INWC Monthly Meeting – National Hunting & Fishing Day

We will have a presentation by Steven Dazey on the upcoming National Hunting and Fishing Day. Join us as we learn about how we can get involved and how kids can participate. Click the link below for more information. 2023_NHFD_poster_8.5×11 We will also have an INWC volunteer presentation, committee updates and drawings for in-person attendees. Doors open at 6:30, meeting begins at 7:00. **This will be a hybrid meeting if you cannot join us in person you can view the meeting online by clicking HERE    

INWC Monthly Meeting – Pike Minnow Reward Program

Our program for the May General Meeting will be presented by John Hone, of WDFW Fisheries Division, where he will present information on the history and science behind the Pike Minnow Reward Program, and how to catch them. Doors open at 6:30, meeting begins at 7:00.    

INWC Monthly Meeting – Kalispel Natural Resources & Arrow Lakes Caribou Society

We will have a presentation by Kalispel Natural Resources & the Arrow Lakes Caribou Society. Join us as we learn about the efforts under way to help stabilize and recover the Selkirk Caribou herds. There will also be an appetizer potluck, prize raffles (in person attendees only), and BHS updates. Please consider bringing an appetizer to share. Doors open at 6:30, meeting begins at 7:00. **This will be a hybrid meeting if you cannot join us in person you can view the meeting online by clicking HERE    

INWC Monthly Meeting – Holiday Potluck and Board Elections

Come hungry and ready to vote! The INWC will be providing ham and turkey, please consider bringing a side to share with everyone. We will be holding our annual elections for our board of trustees (biographies for current candidates will be posted in our digital newsletter on November 20, 2022). You must be a current member in good standing to vote so call the office today (509-487-8552) to check your membership status. Doors open at 6:30, meeting begins at 7:00.    

INWC Monthly Meeting – Chris Flanagan IEBA Presenting

Chris Flanagan member of Inland Empire Beekeepers Association, IEBA, and a local bee keeper will be sharing a presentation with us about local pollinators, pollinator habitat, and beekeeping. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the importance of pollinators and steps you can take to help them in your own backyard. Doors open at 6:30, presentation begins at 7:00. Light refreshments provided. INWC Junior Activity – Pollinator Plants At the June meeting several INWC Junior members painted flower pots in preparation for this month’s meeting. For September’s INWC Junior gathering we will be planting flowers that are great for pollinators, and sharing information about bees with our junior members. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! The INWC Junior program is only possible with the support of our volunteers. You don’t have to be an expert in bees to succeed at this project. We provide all the supplies and materials, you just bring a smile and a dose of patience.    

Blue Mtn Fence Project – Volunteers Needed

Our fencing removal project supporting the Blue Mountain elk herd is back! Join us for a fun weekend of camping, friends, and conservation. Free camping at the wildlife office with water and toilet available. Volunteers are needed both on the mountain and at camp, we have a job for everyone at this event. Directions, and more camp information to come shortly. Contact the office for more information or to register (509) 487-8552, info@inwc.org 

INWC Monthly Meeting – Robbie Kroger Presenting

This month our meeting seminar presentation will be provided by Robbie Kroger, founder of Blood Origins. INWC Junior will be painting and preparing flower pots for an upcoming project (planting flowers for bees during the meeting with Inland Empire Bee Keepers) Doors open at 6:30, presentation begins at 7:00. Light refreshments provided.  

INWC Monthly Meeting – Wilderness Survival

This month our meeting seminar will walk you through the basics of wilderness survival with Jake Newton. Doors open at 6:30, presentation begins at 7:00. Light refreshments provided. Jake Newton is an innovative and devoted security professional with over 12 years of experience in both the Public and Private sectors. Throughout his career, Jake has specialized in crisis preparedness, contingency planning for austere environments, and facilitating security-related education. Jake is currently the Vice President of Security Solutions for Center for Personal Protection and Safety, Inc (CPPS) where he consults with organizations to develop comprehensive Violence Prevention and Intervention, as well as Travel Risk Management programs. Jake also routinely leads a team of six on the Ministry Security team of Victory Faith Fellowship where he’s responsible for the safety and security of about 650 weekly congregants. Prior to joining CPPS, Jake enjoyed a distinguished tenure in the U.S. Air Force as a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) Specialist. During his service, Jake provided Combat Survival Training for over 3,000 U.S. Government personnel ensuring operational readiness in the world’s highest risk environments. Jake also held an instrumental role in re-writing the Air Force Combat Survival Course curriculum—a first in twenty years. Jake routinely consults with numerous Fortune 500 companies and facilitates training for their personnel; he’s led multinational combat search-and-rescue and mass casualty exercises and has been published by several corporations and industry periodicals. Jake earned his Bachelor of Science in Business, Education and Health Sciences through Liberty University and a Master of Arts in Global Security from Arizona State University. Jake is also a member of the FBI National Citizens Academy Alumni Association    

