Paddlers, rowers set for races

THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published August 31

OLYMPIA -- A fleet of human-powered boats will take to the waters of Budd Inlet next month.

The fourth annual Sound Rowers and Paddlers Race gets under way at 9 a.m. Sept. 22 at Swantown Marina.

The seven-mile course starts at the marina. It continues to the first turn at the Olympia Shoal marker, then to Gull Harbor where it turns south past Priest Point Park and back to the finish line at the marina.

Boats will include mostly open-water rowing shells, surf skis and sea kayaks, but other boats also will participate, including canoes, outriggers and pedal craft. About 40 boats are expected, coming from as far away as Bellingham and Lake Oswego, Ore.

Races will run 50 minutes to two hours.

Categories are based on boat types and gender, with no consideration for age.

For more information, call Steve Wells at 360-357-6588.

- WOODS CLOSED: Citing concerns over drought, Hampton Tree Farms Inc. will delay reopening its southwestern Washington woodlands to hunters this year.

The company closed its holdings in January because of vandalism and garbage dumping.

Continued dry weather has put off a planned Sept. 1 reopening to walk-in hunters and Oct. 6 vehicle access and permit camping.

Hampton will reopen its tree farm for recreational use when significant rainfall has dampened fire danger in the woods.

- BIKE CAUSE: Bicyclists gathered in the Lewis County town of Randle on Thursday for a tour of southwestern Washington to gather support for a ban on old-growth logging in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

The Cascadia Bike Tour has been riding through the Gifford Pinchot forest speaking to campers and hikers about the group's goals to halt a logging program that members say loses money.

The bicycle team already has ridden from Olympia through Mount Rainier National Park.

The effort is sponsored by the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, an Olympia-based group promoting the protection of old-growth forests.

The tour ends next Thursday in Vancouver.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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