Out & About

OLYMPIA — Three new members have been appointed to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Gov. Chris Gregoire named Rollie Schmitten of Lake Chelan, David Jennings of Olympia and Brad Smith of Bellingham to the nine-member commission, bringing it to full strength for the first time in more than a year.

Schmitten is a former state legislator, former director of the Washington Department of Fisheries, former national chief of the National Marine Fisheries Service. He then was promoted to NOAA deputy assistant secretary for international affairs.

Jennings works in the environmental health division of the Washington Department of Health. He is past president of the Gifford Pinchot Task Force and Black Hills Audubon Society.

Smith is a dean of environmental studies at Western Washington University. He was the first director of the Office of Environmental Education for the Environmental Protection Agency.

All three will serve through 2014.

Registration is open for a free youth hunter education class in mid-July at the Vancouver Church of Christ, 9019 N.E. 86th St.

The class will be from 9 a.m. to noon on July 14, 15, 16 and 17, with a day at a shooting range at 9 a.m. July 18.

Registration forms are available at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2108 Grand Blvd.

WASHOUGAL — Registration is open for a U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary safe boating course July 18 and 25 at the Port of Camas-Washougal office, 24 A St.

The class will be from 8:30 a.m. until noon both days.

Costs are $30 for the first family member and $20 for additional members. Youth age 17 and younger are free.

The class qualifies graduates for the Washington and Oregon boater cards, plus a discount on most boat insurance policies.

Call Mike Spence at 360-514-0253 or mike@mikespence.us to register.

Volunteers are needed for two trail-repair efforts in July and early August in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.

The Northwest Trails Alliance will be working on hiking and mountain bike trails in the Butte Camp area on the south side of Mount St. Helens. More details and registration information are available online at www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volunteering/documents/ButteCamp.pdf.

The Mount St. Helens Institute will be using volunteers to repair trails in the remote Mount Margaret backcountry north of the Mount St. Helens.

The institute needs experienced backpackers willing to volunteer three days and two nights in rugged country. For details, call the institute at 360-449-7887.