Outdoor Digest.

Byline: The Register-Guard

OUTDOORS-WOMAN WORKSHOPS SET: The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced a schedule for its Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Workshops in 2002. Two of the workshops next year will be held at La Pine State Park. A winter session set for Feb. 23-24 includes sessions on winter survival skills, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, an introduction to dog sledding and "lumberjill skills." A basic workshop to be held in La Pine on June 8-9 will offer 17 topics. Other events scheduled include a rabbit hunt near Corvallis, an overnight kayak adventure and fly-fishing on the Metolius River. For details or a free brochure, contact Nancy Smogor at 503-872-5264, ext. 5358 or e-mail: [e-mail].

SNOWBOARD CAMPS FOR ADULTS: So you'd like to spend some of your second childhood riding snowboards like a kid? Well, High Cascade Snowboard Camps of Bend says it can help. Just sign up for one of the three week-long adult snowboard camps the school will conduct this winter. Adult camps are scheduled for Dec. 15-21, Feb. 2-8 and April 13-19. Camp fee includes coaching, lift tickets, resort accommodations, all meals, in-camp transportation and video analysis. High Cascade Snowboard Camps has been offering snowboard instruction since 1989 and is accredited by the American Camping Association. For details, call 1-800-334-4272 for a free brochure.

BOATERS, FIND YOUR MOORING!: A freshly updated "Oregon Marina Guide" is now available free from the Oregon State Marine Board. The guide is designed to help operators of larger boats find suitable marinas and moorage facilities across the state. In addition to listing public and private marinas across the state, the guide also lists the amenities available at each. New and better maps are also included in the new edition. Copies of the guide are available at boat registration agents across the state, by visiting the Salem office of the Marine Board (435 Commercial St. NE), or via mail by sending a request to: OSMB, Marina Guide, PO Box 14145, Salem, OR 97309.

YOUTH CORPS AWARDED GRANT: The Northwest Youth Corps, a nonprofit organization that provides education and job training to youths through work projects on public lands, is the recipient of a $1,000 grant presented this week by the Eugene REI store. Employees of the store each year nominate outdoor recreation-related organizations, projects or programs to receive a donation of cash and/or gear.

ELK VIEWING EXCURSIONS OFFERED: Horse-drawn wagon excursions that include up-close views of Rocky Mountain elk are being offered again this winter at the Elkhorn Wildlife Area near the community of North Powder in Baker County. This is the 10th year that T & T Wildlife Tours has offered the trips under contract with the state department of fish and wildlife. The tours visit a herd of approximately 150 elk as they are being fed alfalfa. The elk-viewing excursions are available every weekend from Dec. 16 through the end of February and daily from Dec. 26-Jan. 1. The cost is $4. For additional information, phone the Union County Visitors Bureau, 1-800-848-9969.

NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARDS NAMED: A book on mystery, romance and adventure is among the winners in the 2001 National Outdoor Book Awards. "Sunk Without a Sound," by Brad Dimock, won in the history category. The book looks at one of the whitewater world's greatest mysteries, the disappearance in 1928 of a young couple, Bessie and Glen Hyde, who were running the Colorado River for their honeymoon. Dimock, an Idaho whitewater guide, was also a co-author of "The Doing of The Thing," a historical biography of Oregon service station attendant Haldane "Buzz" Holmstrom, who in 1937 captured the nation's imagination by navigating the Green and Colorado rivers alone in a wooden boat he built himself.