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Refuge invites youth out for duck banding Young waterfowlers and their families should circle Aug. 17 on the calendar, the date of the annual duck banding for youth event at the McNary National Wildlife Refuge in Burbank. The project, which is organized by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Richland Rod and Gun Club, the Kennewick Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and the Sand and Sage Hunting Retriever Club, is for Mid-Columbians ages 17 and younger. John Gahr, outdoor recreation planner for the Fish and Wildlife Service's Mid-Columbia River Refuges Complex in Pasco, said the event is an excellent way for youth to learn about the migratory habits of waterfowl and the importance of banding in waterfowl research and management. The program, however, is not all dry facts. Kids will get a chance for some hands-on experience by holding and banding about 20 to 30 refuge waterfowl - including mallards and wood ducks - which will be trapped prior to the event. The event begins at 8 a.m. at the McNary Refuge headquarters, 600 Maple St., Burbank and should end about noon. Participants are to meet in the refuge parking lot. Besides banding birds, youths also will learn about waterfowl identification, listen and practice with experienced duck and goose callers (organizers urge young hunters to bring their own duck and goose calls) and watch trained hunting retrievers in action. Dale Schielke, a longtime Richland Rod and Gun Club member, also plans to talk about the club's wood duck nesting box program and the results from nearly 200 nesting boxes the club has set up around Tri-City waterways. Schielke said kids also will get a chance to assemble a nesting box and erect it on the refuge. While the young waterfowlers may be lucky to band 20 ducks, summer finds refuges officials trapping and banding about 200 ducks. Bird banding gives refuge officials a tool in determining waterfowl migrations, trends on species using the refuge, as well as determining mortality rates among banded birds. All captured waterfowl are fitted with an agency leg band that identifies it as McNary Refuge bird. Biologists also record the age, species and sex of each bird. While most of the banded birds are locally bred and tend to stay in the region, Gahr said some McNary Refuge banded birds have been recovered in Louisiana. Organizers expect about 50 Tri-City youths to attend the Aug. 17 activity. "Kids should wear long pants, hats and bring insect repellent because we'll be banding the birds near the marsh areas," he said. Also, if it's sunny, young people would be wise to bring sunscreen. Cold drinks and snacks will be provided for participants. For more information, call 628-2820 or the refuge headquarters at 545-8588. * * * Anglers awaiting the Buoy 10 fishery, which opens Thursday, should encounter a near-record return of fall chinook in numbers that will continue to build through August. The fall chinook run, which is projected to hit about 659,000 fish returning to the mouth of the Columbia River, could be the second-largest run since 1948. Joe Hymer, a state Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist in Vancouver, said fishing should be red-hot by mid- to late August. Typically, fishing action varies on opening day and builds as more fish move into the river. Moreover, about half the run is expected to be made up of "tules," a lower Columbia River hatchery-reared fish known for its strong fight in the river estuary area. From the Buoy 10 line to Rocky Point/Tongue Pointline, chinook, hatchery coho and hatchery steelhead are legal. The daily limit is two salmon with a minimum size of 16 inches for coho and 24 inches for chinook. All chum, sockeye and wild (unmarked) coho must be released. Two hatchery fin-clipped steelhead may be kept in addition to the salmon limit. The special summer chinook salmon fishery on the Columbia in the Hanford Reach area has been slow, the Department of Fish and Wildlife reports. Creel checks in the Vernita and Wahluke Slope areas, within the open stretch from the Old Hanford townsite wooden powerline crossing upstream to Priest Rapids Dam, showed little fishing effort or catch. The state also reports that a special hatchery chinook season on the Columbia south of the Tri-Cities has been poor, with little fishing pressure. The season, which is open from Bonneville Dam upstream to Highway 395 (blue bridge) in Pasco, continues through Wednesday. The daily limit for this fishery is six salmon, no more than two of which may be adults. The minimum size is 12 inches. All sockeye and chum must be released. Also, two hatchery steelhead may be kept. The Columbia's standard fall season, as listed in the sport fishing rules pamphlet, opens Thursday on the Columbia below the Highway 395 bridge and Aug. 16 above the blue bridge. For the latest on the many salmon rule changes and seasons, anglers are advised to check with state's fishing hotline at 360-902-2500.
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