A. MISSION:
The mission of this project is to develop a partnership between the BLM and three southwest Utah groups: the Garth and Jerri Frehner Museum of Natural History, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, and the Southwest Wildlife Foundation. Through this partnership the educational, scientific, cultural, and recreational values of heritage resources including archaeological and paleontological resources will be promoted to the public along with respect for Native Americans. We are requesting this support from the BLM to (1) develop public learning opportunities to engage with heritage resources in Utah, (2) increase the public’s and the BLM’s engagement with a Native American tribe, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, and (3) utilize public lands to develop a multi-use seed reference collection to be housed at the Frehner museum.

B. OBJECTIVES
A successful partnership will depend on our achievement of the following objectives:

1. Our first objective is to promote public engagement with paleontological and archaeological heritage resources through the development of interpretive programs and products at Southern Utah University’s Frehner museum. Examples include the development of (a) exhibits related to paleontology and archaeology on BLM lands in Utah, (b) a multi-use seed reference collection for archaeologists and botanists, (c) a campus garden focused on native and culturally important plants, and (d) rehousing and interpretation of the stationary and traveling paleontological exhibits in the Frehner museum. Objective 1 supports this project’s mission by developing relationships among archaeologists and paleontologists at the BLM and SUU faculty and staff with the goal of engaging the public through outreach programming at SUU and interpretive exhibits and products at the Frehner museum. Completion of this objective supports the BLM performance goal of preserving natural and cultural heritage by direct improvement of housing for fossil and archaeological artifacts and the creation of a seed reference collection.

2. Our second objective is to foster partnerships with tribal governments and programs through the development of a sister-garden of native and culturally important plants created with the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah and housed on Paiute land. Objective 2 supports this project’s mission by developing relationships with the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah. Completion of this objective supports the BLM performance goal of expanding partnerships to implement on-the-ground activities.

3. Our third objective is to promote public engagement with paleontological and archaeological heritage resources through the development of interpretative programs and products at the Southwest Wildlife Foundation’s Cedar Canyon Nature Park in Cedar City, Utah. Examples include a third sister-garden of native and culturally important plants at the park, and the development of archaeological and paleontological educational kits to be housed at the park. Objective 3 supports this project’s mission by developing relationships among archaeologists and paleontologists at the BLM and the Southwest Wildlife Foundation with the goal of engaging the public through outreach programming at CCNP. Completion of this objective supports the BLM performance goal of preserving natural and cultural heritage through educational outreach.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number #.Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.