Women’s workshop offers outdoors instruction

Published 8:54 am Wednesday, July 5, 2017

OLYMPIA — Women can learn the basics of fishing, hunting, and other outdoor skills in a September weekend workshop that includes sessions led by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife experts and other certified instructors.

Scheduled for Sept. 15-17 at Camp Waskowitz in North Bend, the annual workshop is coordinated by Washington Outdoor Women (WOW), a non-profit program dedicated to teaching women outdoor skills and natural resource stewardship. WOW, now in its 20th year, is an educational outreach program of the Washington Wildlife Federation.

Experienced instructors at the weekend workshop will teach 21 classes on skills such as archery, outdoor survival, fly-fishing and fly-tying, big-game hunting and wilderness first aid. Instructors who have volunteered to share their skills include WDFW biologists Stacie Kelsey (basic freshwater fishing), Laura Till (map and compass reading) and Shelly Ament (wildlife awareness and tracking).

Workshop participants must be at least 18 years old. Those planning to participate in the fly-fishing and freshwater fishing sessions must have a current Washington recreational fishing license.

More information about the workshop, including attendance fees and on-line registration, is available at washingtonoutdoorwomen.org. Scholarships from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation are available for first-time participants.