With forests at tinder-dry levels after this recent long, hot, dry spell, firewood cutting within the National Forest throughout most of the Naches and Cle Elum ranger districts will be prohibited as of Saturday.
At 11:59 p.m. Friday, the Industrial Fire Precaution Level (IFPL) will go to Level 3 in zone 675, which encompasses most of the Naches and Cle Elum districts, and will mean an end to firewood cutting (or gathering) until weather conditions warrant dropping the precaution level. For commercial timber operators on Forest Service or Department of Natural Resources-managed land within zone 675, Level 3 restricts all cutting to roads or loading sites.
Campfires aren't being restricted yet, "But we've been analyzing this on a week-to-week basis," said Gary Jennings, Forest Service fire management officer for the Naches and Cle Elum districts. "And by next week or the weekend after this, we could be putting in campfire restrictions."
Tieton's White wins trio of trap titles
Richard S. White, a Tieton fruit grower who's relatively new to trapshooting, became the talk of last week's Washington State Pacific International Trapshooting state championship shoot.
White, in his first of year shooting registered targets, came away with three titles from the state shoot at Littlerock, about 10 miles southwest of Olympia. He won the 100-target, short-yardage handicap class, finished as Class A high all-around with 374 targets out of 400, and also earned Rookie of the Year honors.
White will represent Washington State in the upcoming Grand Pacific Rookie shoot against shooters from all Western states and Canada.
The Valley was well-represented at the state shoot. In the state 16-yard championship, local winners included Ken Smith in the AA class, hitting 196 of 200 targets; Jake Switzer in the D class; and Ellensburg's Jake Munguia in the sub-juniors. D.J. blankenship was third in C class.
In high all-around, Munguia topped the sub-juniors and Jordan Taylor took the junior class. Munguia also won the sub-juniors class in the 100-target doubles championship, while Betty Phipps topped the ladies class. Munguia, Taylor and Switzer went 1-2-3 in the50-bird sub-junior/junior bike shoot.
Michael Phipps took the mid-yardage title in the handicap event, while Switzer took the sub-juniors and Wayne Klingele was runnerup in the seniors.
Bird Alert: Loop trail a wealth of sightings
Beautiful weather and hooting barred owls welcomed a couple of birders on a loop hike from Morse Creek up to Bear Gap, west along the Pacific Crest Trail to Sourdough Gap and eventually back to Morse Creek.
This is an area attractive to birders for its montane and subalpine birds, and it provided a list of 30 species. Highlights included four hooting sooty grouse, Clark's nutcracker, gray and Steller's jay, three singing dusky flycatchers, warbling vireo, both chestnut-backed and mountain chickadee, winter wren, ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglet, hermit and varied thrush, western tanager, Townsend's, Nashville, yellow-rumped and MacGillivray's warbler, pine siskin, Cassin's finch and evening grosbeak.
Shorebird sightings in the Lower Valley are picking up, with reports this week of killdeer, black-necked stilt, American avocet, greater yellowlegs, solitary sandpiper, spotted sandpiper (including just-fledged young), western and least sandpiper, long-billed dowitcher, Wilson's snipe, Wilson's phalarope, and an early fall migrant red-necked phalarope. A great egret was noted fishing the shallows on the Yakima River south of Grandview, and a black-crowned night-heron perched in a dead tree west of there.
Other interesting sightings this week included an adult male Black-backed Woodpecker observed working a year-old burn area in the Little Naches River drainage. It was making frequent forays with food in its bill, probably to its nest. An adult Cooper's hawk was found roosting in Terrace Heights elm trees and a western bluebird was spotted dive-bombing a chipmunk along the Vredenburgh Bluebird Trail.
Please call your bird sightings into the Yakima Valley Audubon phone line at 248-1963
This week's correspondent: Kerry L Turley
AROUND AND ABOUT
RAINIER SHUTTLE EXPANDS: Mount Rainier National Park visitors can now ride a shuttle from Ashford, six miles from the park's Nisqually Entrance, to Longmire on Saturdays and Sundays through Aug. 31. There is also a second shuttle running Longmire-to-Paradise on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Aug. 31. The shuttle is free, but passengers must still pay a park entrance fee. For an online schedule, go to www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/.
BOATERS BEWARE: Recreational boaters are legally required to remove all aquatic plants from their boats and trailers before driving away from the launch ramp. Facing a serious battle against the spread of noxious and invasive weeds such as milfoil, the WDFW is getting really serious about enforcing this regulation, and failing to do so could cost boaters a $378 fine.
ON THE CALENDAR
SATURDAY: A "bonus outing" for the Cascadians' Pokies group will be a guided tour of the Wenas mammoth dig. Meeting time will be 8:45 a.m. at the Selah High School upper parking lot. For more info, call Julie Graham at 305-8902.
SATURDAY-SUNDAY: The Cascadians' weekend hikes will be Saturday, a 7-miler with 1,400 feet of elevation gain to Bear Creek Mountain, and Sunday, an advance hike to Earl's Peak. For meeting time and place for either hike, call Maurine Peck at 453-4244.
TUESDAY: The Cascdians' Tuesday group will do a Goat Lake loop hike, 13 miles with 1,900 feet of elevation gain. The Tuesday hikers meet at 7:30 a.m. at the 40th Ave. Bi-Mart parking lot .
WEDNESDAY: Mount Adams Cycling Club road cyclists and non-members will meet at 6 p.m. at the Fred Meyer parking lot off 40th Avenue for their weekly 25-mile loop ride to Naches. For info, e-mail anotherjones@earthlink.net.
THURSDAY (JULY 31): The Yakima Climbing Club's 7 p.m. meeting at Pacific River and Alpine Sports (315 W. Yakima Ave.) wil feature a presentation of how to eat gourmet-style while on the trail or camping, by Rob Patterson of Spokane-based Mountain Gear.
* Also on July 31, the Cascadians' Pokies will do a "Rainier view" hike. For meeting time and place, call Virginia Foley at 966-1978.
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