I was out of town Friday afternoon when the announcement was made, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has chosen Minnesota artist Joseph Hautman’s image of a pair of Northern pintails to be the 75th anniversary Federal Duck Stamp.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Joseph Hautman’s image depicts a male and female

pintail nestled among reeds and cattails.

The Plymouth, Minn., resident was also the winner in 1992 and 2002. Waterfowl painting must run in the family, since his brothers, Bob and Jim,

also are multiple federal duck

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Tonight is the first of two meetings Mount Rainier National Park officials are holding as they develop an Environmental Assessment for possible repairs of the Carbon River Road.

Today’s meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Enumclaw Public Library, 1700 First St., Enumclaw.

Tuesday’s meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Tacoma Mountaineers Clubhouse, 2302 N. 30th St., Tacoma.

Park staffers will discuss proposed alternatives for dealing the road, which has been closed to vehicles since more than two miles of road was damaged in November 2006 by flooding.

Access to Ipsut Creek Campground and

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George B. Hartzog Jr., the seventh director of the National Park Service, died on Friday. He was 88 years old.

During his nine-year tenure, 1964 to 1973, Hartzog led the largest expansion of the National

Park System in its history, according to an NPS news release.

During those nine years, 72 sites were added to the national park system, sites that included national parks, historical and archeological monuments, recreation areas, seashores,

riverways, memorials, and cultural units comemmorating minority experiences.

Here is more from today’s news release:

"George Hartzog was one of the great champions

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The state Department of Natural Resources just announced South Fork Hoh Campground, located south of Forks, will be closed from July 7 to Aug. 1. Construction crews have to close the access road to the campground for culvert replacement projects.



Here is the rest of the news release:

This closure will also restrict access to the South Fork of the Hoh Trail in Olympic National Park. South Fork Hoh Campground is one of nine DNR campgrounds located on the North Olympic Peninsula.



The culvert replacement activities are mandated by State Forest

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From the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club:

Seeker, the pretorian 35 out of Mukilteo, is running first so far in the 2008 Vic Maui. This is now Day Six of the international ocean race and all the boats are far offshore.

Seeker is by far the smallest boat in the fleet. Yet, even with that huge disadvantage, skipper Kenneth Gref and his crew are maintaining amazing speeds and staying among the front-runners. That shows excellent boatmanship and strategic thinking.

Also, it looks like the long-standing record of 10 days, 2 hours set by Lahaina’s Grand Illusion is

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An update on the Victoria to Maui sailing race from the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club:

The 20th Vic Maui race started in perfect conditions with winds of 15 to 20 knots and under sunny skies. The boats just zoomed out of the Sound past Cape Flattery and now are heading due south before they decide to make a run for Hawaii.

The start was absolutely heart-stopping with Strum, the high tech racing machine, bolting over the line a mini-second before the gun. Even with that minor setback, Strum quickly blasted to the lead and has been getting further and further ahead of the pack. At last count, it had a lead of more than 250 nautical miles and was averaging speeds of 12 to 14 knots.

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Recreational halibut fishing will reopen Saturday off the north coast to allow anglers to harvest the June portion of the quota, according to a state Department of Fish and Wildlife new release issued a short time ago.

Fishing in marine areas 3 and 4 (La Push and Neah Bay) will be open for halibut fishing at all depths from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Saturday.



Here is the rest of the news release:

Enough quota remains in the fishery for another offshore day, said Heather Reed, coastal policy coordinator. To

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To help celebrate the centennial anniversaries of the Gifford Pinchot, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie and Okanogan-Wenatchee national forests our lead story offers you a list of 100 things to do on national forest land from the Canadian border to the Columbia River. We’re sure you can find something to do this summer from that list.

Also, we got a story about the two public meetings Mount Rainier National Park officials are going to hold next week to get public comment on proposed fixes for the Carbon River Road.

Craig has his monthly update on the 2010 Winter Olympic Games to

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