Women’s outdoor skills workshop

Women will learn the basics of fishing, hunting and other outdoor skills at the 13th annual workshop coordinated by Washington Outdoor Women (WOW) in September.

The two-day workshop runs Sept. 17-19 at Camp River Ranch in Carnation, offering sessions led by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) experts and other certified instructors.

A non-profit organization, WOW is an educational outreach program of the Washington Wildlife Federation dedicated to teaching women outdoor skills and natural resource stewardship.

Twenty classes will be offered during the weekend on skills such as archery, basic freshwater fishing, fly-fishing and tying flies, kayaking, cooking wild game, big-game hunting basics, map and compass reading, wilderness first aid, survival skills and outdoor photography.

WDFW staff members are among the 34 volunteer instructors who will teach classes that help women connect or reconnect with the outdoors. They include fish and wildlife biologist Laura Till, who will teach map and compass reading, Officer Tammy Conklin, who will teach a class on basic freshwater fishing and biologist Shelly Ament, who will teach the “Wild Lives of Wildlife.”

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

The workshop fee is $235 and covers the cost of lodging, meals and necessary equipment. A limited number of partial scholarships, provided by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, are available for first-time participants.

For information and registration forms, see www. washingtonoutdoorwomen. org or call Ronni McGlenn at 425-455-1986.