Volunteers: Share your experiences with us in a focus group session
This Spring, Jim Cahill, a recreation manager in our Northwest Region, is coordinating focus group sessions in partnership with University of Washington's graduate research program to learn more about how we can better serve our current and future volunteers. All are invited, whether you've been volunteering with us for years or have thought about volunteering, but haven't done it yet.
By joining us for one focus group session, you'll help us to improve how we can serve the needs and interests of people with a desire to volunteer.
Your two-and-a-half-hour focus group session would take place on a Saturday or Sunday in mid-April or May in Tumwater. Food and refreshments will be provided during the meetings. To join us, please contact Jim Cahill atJames.Cahill@dnr.wa.gov at 360-333-0272 with your response to the following question.
What's in store for some of your favorite recreation destinations?
DNR recreation staff have been hard at work this winter supporting the future of recreational experiences you love. In early March, staff joined many other recreation providers from around the state to present grant applications to the Nonhighway and Off-Road Vehicle Activities (NOVA) Advisory Committee, a 15-member committee of citizens and agencies that make recommendations to the Recreation and Conservation Funding Board withWashington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO). Every two years, DNR staff have the opportunity to take part in this process, which is a critical part of how DNR funds trails, campground and picnic areas you enjoy. Later this spring, the Recreation and Conservation Funding Board will review the committee’s scoring and confirm available funding. The committee ranked many of DNR's requests highly, a reflection of DNR's importance as a statewide recreation provider. Click here to see what may be in store for some of your favorite recreation destinations.
RCO manages this grant program, which distributes a portion of the state gas tax as well as off-road vehicle permits to help support recreation on public lands. To learn more, visit RCO's website.
Learning about Teanaway Community Forest winter recreation
In late March, staff with DNR and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife headed to Teanaway Community Forest with our volunteer advisory committee members. The recreation planning group wanted to break out from regularly scheduled meetings to learn more about winter recreation in the 50,241-acre landscape firsthand. While we were there, we heard from staff with Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission's Sno-Park program and U.S. Forest Service about groomed trails and nearby trail connections. Head to ourFlickr site to see some of our favorite shots from the day. Click the image below to see a bit of what we learned.
For more information about recreation planning for the Teanaway Community Forest, upcoming meeting details and additional documents, visit our website.
Pick up the Burn: Join us May 6
We're coming up on our 15th annual Pick up the Burn, which brings off-road-vehicle riders, mountain bikers, hikers and horseback riders together to give back to recreation sites and trails in our Yacolt Burn State Forest near Camas. Click the image below for a look at last year's event.
Join us
8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 6
Jones Creek ORV Trailhead
Visit our event listing for more information.
Partners are our key to success: Thanks Clark-Skamania Flyfishers
This April, our partners at the Clark-Skamania Flyfishers Clubwill be doing their 12th annual Merrill Lake Campground and boat-launch clean-up. The southwestern Washington nonprofit formed in 1975 and is committed to promoting flyfishing opportunities, which include DNR's catch-and-release fly fishing lake in our Merrill Lake Natural Resources Conservation Area. The campground has a 1-mile nature trail with interpretive signs in an old Douglas fir and western hemlock forest. Campground includes toilet facilities, campsites, parking and boat launch. To learn more about the Clark-Skamania Flyfishers, visit their website. View our April 15 Merrill Lake work party event listing to join the Clark-Skamania Flyfishers for this year's event.
To learn more about giving back to recreation on DNR-managed lands, visit our website.
Have fun and get involved!
Jones Creek Work Party near Camas
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 5 ALSO: April 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 29
Tarbell Trail Work Party, near Camas
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 6
Walker Valley Heavy Haul, near Mount Vernon
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 8
Wildfire Awareness Day and Ahtanum Campground Clean-up, near Yakima
12 to 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 8
Poo Poo Point Work Party, near Issaquah
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 9
Baker to Bellingham Recreation Planning Committee meeting, near Bellingham
6 to 9 p.m.
Tuesday, April 11
Teanaway Community Forest Advisory Committee meeting, near Cle Elum
3 to 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 13
SWITMO Work Party, near Bellingham
8:15 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday, April 15
Merrill Lake Work Party, near Longview
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday, April 15
Tiger Mountain Work Party, near Issaquah
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 16
Morning Star Trails Planning Committee Meeting, in Mill Creek
6 to 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 18
Manastash Trails Planning Committee Meeting, in Ellensburg
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 25
Oyster Dome Work Party, near Bow
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Friday, April 28 ALSO: April 29, 30
Pick up the Burn, near Camas
8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 6
Friends of Capitol Forest Work Party, near Olympia
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 6
Wenas Work Party, near Ellensburg
9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 6
Located near Ellensburg and Vantage, theWhiskey Dick Wildlife Area green dot road system provides opportunities for leisure driving and other low-impact recreation opportunities, such as bird watching, hiking and camping. Click here for a map you can download to your smartphone and print.
To see other maps of DNR-managed recreation sites, visit our website.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's 2017 Trout Fishing Derby
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s annual derby for hundreds of lowland lakes, including DNR’s Starvation Lake near Colville, starts April 22. If you head out before Oct. 31, you’ll have the chance at winning one of 1,000 prizes, which correspond with yellow tagged fish. Learn more on WDFW's website.
Washington State Parks: Spring is here, a great time to brush up on boater safety
Whether you stand-up paddle board, fish, kayak, sail or cruise, it's important to understand boating safety. Help keep your boating trips safe and fun by completing a boating education course. More information:www.boatered.org. ;
DNR recreation news is for you
DNR's Recreation News e-newsletter helps you explore where to go, what to do and what to look forward to on DNR-managed lands.
Contact Eryn Couch at eryn.couch@dnr.wa.gov
or 360-902-1066 with story ideas or comments.
