Help needed for Beacon Rock trails
SKAMANIA — Volunteers are needed June 21-24 to accomplish trail maintenance at Beacon Rock State Park.
The Washington Trails Association will provide the tools and instruction. Ryan Ojerio, WTA’s regional coordinator, said worker are welcome to help from one to all four days. An optional camp out and potluck are planned June 23 at the park’s equestrian campground.
To register, call Ojerio at 360-722-2657, email him at ryan@wta.org or go online to www.wta.org/volunteer/trail-work-parties.
Registration open for Special Kids Day
WOODLAND — Advance registration is open for the 14th annual Merwin Special Kids Day at Merwin Fish Hatchery on July 14.
The wheelchair-accessible hatchery waters will be planted with up to 3,000 trout ranging from 1 to 4 pounds. Volunteers will serve as fishing coaches.
Rods, reels, tackle and T-shirts will be provided to use and keep. A free barbecue lunch will be served, followed by fishing painting, a casting contest and other activities.
The event includes youth from the Vancouver School for the Blind, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Emanuel Legacy, Kaiser Kids and Shriners hospitals.
Sponsors urge anyone with a special-needs child to participate. Registration is preferred by July 1. To register, call 1-800-899-4421.
Family fishing event on Saturday
TROUT LAKE — A youth-family fishing event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Guler-Mount Adams County Park.
A joint effort by the Mount Adams Ranger District of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the White Salmon Steelheaders club, the event will include a campfire, fish fry, hot dogs and fish printing on white T-shirts.
The activities are for families with youth age 13 and younger. Fish gear and bait will be provided.
For more information, call Stephanie Cabellero, district fish biologist, at 509-395-3400.
Oregon requires boat inspections
Motorists hauling boats in Oregon now are required to stop at posted watercraft inspection stations to have their vessel checked for aquatic invasive species.
Inspections usually take about 10 minutes if boats are free of aquatic invasive species.
If a boat is found contaminated with species such as quagga or zebra mussels, it will be decontaminated on site with a hot water pressure washer.
There is no penalty or cost for the boat owner if their boat is found to be contaminated.
Since May 1, Oregon inspectors discovered invasive mussels on three boats: one in Central Point and two in La Grande.
The Central Point point had quagga mussels from Lake Havasu in Arizona. The two La Grande boats contained zebra mussels. One boat was moored in Saginaw Bay, Michigan, and the other was a barge used on the Mississippi River system.
Motorists will see orange “Boat Inspection Ahead” signs followed a white “Inspection Required for All Watercraft” sign.
