March into the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in March…for Free!  Special free admission is courtesy of the Ilwaco Merchants Association.  The Museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10am — 4 pm and Sundays from noon until 4 pm.  If you haven’t been to Ilwaco’s Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum lately, you have no idea what you’ve been missing.  So take advantage of this great opportunity to check it out for FREE!

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Fort Clatsop is pleased to announce the next In Their Footsteps free speaker series event. This program is Shotgun on My Chest: Memoirs of a Lewis and Clark Book Collector by Roger Wendlick. This is scheduled for Sunday, March 21, at 1:00 p.m.

Shotgun on My Chest: Memoirs of a Lewis and Clark Book Collector is the title of a recently published book by Roger Wendlick. He spent decades acquiring the premier collection of literature related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His collection is now in the Lewis & Clark College

Aubrey R. Watzek Library in Portland. Wendlick is a recipient of the National Daughters of the American Revolution Award for Preservation of History and is a past board member of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. He is an internationally recognized historian who continues to study and write about aspects of the expedition with a particular focus on civilian interpreter George Drouillard. Wendlick is a delightful and knowledgeable storyteller.

Wendlick’s book is available for purchase at the Lewis and Clark National Park Association bookstore in the Fort Clatsop visitor center. There will be a book-signing at this bookstore following his presentation.

This monthly Sunday forum is sponsored by the Lewis and Clark National Park Association and the park. These programs are held in the Netul River Room of Fort Clatsop’s visitor center and are free of charge.

For more information, call the park at (503) 861-2471.

New rules take effect Monday, March 1st; the lower Columbia 2010 sport sturgeon season will unfold this way:

From Buoy 10 near Ilwaco upstream to the Wauna power lines opens May 22 to June 26 seven days a week to retention of white sturgeon from 41 to 54 inches long. A catch and release requirement governs sturgeon encounters in this reach outside the kill fishery period.

To determine the length of a sturgeon for retention purposes, anglers should measure the fish from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail between the two lobes. That’s called the ‘fork length’. The former standard was the overall length from the snout to the upper tail lobe tip.

Anglers should also note that for the first time a quota restriction has been applied to the sturgeon fishery on the lower Willamette River wholly under Oregon’s jurisdiction and the mid-Willamette also will get a new no-sturgeon-fishing sanctuary below Willamette Falls.

Green sturgeon found in the Columbia River and elsewhere in Washington waters are protected by state and federal laws.

Read the full story, by Doug Huddle, at the Bellingham Herald.

Razor clam diggers were successful during late-January digs, and are hoping for more of the same this weekend.
By Mark Yuasa, Seattle Times staff reporter

Fishing opportunities continue to grow around the state for steelhead, salmon, smelt and trout and if you dig it, we’ll also throw some razor clams into the mix.

Thousands of razor-clam diggers are expected to head to the coast for what has been an excellent winter season.

Digging will be open Friday to Monday at Long Beach and Twin Harbors; Friday to Sunday at Copalis and Mocrocks; and Saturday and Sunday at Kalaloch.

The dig Jan. 28-31 drew 21,000 digger trips with 275,600 razor clams, an average of 13 clams per person (the first 15 dug regardless of size or condition is a daily limit).

Low tides: Friday, minus-0.7 feet at 4:49 p.m.; Saturday, -0.9 at 5:34 p.m.; Sunday, -0.8 at 6:16 p.m.; and Monday, -0.1 at 6:57 p.m.

Read Mark Yuasa’s full report.  More on Razor Clam digging.

We got a nice mention in Cascadia Kids:

Long Beach, Wash.

Why go? On Southwest Washington’s tip, Long Beach
hosts funky curios like Jake the Alligator Man, chainsaw-carved logs and
beachfront houses with eccentric decor. Personally, I love the house
with hundreds of buoys displayed out front.

But beyond the video games, go-karts and beach trappings (and kids
love all of it), you’ll also find an amazing foodie community’s
restaurants in Long Beach and neighboring towns of Ilwaco, Seaview and
Nahcotta. And gentle hikes through Cape Disappointment State Park
provide see-forever views of the Pacific Ocean before you come upon a
stately lighthouse.

Sites to explore: Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau and Bailey’s
Bakery and Cafe, which serves up some of the best baked goods I’ve
ever enjoyed.

Read the full story.

