Adventure briefs for Feb. 21

Hear program on inland fisheries

Larry Phillips will give a presentation on “Inland Fisheries Management for Washington” at Wednesday’s meeting of the Olympia Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

The inland fish program manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, Phillips will talk about the agency’s management of trout in lakes, rivers and streams in the state.

Prior to becoming the head of the Inland Fish Program in October 2015, Phillips worked 18 years as the district fish biologist in south Puget Sound. He holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Lewis and Clark State College and a master’s degree in fisheries from Eastern Washington University.

There will be refreshments and a fishing equipment raffle following the presentation.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at North Olympia Fire Station, 5046 Boston Harbor Road NE, Olympia.

The most Instagram-ed national forests

The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is one of the 14 most “Instagram-able” national forests, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The Forest Service made its list based, in part, on the number of images from each location posted on social media site Instagram.

Other national forests on the list were: Huron-Manistee, Michigan; Los Padres, California; Coconino, Arizona; Sawtooth, Idaho; Ocala, Florida; White River, Colorado; Custer Gallatin, Montana; White Mountain, New Hampshire; Sierra, California; Pisgah, North Carolina; Mount Hood, Oregon; Superior, Minnesota; and Lolo, Montana.

The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest encompasses more than 4 million acres. It stretching 180 miles from the southeastern edge of Mount Rainier National Park north along the eastern edge of the Cascades to the Canadian border. It includes areas such as the Goat Rocks Wilderness, portions of the Methow River valley and the North Cascades.

Comments sought on rule changes

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public comments on proposed recommendations for the 2016-17 hunting seasons.

The agency is accepting written comments through Thursday as it looks to finalize hunting rules and regulations proposed for the upcoming hunting seasons. The nearly two dozen proposals and comment forms are posted on the department’s website at wdfw.wa.gov.

Most of the proposals address changes in special permit levels and other issues that were not included in the broader 2015-17 hunting plan approved last April by the Fish and Wildlife Commission.

At the commission’s request, however, two proposals included in the three-year plan are again available for public comment. One relates to cougar-hunting seasons and the other to the use of bait when hunting deer and elk.

The commission will also take public comments on the proposed recommendations at its March 18-19 meeting at the Civic Center in Moses Lake. Final action by the commission is scheduled at the April 8-9 meeting in Olympia.

Black Hills Audubon holds dinner

The Black Hills Audubon Society will holds its 29th annual dinner and auction March at South Puget Sound Community College’s student union.

Paul Bannick will be the featured speaker, talking about owls of the Pacific Northwest. He is the author of “The Owl and the Woodpecker.”

The cost is $35 per person, and RSVPs must be received by Thursday.

For more information, or for tickets, go to blackhills-audubon.org.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 6:45 PM with the headline "Adventure briefs for Feb. 21."