Volunteer Opportunity – Birch Tree Planting

Volunteer Birch Tree Planting Project for Sharp-tailed Grouse Winter Habitat   When:  October 23, 2021, 9:00 AM – 2:30 PM Where:  Telford Management Area, BLM Public Lands in Lincoln County, WA. *RSVP requested by Oct. 15.  Volunteers are needed to:   1) Lay out and stake down weed mat on ground, 2) Use motorized hand augers to drill planting holes, 3) Plant 90 water birch trees, 4) Construct enclosures around the trees using t-posts and hog panels.    Light refreshments will be provided.   The project will improve riparian habitat for sharp-tailed grouse, migratory songbirds, and mule deer. Water birch (Betula occendentalis) provides critical winter habitat for sharp-tailed grouse, a state-threatened species.  The project is coordinated with the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area and will support an existing population of approximately 50 sharp-tailed grouse. The project is located on Lake Creek alongside wetlands that were restored by Ducks Unlimited in 2009. Birch trees planted in 2010 are thriving on-site, and we will add 90 more!  

Volunteer Opportunity – Disabled Hunting Route Patrols

For the past several years the Disabled Access Committee (all of us) have spent a lot of time in the woods.  Last year, despite COVID, we were still very busy inspecting existing wheelchair ramps/platforms, repairing some, and built two brand new ones, and installing those two on Aladdin Mtn, installing a refurbished platform on the upper side of Rustlers Gulch, and returning two from Betty Cr to the warehouse where they have each been refurbished and are now ready for deployment at Squirrel Meadows, and Blanchard Hump.  Along with inspecting the existing platforms, several required a lot of work just to gain access to them.  Along the way we found a lot of deadfall, which of course required removal.  Some of this work required coordination with the USFS for access, and the last of it was not completed until after hunting season opened.  In November, as I was debriefing the Colville NF District supervisor, whom I have coordinated with for the past several years, re: all our activity over the season, he tossed an idea past me that I brought to the INWC board for discussion and approval.  Then Marie, Pete, and myself had a conference call with him, and the Newport District Ranger about specifics.  Having approval from the board to move forward with this new endeavor, I am now sharing this project opportunity with you. Because we have earned their trust, we have entered a collaborative endeavor with the Colville National Forest to take care of the six routes within the forest that have been administratively closed – meaning they’re closed for disabled hunters access only – and not to include the road surface which we must always be mindful of, we have agreed to monitor the condition of those six gates, condition of the lock, or to report a missing lock, and then patrol those routes to ensure disabled sportsmen/women have adequate access to the entirety of each route to include all approves spurs of those routes.   This means cutting away deadfall, reporting problem trees (widow makers), and any tree that is too big for us to handle – and report it to them for their sawyers to remove.  Any route that has a wheelchair platform also means not only inspecting that platform, but it means saving time and travel by taking some spare material from the warehouse to repair a rogue handrail, or adding an extra screw here and there.  Observe the condition of the platform and ramp deck surface.  Could it use a coat of stain to help prolong life?  Make a note of it and it will be taken care of on the second trip of the season.  Yes, you heard that right.  They have asked us to patrol the route in late Spring/early Summer as soon as snow melt allows, and then a final trip in late summer before hunting season opens, no later than October 1st.  Since many families within the INWC gather together on weekends during the season with their ATV/UTV’s anyway, why not make part of the trip traveling trails you don’t normally have access to?  This opportunity is not just for those on the Disabled Access Committee, it’s for all of us.  If you’re interested in helping on any of these trips, there is a Forest Service form you need to add your name to at the office.  If you have any questions, please contact me,  Thanks in advance for all you do,  Ken McNaughton