Ocean adventure rowing and adventure education organization, OAR Northwest,is pleased to announce a title sponsorship agreement with the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF).
CWF’s presence will be immediately felt and recognized as they come aboard for the next two ocean rowingexpeditions: a 750-mile circumnavigation of Vancouver Island (April 2012), and later for the December 2012trans-Atlantic expedition. Both will connect the ocean rowing craft to classrooms and communities in Liberia,Venezuela, and the Pacific Northwest.

CWF will be integral to OAR Northwest expeditions and programming, facilitating financing andorganizational support toward outfitting “the world’s most technologically advanced rowboat.”
OAR Northwest and CWF share a common vision of exploration within one’s self and with the environmentaround them. “I am absolutely thrilled with The Canadian Wildlife Federation sponsorship and the increasedreach in educating kids and the public at large about the fascinating and critical intersection of marineecosystems, from the unique vantage point of an ocean rowboat,” says rower and OAR Northwest President,Jordan Hanssen.

During the 2012 Salish Sea and Africa to the Americas expeditions, rowers will gather various data from theocean environment, marine life and themselves. Through free web-based tracking and an adventure learningcurriculum found at OARnorthwest.com, students and adults alike will virtually join the rowers everyoar stroke of the way. Students enrolled in the fee-based program for schools in Washington and BritishColumbia will meet expedition team members, learn marine and maritime studies and practice analyzingsleep study data.

“The OAR Northwest expeditions will draw attention to the health of marine ecosystems and re-connect thepublic with the outdoors, water sports and conservation. It’s an exciting course, with an ocean of possibilitiesfor water education and engagement,” says Wade Luzny, CEO-Executive Vice President of the CanadianWildlife Federation.

OAR Northwest and the Canadian Wildlife Federation attended the 2012 Vancouver Boat Show to formallyannounce the partnership.

Once at sea, the rowers will face great challenges as they venture around Vancouver Island and across theAtlantic from West Africa to South America in a 29-foot specialized ocean rowboat. “This boat is unlikeany other type of rowboat,” says OAR Northwest expedition member & Olympic Gold Medalist in rowingAdam Kreek. “The expedition team uses North America’s most technologically advanced rowboat as a home,laboratory and life-support on an unforgiving ocean.”

To create a lasting impact among local youth, OAR Northwest Executive Director, Otto Loggers Ed.M., worksclosely extraordinary community members and ocean rowers to implement the education, research andservice programs of OAR Northwest. Pacific Northwest schools will join the expedition’s journey in real-timeand gain unprecedented personal contact with the team and rowing vessel. Teachers and administrators canfind more information and enroll online.

ABOUT OAR NORTHWEST: Founded in 2005, OAR Northwest connects with partners to reach its expedition and program goals, whilepropelling youth, community members and businesses to their own extraordinary achievement. The crewfor next two expeditions, including a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island and mid-Atlantic crossing:Beijing Olympic Gold Medalist Adam Kreek; Guinness World Record holders and North Atlantic Rowing Raceveterans Jordan Hanssen and Greg Spooner, and national level lightweight rower Richard Tarbill. Jordanand Greg rowed 3,200 nautical miles across the North Atlantic in 72 days from the USA to the UK withoutassistance. This Pacific Northwest-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization is currently raising awareness andfunds for its 2012 expeditions.. OAR Northwest proves that solid teams faced with extreme challenges caninspire excellence. For more information visit: OARnorthwest.com.

About the Canadian Wildlife Federation: The Canadian Wildlife Federation is a national, non-profit charitable organization dedicated to fosteringawareness and appreciation of our natural world. By spreading knowledge of human impacts on theenvironment, sponsoring research, developing and delivering education programs, promoting the sustainableuse of natural resources, recommending changes to policy and co-operating with like-minded partners,CWF encourages a future in which Canadians can live in harmony with nature. For more information visitCanadianWildlifeFederation.ca.

