Celebrating unique field station

The Capital Reef Field Station, an eight year-long project completed last October, will be recognized in a celebration held at Center Stage in the Sorensen Student Center Thursday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Alongside giveaways and a performance commemorating the field station completion, the celebration will also provide opportunities and information for students to become involved.

Performances planed for the event are dances by both the UVU Department of Dance and the UVU Native Sun and poetry readings by faculty members.

The giveaways will include items such as GPS units, tents, water bottles, and other outdoor-themed items.

The station features a classroom, multi-room dormitory, meeting room, utility building, and caretaker residence.

From the beginning, one of the goals of the field station was to have a low environmental impact. The low impact features include sound absorbent insulation, downward pointing lights, uses of solar power and passive solar heating and lighting.

Capital Reef became a national monument on Aug. 2, 1937 under President Roosevelt when he set 37,711 acres of the area aside. It was not until Dec. 18, 1971, under President Nixon, that 254,368 acres of the monument became a park.

The area of Capital Reef National Park is as described by its Web site as a classic monocline or a fold in the earth with one side being higher then the other. This area is home to many different types of animal and plant life because of its unique geographic features.