Columnist Paula DelGiudice: Outdoors journalists gather in St. George

Paula DelGiudice

Wednesday, June 13, 2001 | 10:24 a.m.

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears Wednesday. Reach her at desertdenizens@aol.com.

The Outdoor Writers Association of America met for its annual conference last week in St. George, Utah. Writers from all over the country came to the Southwest to learn how to write better stories and take better photographs.

Some of the industry's most prolific writers and photographers were among those present. You can hardly pick up a hunting magazine without seeing a photograph taken by Tim Christie or Judd Cooney. Well-known writers such as Joel Vance were there. There were many others whose names won't sound so familiar but can be found every time you turn the pages of your favorite outdoors publication.

Some peers in the newspaper business were there also, including Tom Wharton, outdoors editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, and Bill Monroe, outdoors editor of the Portland Oregonian.

I was able to participate in part of the last day's activities. After introducing the speakers at a National Wildlife Federation-hosted lunch, I had the wonderful opportunity to browse through the new Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum adjacent to the new $23 million Dixie Convention Center on the south end of St. George.

The spectacular museum is the result of many years of travel and effort by hunter Jimmy Rosenbruch and his desires to use the fruits of his hunts to educate people about the natural beauty and fragility of our world. What he has created with the help of his family is not a monument to his hunting prowess, but a tribute to spectacular creatures on our Earth.

Rosenbruch is a dedicated conservationist who knows that the beautiful animals he enjoyed in their natural habitats are threatened by losses of the places they inhabit.

Now I'll add a trip to the museum on my list of "must dos" whenever I'm in St. George.

This is no "small town" museum. The 25,000 square-foot diorama of the natural habitat of Africa, Asia, Europe and North America houses collections not found in some of the most prestigious natural history museums in the country.

It has an extensive collection, for example, of Asian wild sheep, including a Grand Slam. The animals are all mounted "life-size" and the taxidermy is excellent.

Patrons visiting the museum will enjoy the electronic hand wands that give them all the information on each display in a clear and interesting manner.

You will thrill to the sights and sounds of an indoor thunder and lightning storm. Along the ADA approved pathway, you'll pass through a nocturnal area, past a 20-foot waterfall and up the two-story mountain that is the largest foam mountain in the world with natural habitat for each species of animal.

While all those animals are stunning, my favorite parts of the museum are the great "Bug Room" with collections of exotic butterflies from all over the world and other unusual insect creatures. The "hands on" room had the most visitors all the time I was there. Kids of all ages can hold and touch the horns, antlers and furs, play with the turkey calls, zip themselves in the mummy sleeping bag, don the camouflage hunting clothing and climb in and out of the hunting blind.

For additional information, call (435) 656-0033.

To vote, visit www.budweiser.com and click on the "Vote for Outdoorsman of the Year" link.