ABOUT OAR NORTHWEST’S EDUCATION PROGRAM: The OAR Northwest education program aims to motivate student learning, and the approach is to makestudents active participants in the learning process. Face-to-face interactions with expedition crew members,innovative online tracking technology and an adventure learning curriculum contribute to building astudent’s academic excellence. Students explore real life and world issues through authentic classroom andout-of-school learning experiences. Programs launch in March2012 at schools. Enroll today by visiting theeducation tab on the OAR Northwest website.

The meetings, part of the North of Falcon process, will conclude April 1-6 when the Pacific Fishery Management Council meets in Seattle to adopts ocean fisheries regulations and state-tribal fishing plans.

At the Feb. 28 meeting, staffers from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife will release Puget Sound, coastal Washington and Columbia River salmon forecasts. They also will discuss fishery management objectives and 2012 recreational fishing opportunities.

That meeting will be 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in Room 172 of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E., Olympia.

Here is a look at the other meetings:

March 2-7: Pacific Fishery Management Council, Sacramento, Calif. The council will adopts three ocean fishery options, including catch quotas for sport fisheries.

March 12: North of Falcon meeting, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Room 172, Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E., Olympia. Discussion of management objectives and preliminary fishery proposals for Puget Sound, coastal Washington and Columbia River area sport fisheries.

March 13: Willapa Bay fisheries discussion, 6-8 p.m., Raymond Elks Lodge, 326 Third St., Raymond. Discussion of Willapa Bay salmon forecasts and fishing opportunities.

March 14: Columbia River fisheries discussion, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Vancouver Water Resources Education Center, 4600 S.E. Columbia Way, Vancouver. Discussion of management objectives and preliminary options for Columbia River fall sport fisheries.

March 15: Puget Sound recreational fisheries discussion, 6-8 p.m., Port Angeles City Hall Council Chamber, 321 E Fifth St., Port Angeles. Discussion of local salmon fisheries.

March 20: Grays Harbor fisheries discussion, 6-8 p.m. Montesano City Hall, 112 N. Main St., Montesano. Discussion of Grays Harbor salmon forecasts and fishing opportunities.

March 21: Pre-season Columbia Basin salmon forecasts and fishery outlook, 6-9 p.m., Benton PUD, 2721 W. 10th Ave. Kennewick. Discussion of potential recreational and commercial salmon fisheries statewide.

March 24: Puget Sound Recreational fisheries discussion, 10 a.m.-noon. WDFW Mill Creek Office, 16018 Mill Creek Blvd., Mill Creek. Discussion of management objectives and preliminary options for Puget Sound marine and freshwater sport fisheries.

March 26: North of Falcon Meeting–Columbia River and ocean discussion, 9 a.m.- 2 p.m., Room 175, Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E., Olympia. Meeting to present results of state-tribal negotiations and analyses of ocean and Columbia River fisheries proposals. With public participation, preferred seasons are developed for ocean and Columbia River area sport and commercial fisheries.

March 26: Public hearing on ocean salmon management options, 7 p.m., Chateau Westport, 710 W. Hancock, Westport. Public hearing, sponsored by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, to receive comments on the proposed ocean salmon fishery management options.

March 28: North of Falcon Meeting–Puget Sound discussion, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., Embassy Suites Hotel, 20610 44th Ave. West, Lynnwood. Meeting to present results of state-tribal negotiations and analyses of Puget Sound fisheries proposals.

March 30: Final Grays Harbor/Willapa Bay fisheries discussion, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Room 172, Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E., Olympia. Meeting to reach final agreement on sport and commercial salmon seasons for Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay.

April 1-6: Pacific Fishery Management Council, Seattle Sheraton, 1400 Sixth Ave., Seattle. Council adopts ocean fisheries regulations and state-tribal fishing plans are finalized.

Mount Hood Meadows is hosting its annual  “Chairway 2 Heaven” – speed dating on its Blue chairlift this Sunday.

The lift will have two “singles” lines, one for women and one for men. People from each line will be randomly paired for a lift ride. When the ride continues at the top of the hill, the couple decide if they want to continue skiing together or hop back in line for another speed date.

The event is from noon to 4 p.m. and is free for those who have a lift ticket or season pass.

