter, this film addresses the ecological effects of enforcement and infrastructure in the four states that share boundaries with Mexico.

The festival is a natural extension of the work of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection. The Coalition, comprised of 39 conservation and community groups, works to create a community where ecosystem health is important, nature and healthy wild animal populations have value, and where visitors, children and future generations can all drink clean water, breathe clean air, and find wild places to roam.

This year’s festival is being held in conjunction with Tucson Audubon Society’s first annual Bird & Wildlife Festival. Visitors from all over the world will be converging on Tucson for a week of birding and wildlife-related activities and the Coalition is excited to share the film festival as one of the featured evening programs.

The film festival offers an opportunity to entertain and engage the community while supporting the on-going work of the Coalition. Special thanks go out to local event sponsors Summit Hut and Betts Printing, the event’s major national sponsor Patagonia, as well as other local and national sponsors.

Sounds like it’s going to be a “wild” evening.

About 800 people (400 teams of 2 each) “assaulted” the urban bike ways of Tucson today, participating in the 2011 New Belgium Brewing Urban Assault Ride scavenger hunt competition. This event is in its 9th year, and Tucson was the kick-off city of 10 U.S. cities.

From their website: http://www.urbanassaultride.com/tucson

The Urban Assault Ride™ is the biggest bicycle scavenger hunt series in the nation! Here’s how it works: You and your teammate will set out on a city-wide quest for ‘checkpoints’ on your favorite two-wheeled steeds. At each checkpoint, you’ll drop your bikes and complete a funky/adventurous obstacle course, then remount your bikes and hit the streets for more.

The goal is to complete all the checkpoints in the shortest amount of time. You choose your own route and checkpoint order. This means that the most clever are often the victors.

I happened upon the Tahoe Park checkpoint, 2000 E. Edison St. when some participants biked in to do an obstacle (human wheelbarrow race), pick up their blue bead, and continue on to other checkpoints and ultimately to the finish line at Maynard’s Market, 400 N. Toole Ave. The race also started at Maynard’s so it could be about a 24 mile ride from Maynard’s out to the 8 checkpoints (assuming you could find them all) and back downtown.

I also dropped by the Himmel Park checkpoint where the obstacle was to toss their shoes into a bag. There were 6 official check points and 2 mystery checkpoints:

Obstacle Checkpoints: (checkpoints can be reached in any order)

* Risky Business (250 S. Craycroft Rd., #140)
* Sky Bar (536 N. 4th Ave.)
* Sunflower Market (4282 N. 1st Ave.)
* Summit Hut (5045 E. Speedway Blvd.)
* Tahoe Park (2000 E. Edison St.)
* Himmel Park (1000 N. Tucson Blvd., SOUTHWEST CORNER)

Mystery Checkpoints: There will be 2 ‘mystery checkpoints’ which all teams will have to locate – in addition to the obstacle checkpoints above. The 1st clue is below (on their website). The 2nd mystery checkpoint clue will be revealed when you reach the 1st mystery checkpoint.

Many teams of two came by at Tahoe Park and Himmel Park, some in regular bike gear, some in pink tutus, fake Hawaiian lei, and one team dressed as Batman & Robin (team #163). Also encountered neighbor Ed Stokes and his 11 year old daughter Livian (“Team Laser Cats”).

This Urban Assault event in Tucson benefited WOW Arizona!,
Wild Outdoor World of Arizona, an educational non-profit corporation:

WOW ARIZONA! is committed to sharing environmental information that can be utilized in urban and rural applications. Whether it be hiking, biking, birding, lepping, gardening or habitat restoration we are dedicated to sharing information that will help people rediscover nature. Our public outreach programs are supported by our Bed & Breakfast, Eco-tours and events, consultation on habitat restoration and exclusive sales of on-site Nature Photography.

Photos of the Tahoe Park checkpoint teams were taken by volunteer Zach MacDonald of Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicyclists. These photos are posted on their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/SDMB.org.

Congratulations to all the participants as it sounded like way too much urban assault on a bike for me, a mere recreational bicyclist. But it looked like a whole lot of fun for fit bicyclists!