Plan to set stage now, for coming year
MOSES LAKE - Go forth into the great outdoors, experience fantastic adventures, but contribute and be a factor in the education of others.
Buying a fishing license, a fishing rod and some tackle is one way to contribute to the upkeep of the sport of fishing in Washington State. Most of the fishing items purchased are subject to a federal excise tax.
The money is used to establish public fishing access sites, fish restoration and other projects. There is a similar excise tax on hunting related items, with the monies used for state wildlife restoration projects. So simply buying a hook and a bullet will help the fish and wildlife resources in this state. However there is much more an outdoor-minded person can do to repay or give back to their favorite outdoor activity.
Pick up after others
The easiest activity is to pick up and pack out litter left by inconsiderate and uncaring others. I want to use other harsh, severe and abrasive words to describe the type of people who toss a soda can out the window or leave an empty worm container at the fishing site, but my editor would cut them out anyway.
While we try to encourage them to place empty containers in a sack and deposit the trash in an appropriate garbage container, such an effort seems to fall on deaf ears. Still I try and so should you.
Beyond the education part of the plan, the rest of us are left to do what we can to pack out the litter of others. If I come across a soda can while deer hunting, I'll throw it in my backpack. The hunter must use caution at this point because picking up multiple cans can result in a noisy hike spooking deer along the way. Sometimes the cans are best left where they are or retrieved at a later date.
Once taught about picking up litter youngsters become litter champions. One precaution for the youth and adults alike is to stay away from broken glass. There are items that need to be left to the professionals, such as sharp glass and other hazardous material.
Camping club
There is a need for a camping club to provide instruction to first-time campers. These are people who have never experienced a camping trip before, such as a couple with two children ages 7 and 9. The family is interested in such activities, but lack the skills to get started.
Imagine a loose-knit group of people who want to learn about camping. The first training could be at a city park where there will be instruction and demonstrations about erecting and taking down a tent. Plan a cooking demonstration, with food cooked and eaten, just as if they were at the campsite. Fire-building skill could be tested, if a fire pit was available.
General camping safety should be discussed, perhaps during the meal. Outdoor survival requires serious dialog, not to scare the family, but to support the fact that people become lost while camping and the chances of such an occurrence is more likely with inexperienced people.
Talk about the use of whistles as a survival tool. Then demonstrate their value by having a person walk away from the group and stop. Next yell an instruction and have the group notice how much effort it takes to yell. Blow the whistle to show how little effort is needed, even at long distances. A demonstration of two-way radios at this point will be an eye-opener and their usefulness in the outdoors persuasive.
There is also the consideration of protection, no matter if the concern is a four-legged or two-legged predator. A single mother or widow with children is more apt to enjoy the camping trip if she is with other families.
Introduce at least one person to the outdoors
If helping a family learn about outdoor activities is beyond your scope, consider setting a goal of educating one person. This person may be a niece, nephew, son, uncle, friend or neighbor. Your help may consist of paying for and escorting a youth to the Fishing Kids Day, teaching a 62-year-old neighbor how to fly fish or teaching your daughter how to tie flies.
Presenting a neighbor or disabled friend with a birdfeeder and helping them maintain it will provide many hours of outdoor-related enjoyment as seen from inside their house.
Day trips lead to wildlife viewing
When discussing the possibility of writing for an agricultural-related publication the publisher asked me, "How many farmers and ranchers do you think participate in outdoor activities?"
"All of them," I said.
A rancher or farmer might not hunt, fish or camp, but they all watch wildlife and wildlife viewing has been and continues to be an enjoyable activity throughout not only Columbia Basin farmland, but across the nation. The moose or bear seen in a Davenport wheat field from the tractor will be discussed over coffee the next morning. Day trips, those four- to eight-hour drives through a section of the Columbia Basin offer many chances to view ducks, geese, eagles, hawks, deer and more critters.
While there is nothing required of any person to contribute to or give back to the Great Outdoors, consider doing so in one of the ways mentioned above. Contemplate passing along your ideas and skills about the beauty, wonder and mystery of it all beyond the front door of the house. After all we have a continuous army of youth and inexperienced adults who need to be introduced to the forests, canyons and coulees of Washington State.