There will be a fire pit, cheese and crackers near the bottom of the lift where the velvet tones of Barry White, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass and others will play on the . The Mingle and Chairway 2 Heaven events are scheduled from noon – 4 PM.

The ski area on the east side of Mount Hood claims the 42-year-old is the location where “countless numbers of couples were introduced … and where proposals for marriages have been made, turned down and accepted.”

Former Tacoma resident Ashley Wagner finished second in voting for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s female athlete of the month award, the USOC announced this morning.

Wagner, 20, recently won the U.S. National Figure Skating Championship.

Wagner, now living in Virginia, finished second to U.S. soccer player Abby Wambach for the USOC’s January honor. Snowboarder Shaun White won the men’s award and the U.S. women’s soccer team won the team award.

Wagner spoke with The News Tribune during the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, where she narrowly missed a spot on the Winter Olympic team.

“I come home to Seabeck every summer for a week just to cool down and relax,” Wagner said.

But Seabeck, a small town on Hood Canal near Silverdale – where Wagner’s parents grew up and some family still lives – is just one of many places she calls home.

Wagner was born in Germany, learned to skate in Alaska, currently lives in Alexandria, Va., and trains in Wilmington, Del.

Growing up in a military family, she has lived many places, including a year in Tacoma when her dad, Eric Wagner, was stationed at Fort Lewis. She also lived briefly in Vancouver, Wash.

A USOC panel selects the winner of the athlete of the month award with online voting from fans accounting for 10 percent of the vote.

The mid-mountain center will serve as a meeting place for mountain safety and avalanche courses and as an additional ski patrol outpost and dispatch center.

The center is named in honor of David Pettigrew, a long-time snowboarder who died in a snowboarding accident at Alpental in 2005.

“The new structure will meet a growing need for additional meeting space to host a series of popular, free mountain safety and education courses held throughout the winter season, sponsored by the David Pettigrew Memorial Foundation and taught by Alpental’s Pro Patrol,” read a statement prepared by the Summit at Snoqualmie.

“Our family is very pleased to have this Center for Safety and Education named in honor of our son David,” said Ed Pettigrew, David’s father. “Turning the tragedy of our son’s passing into something positive and using it as a way to educate others is why the David Pettigrew Memorial Foundation was created. The Pettigrew family, the Foundation, and Alpental and its patrollers have the same basic goals: to prevent accidents on the mountain and to save lives. We are thankful to Alpental for this honor.”

“I have thoroughly enjoyed working at Olympic National Park,” she said in a prepared statement. “The staff is a great group of people to work with, as are the communities of the Olympic Peninsula.  The community support and our park neighbors have been wonderful here.”

In Gustin’s time at Olympic, the park started the removal of the Elwha River dam, the nationa;s largest dam removal. The project is scheduled to be complete in September 2014. The park has also started a wilderness stewardship plan. She’s also worked to nurture the relationship with local Indian tribes.

Gustin oversaw the $2 million repair project to the popular Hurricane Ridge Road, when it was damaged by a landslide in 2010. She also spearheaded the installation of new bridge of Staircase Rapids, a $1.1 million project that will restore the popular Staircase Rapids Loop Trail.

Gustin plans to move to Lexington, Kentucky, where she plans to “immerse herself in the equine industry,” according to a statement released by the park.

“There are a host of non-profit organizations and companies that work in all facets of horse breeding, training, conservation and management,” she says. “I look forward to making new contacts, taking advantage of employment opportunities, and learning more about the business,” she explained.

Todd Suess, the park’s deputy superintendent, will serve as interim acting superintendent.

Dueck broke his back in 2004 when he overshot a jump. His injuries resulted in the loss of use of both of his legs.

The state is pulling the plug on a hatchery steelhead program at Snider Creek next year to establish a wild steelhead management zone in the Sol Duc River.

After next spring, no hatchery steelhead will be released into the Sol Duc River, said the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Snider Creek is a tributary to the Sol Duc River near Forks.

The Sol Duc will be the first wild steelhead management zone formally established in the state under the department’s statewide steelhead management plan, said Ron Warren, regional fish program manager.

