Women's outdoor skills workshop offers instruction

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 (WDFW) experts and other certified instructors.

Scheduled for Sept.16-18 at Camp Waskowitz in North Bend, the annual workshop is presented and coordinated by Washington Outdoor Women (WOW), a non-profit program dedicated to teaching women outdoor skills and natural resource stewardship. WOW, now in its 19th year, is an educational outreach program of the Washington Wildlife Federation.

Certified and experienced instructors will teach 21 classes throughout the weekend on skills such as archery, basic freshwater fishing, fly-fishing and fly-tying, big-game hunting basics, map and compass reading, survival, beekeeping, birding, Dutch oven cooking, backpacking, duck hunting, wildlife awareness, wilderness first aid, and more.

Several WDFW staff members serve as volunteer instructors for the event, including biologist Stacy Kelsey teaching "Basic Freshwater Fishing", biologist Laura Till teaching "Map and Compass", and biologist Shelly Ament teaching "Wildlife Awareness and Tracking." In all, 28 instructors volunteer their time and expertise at this WOW workshop to help women confidently connect with the outdoors.

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

More information about the workshop, including attendance fees and a registration form, is available at http://www.washingtonoutdoorwomen.org. Partial scholarships from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation are available for first-time participants.