LONG BEACH — Razor clam digging will be open Friday and Saturday on Long Beach Peninsula.
Low tides will be -0.9 feet at 7:37 a.m. on Friday and -0.8 feet at 8:12 a.m. on Saturday.
Twin Harbors Beach is open daily through Tuesday.
Copalis and Mocrocks are closed for the season because harvest guidelines have been met.
“We still have clams available for harvest at Twin Harbors and Long Beach, and we want to give diggers a chance to catch their limit before the season comes to an end,” said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “After this opening, we’ll take another look at how the catch on those beaches measures up against the harvest guidelines.”
Diggers are limited to the first 15 clams they dig. Each digger’s clams must be kept in a separate container.
Deadline looms for hunt permits
OLYMPIA — Sportsmen have through May 22 to apply for special hunting permits for deer, elk, mountain goat, moose, bighorn sheep, and turkey in Washington.
Permit winners will be selected through a random drawing conducted by the Department of Fish and Wildlife in late June. The permits qualify hunters to hunt at times and places beyond those authorized by a general license.
To apply for a special permit, hunters must purchase an application and necessary hunting licenses for each species they wish to hunt.
Applications and licenses are available from vendors statewide or online at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/wdfw/special_permits.html.
Applications must be submitted on that website or by calling 1-877-945-3492 toll-free.
Most special hunt permit applications cost $7.10 for residents, $110.50 for non-residents, and $3.80 for youth younger than 16 years of age.
The exception is the cost for residents purchasing applications for mountain goats, any ram and any moose, as well as “quality” categories for deer and elk. Those applications cost $13.70.
Instructions and details on applying for special-permit hunts are described on pages 86-87 of the 2013 Big Game Hunting Seasons and Regulations pamphlet, available at department offices, license vendors, and online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regulations. Additional information is available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/permits/faq.html.
Results of the special-permit drawing will be available online by the end of June at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/wa/specialhuntlookup.
Winners will be notified by mail by mid-July.
Carson-to-Stevenson Gorge race May 18
STEVENSON — The seventh annual Carson-to-Stevenson Ridge 16K Run will begin at 8 a.m. for walkers and 8:30 a.m. for runners on May 18.
The race starts at Backwoods Brewing, 1162 B Wind River Rd., Carson and finishes at the Skamania County Fairgrounds.
Shuttles will be available, but participants are encouraged to arrange a carpool for their party.
Entry costs $10 without a T-shirt, or $20 with a shirt.
Proceeds will benefit the Columbia Gorge Running Club Scholarship Fund.
For registration and other event information, go online to www.columbiagorgerunningclub.com or www.skamaniacountyparks.com.
USCG warns about Cathlamet Channel
CATHLAMET — The U.S. Coast Guard said that severe shoaling in the southeast portion of Cathlamet Channel from Little Island to Nassa Point has made the waterway unsafe to navigate.
The Coast Guard is removing four aids to navigation, Cathlamet Channel buoys Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 7A.
Cathlamet Channel is the portion of the Columbia River between the Washington mainland and Puget Island.
Lost Lake campgroundopen for season
HOOD RIVER, Ore. — Lost Lake campground on the north side of Mount Hood is open for the season.
The campground opened Monday, while the lodge opened on May 1.
The lake and surrounding area are part of the Mount Hood National Forest. The resort was build in the 1930s.
Lost Lake has a three-mile trail circling the lake and a two-mile trail to a viewpoint.
For more information, or to make lodge or cabin reservations, call 541-386-6366.
State approves lighted nocks
OLYMPIA — Allowing lighted nocks for bowhunting is among the 17 measures adopted for the 2013 hunting seasons by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Advocates say that electronically illuminated nocks can be helpful in retrieving arrows. Traditional bowhunters had originally opposed any use of electronics in primitive weapon seasons, but the commission agreed that lighted knocks have little impact on harvest success.
Other new rules will:
• Restore archery hunts for antlerless elk in Yakima County in game management units 352 (Nile) and 356 (Bumping).
• Rescind the five special hunting permits previously available for the Tieton bighorn sheep herd, which the state recently eliminated to prevent the spread of a deadly outbreak of pneumonia.
• Restrict importation of dead game animals from Missouri, Texas and Pennsylvania, which are among a number of states with deer and elk populations known to harbor chronic wasting disease.