Wild management zones, also known as wild stock gene banks, are designed to preserve key populations of wild fish by minimizing interactions with hatchery fish, Warren said. Research has shown that hatchery fish are often less genetically diverse and can impact wild stocks through interbreeding or competition for food or habitat.

The agency is also looking to identify other streams that could be candidates for wild management zones, said Warren. That effort includes working with an advisory group to identify specific streams in the Puget Sound region.

“Establishing wild management zones is part of a broad effort aimed at modifying our hatchery programs to be compatible with conservation and recovery of naturally spawning salmon and steelhead populations,” Warren said in a prepared statement. “Shifting hatchery steelhead production away from the Sol Duc River – where we have one of the largest wild steelhead populations in the state – is an important step in that effort.”

Changes designed to support naturally spawning salmon and steelhead are driven by plans and policies adopted by the Fish and Wildlife Commission, such as the steelhead management plan and hatchery and fishery reform policy, Warren said.

While the hatchery program will no longer take place at Snider Creek, the department is working with stakeholders to re-establish a similar effort in the Bogachiel or Calawah rivers, where the department already releases hatchery steelhead, said Warren.

The program will end next spring, when 25,000 winter steelhead smolts are released into the Sol Duc River, Warren said. Last year, the department discontinued its summer steelhead program on the Sol Duc River, after releasing 20,000 smolts.

While fewer hatchery steelhead will be returning to the Sol Duc in the coming years, anglers will continue to have opportunities to fish for salmon and other game fish, as well as retain one wild steelhead per license year on the river, Warren pointed out.

The Snider Creek program was created in 1986 as a joint project with the Olympic Peninsula Guides’ Association to increase fishing opportunities for steelhead on the Sol Duc. The program is unlike most other hatchery efforts in that it produces offspring from wild steelhead rather than hatchery fish.

The Statewide Steelhead Management Plan is available here, while the commission’s hatchery and fishery reform policy is available here.

Lake Tapps angler Brian Dennis brought home the $4,000 second prize in the ninth annual 2012 Roche Harbor Salmon Classic Invitational. Dennis was the leader after the first day with his 16.2-pound chinook salmon.

The winner was Jason King of Bellingham whose 16.6-pound fish topped the field of 293 anglers to earn the $10,000 first-place prize.

Dennis was tied for second place with David Hodges of Friday Harbor.

Rounding out the top five were Dale Nelson of Bellingham (16.1 pounds, $2,000) and Derek Floyd of Camano Island (14.2 pounds, $1,000).

Another local angler was among the winners. Christian Thomas was named the Youngest Angler of the derby. The 4 ½-year-old from Tacoma weighed in a 5.1-pound salmon on Saturday.

The resolution will be considered during the regular meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. Thursday, at the Labor and Industries Auditorium, 7273 Linderson Way S.W., Tumwater.

Here is the rest of the news release:

If the PDA completes a business plan showing that it can successfully fund the park and if it agrees to certain deed restrictions and conditions as required by the Commission, Fort Worden State Park would be transferred to the PDA to operate by July 1 of 2013. The resolution to be considered by the Commission includes a provision to give the public ample opportunity to learn about and express their views regarding the potential transfer of Fort Worden State Park to the PDA. A transfer would happen only with the condition that Fort Worden be managed as a park and available to the public. If that failed to happen, it would revert back to the State.

Consideration of the Fort Worden transfer is the latest in a long series of discussions about long-range planning for the park. A formal long-range planning process for Fort Worden State Park began in 2004, and subsequently, a group of citizens and potential park partners organized as a public development authority. Since 2004, the Commission has adopted a vision and mission statement for Fort Worden State Park, approved a roadmap and assumptions to guide long-range planning, adopted land classifications, a long-term boundary and park use and development principles. The planning process, supported with public and private funds, resulted in 2008 Commission adoption of a long-range plan to transform the park into a Lifelong Learning Center.

The Lifelong Learning Center concept is envisioned to provide outdoor space for recreational and educational opportunities and to house a variety of tenants and groups that would offer programs and classes on a variety of subjects, including performing and visual arts, environmental and natural resources, health and wellness, historic preservation, cultural history and more.

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