Annual Strawberry Valley Wildlife Festival takes place Sept. 12-14

By Sun Advocate

Thousands of fluorescent orange kokanee salmon and the abundant wildlife of the Strawberry Valley will be part of the fun Sept. 12-14 at the Third Annual Strawberry Valley Wildlife Festival.
Activities will be at the Daniel Summit Lodge, located east of Heber City along Highway 40, and salmon viewing will take place at the Strawberry Reservoir Visitor Center.
Activities are family oriented and include viewing the kokanee salmon along the Strawberry River boardwalk, listening to presentations by wildlife experts and live country western music (Friday and Saturday), browsing or even purchasing wildlife art and crafts at many booths and displays, going on nature hikes, enjoying Kayla’s Crawdad Cuisine or Daniel’s Summit Barbecue, and participating in many other activities, all of which are free of charge.
The festival begins at noon on Friday, Sept. 12. Activities end at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The festival concludes at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
“The goal of the family-oriented festival is to not only celebrate the wildlife of the area, but to promote ecosystem health and teach appropriate resource uses in the Strawberry Valley,” said Scott Root, regional conservation outreach manager for the Division of Wildlife Resources.
Many booths will promote conservation, safety and responsibility. Booths include bird demonstrations by Tracy Aviary, mountain biking and snowmobiling safety tips, fly tying and fly casting demonstrations, wildlife art and crafts, free bird feeders and bird houses, Olympic biathlon portable shooting range, conservation displays from the DWR, U.S. Forest Service fire safety tips, Utah Division of Water Resources and several other organizations.
Free kokanee salmon posters and many other items will be available from some of the vendors. The “Friends of Strawberry Valley ” organization will hold a raffle to raise money for conservation projects in the valley.
Some of the prizes that have been donated include overnight stays at the Daniels Summit Lodge, Inn on the Creek and the Blue Boar Inn; a guided fishing trip on Strawberry Reservoir; a Sage fly rod; a fleece fishing vest; gift certificates; and many others.