A man accused last year of mowing down almost 50 protected seabirds on Long Beach Peninsula in Washington has been sentenced to serve 45 days in jail.

Charles Belgard, 21, pleaded guilty last week in Pacific County Superior Court to one count of animal cruelty, a felony under Washington state law. Besides the jail time, he has to pay a fine of $1,050.

The sentence stems from the slaughter of the seabirds in June. Belgard was seen driving a Jeep about 70 miles an hour on the beach, plowing through about 10 flocks of birds.

It was one of the worst incidents ever in the area, according to wildlife rehabilitators.

“It wasn’t just a one-time down the beach thing,” said Sharnelle Fee, director of the Wildlife Center of the North Coast near Astoria, which serves much of northern Oregon and southwest Washington. “He was driving up and down the beach though multiple flocks. It was especially egregious.”

The casualties were mostly Heermann’s gulls and Caspian terns, which are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.  

The federal law provides for punishment as a misdemeanor. But the district attorney in Pacific County charged Belgard under Washington state law which lists animal cruelty as a felony.

Belgard, who has three previous convictions including for burglary, turned himself in but said a friend had borrowed his Jeep. Under questioning, he admitted to being the driver.

Initially, he was charged with two counts of animal cruelty and 32 counts of taking protected wildlife. All but the one felony count was dropped in the plea deal.

Nevertheless, the fact that he will get more than probation — or a warning — and was prosecuted under Washington state and not federal law pleases Fee.

“We really appreciate their effort and their attempts to show that this is serious,” Fee said.

Belgard, who lives in Longview, has already started serving his sentence in Pacific County Jail.

“It just sends a message that not only is this cruel but also there are repercussions if you’re caught,” Fee said. “So, we’re very happy.”

By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian

Katlin Smith wrote a great article on our local booksellers, complete with photos of the owners and their store mascots.  You’ve got to love an article that starts with a quote by Jerry Seinfeld:

“A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.” Jerry Seinfeld

Bookstore owners are a hardy (and hearty) bunch. With low profit margins and high overhead, bookstore ownership is not for the faint-hearted. Toss in the pressure from online sales and chain bookstores, and booksellers are downright courageous to be in the industry. We are lucky to have them.

On the Long Beach Peninsula of the Washington Coast, four tenacious booksellers are passionate about books. From Ilwaco to Long Beach to Ocean Park, they serve their communities and thousands of visitors. Open hours may vary with the season, so call ahead for details.

Read on…

We just discovered this great blog by Molleemac:

Now, for those of you who don’t know, I live in Washington State, so when I say “the beach” it’s not the crowded, hot, bring-your-swimsuit California style beach.  It’s the cold, windy, unpredictable weather type beach.  Even in the middle of the summer, it’s safe to bring at least a sweatshirt and hat if not long johns and boots.

BUT…for the past many years we have been going to the beach on Valentine’s day weekend, and I believe, that if you want to see the beach at its best, don’t go during August, go Valentine’s day weekend.  This year was no exception.  Before we left home I checked the webcam and saw cloudy, overcast, and rainy weather.  But that must have been for those early risers, because by the time we pulled into town, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, no wind, and the temperature was up to 55!  We even left our jackets in the car!  Look how gorgeous it was!  There’s the teen and her best friend playing in the surf.

We went to Long Beach, WA.  Our family’s favorite!  Being a lifetime Washingtonian, I am partial to Washington beaches.  Oregon has some nice ones too, but, there’s just something homey about Washington beaches.

We saw Jake the Alligator man, (that’s the boy standing next to the Chief) stood in front of the big oyster pan, bought candy in the candy shop, avoided the arcade (barely), walked barefoot on the beach ‘til our toes froze, and rode the go-karts.  

It was a great day!  And to top it all off, I found a new-to-me yarn shop…Tapestry Rose Yarn Shop!  This yarn shop is AMAZING!!  I could have stayed there all day…all weekend actually!  There is a lovely yet deceiving café in the front of the shop, but head to the back as if you are looking for the bathroom, and you walk into a world of color, fiber, and the warmth of two lovely ladies.  They were so nice and fun!  The boy kept pulling on my sleeve to leave, so I will have to come back when I’m by myself so we can talk about patterns, textures, and they can help me with some of my stitches.  Can harldy wait ’til the next beach-run!

Read the full blog post, with pictures, here.