On July 16, North Cascades National Park officials received notice of a SPOT beacon emergency alert from near the northern Picket Range.

Here is the rest of the news release:

The beacon was registered to a man who had a week-long backcountry permit in the area for a party of two.

Two rangers responded aboard a search and rescue helicopter, contracted from HiLine Helicopters, to investigate. The two climbers with the beacon were quickly found by the helicopter team, but at a location with no landing site nearby. The climbers clearly indicated over and over that they were

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Something’s changed on Adventure Guys: You now use your Facebook account to post comments.

Editor Karen Peterson recently wrote a column explaining the reasons for the switch.

The change also will allow readers to share their comment with their Facebook friends by checking a “post to Facebook” box below the comment field.

If you have any questions or comments on this change, please send us an email at webmaster@thenewstribune.com.

The waters off the northern coast will close to recreational bottomfishing after midnight Thursday to protect yelloweye rockfish, a species federally recognized as overfished.

The closure by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife affects sport fishing for rockfish, lingcod, Pacific cod,and all other bottomfish in Marine Area 3 off La Push and the portion of Marine Area 4 west of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line off Neah Bay.

Heather Reed, a state fish biologist, said the closure is necessary to avoid exceeding quotas on yelloweye rockfish established under a federal stock-rebuilding plan. While it is illegal to retain yelloweye, Reed …

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The state is allowing each angler aboard a vessel on Baker Lake to continue “to deploy angling gear until the daily limit of sockeye has been retained for all licensed and juvenile anglers onboard.”

The rule change is effective through Sept. 4, and applies only for sockeye salmon.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife said the return of Baker Lake sockeye is expected to far surpass escapement goals, making the additional sockeye salmon available for harvest.

All other fishing regulations remain in effect as listed in the 2012/2013 Fishing in Washington sport fishing rules pamphlet. Anglers are reminded to …

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A request for public review issued Thursday afternoon by Mount Rainier National Park:

Mount Rainier National Park Superintendent Randy King has announced that an
environmental assessment has been prepared for the Nisqually to Paradise
Road Rehabilitation project.

The roadway begins at the Nisqually Entrance and continues for 17.6 miles
to Paradise.  The road work would take place in two phases, each phase
lasting two years. The first phase extends from the Nisqually Entrance
(milepost 0.0 to milepost 6.5) and is scheduled to start as early as
2013-2014.  This phase may also include reconstruction of

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We got Craig a new GoPro the other day and the first thing he did was try it out… at the office.

UPDATED 2:31 P.M.

As I’m working on the fishing report for Saturday’s paper, here is some of what I’m hearing.

The saltwater action has been pretty good overall, from the ocean to Port Townsend and even off Tacoma.

Ilwaco/Westport: Anglers out of Ilwaco averaged .98 fish per person last week, the best of the season. Coho made up 62 percent of the catch. At Westport, anglers averaged .82 fish a person, with almost 75 percent of the fish caught being chinook, according to a state report. The weather, including high winds, made fishing tough. People are catching albacore …

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Chip Jenkins, who has been serving as superintendent at North Cascades National Park Complex, has been named deputy regional director for resource stewardship and planning for the National Park Service in the Pacific West Region.

In his new position, Jenkins will be responsible for leading and managing park operations for 17 parks located in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, as well as the administration of four major program functions – cultural resources management, natural resources management, planning and environmental compliance. He will also serve as the regional director’s principal representative in the Pacific Northwest and be the lead official for the …

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