Women can hone outdoor skills at workshop

From a courage-building challenge course to the intricacies of tying fishing flies, a Washington Outdoor Women (WOW) weekend workshop Sept. 15 to 17 will offer instruction for women who want to learn or perfect fishing, hunting and other outdoor skills.

The session will be held in the Carl Jensen Environmental Center at Camp Waskowitz near North Bend.

Participants can choose three half-day instruction sessions among topics that include archery, backpacking and camping, basic fishing, fly fishing, big game hunting, birding, canoeing, Dutch oven cooking, map and compass reading, outdoor photography, shotgun handling, survival skills, wildlife identification, wilderness medicine and horse packing.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) staff members will serve as instructors at several of the sessions. Basic fishing will be taught by Jim Byrd, WDFW angler education coordinator, and Tammy Conklin, a WDFW enforcement officer; wildlife identification tips will be offered by Shelly Ament, a WDFW wildlife biologist, and instruction in wild turkey hunting will be offered by Nancy Uusitalo, a WDFW biologist.

The session fee of $175 includes instruction, equipment use, materials, lodging, meals and a T-shirt. Partial scholarships of $125 may be awarded to a limited number of first-time participants who qualify and apply by Aug. 1.

For additional information contact Ronni McGlenn at (425) 455-1986; Cathy Bingaman at (360) 668-8488; Lori Patnode at (206) 938-4853, or Kathleen South at (360) 753-6329. Registration forms and information are available on the WOW website on the Internet.