• OWAC welcomes former member Bill Karr back aboard this month. Karr serves as Editor of the weekly hunting and fishing newspaper Western Outdoor News and as Associate Editor of the monthly magazine Western Outdoors. His work has also appeared in Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, Sports Afield, the San Diego Union, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Sacramento Bee, the Los Angeles Times, and Fur-Fish-Game, and he is author of the book Fishing the Salton Sea. Karr lives in Placerville; his work phone is (530) 642-0870, and his email is wonnorth@pacbell.net.

• This comes from Paul Sharman:

Dear colleagues and friends,

Unfortunately my family and I had to relocate back to my native England in early February thanks to an expired work visa and an unsympathetic (ex-)employer. This was not the situation we desired as we had been very happy to put down roots in San Diego these past 8 years. Looking on the bright side, it does give me the chance to pursue the change in career I had been seeking anyway to a full-time role somewhere in the angling or outdoors industry now I am free of any visa constraints.

I fully intend to remain an active member of both OWAC and OWAA and indeed have some work in Southwest Fly Fishing scheduled for this year already. If I can be of any service over here in the UK then please feel free to ask any time at osprey66@paulsharmanoutdoors.com. I am a newly paid up member of the UK Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild and hope to be able to share with them some of the very positive ideas and experiences from OWAC.

Hopefully I may be able to find a way back out to California sometime in the future – preferably at conference time!

Tight lines and best regards,

Paul

• Founding member George Carl, who has battled leukemia for nearly three years, is feeling somewhat under the weather these days. He's at gcarl@sbcglobal.net or 2046 West F St., Napa, CA 94558.

• Richard Cadieux, managing director of the Idyllwild Bureau of Tourism, recently sent a note saying that he too has become an outdoor journalist. His column, "Idyllwild Outdoors," is carried by a Temecula-based monthly news magazine called "In Motion." Attendees at the fall OWAC conference inspired him to, once more, pick up his pen/computer keyboard.

• Robert Stone has just released two books: Day Hikes Around Sonoma County (ISBN: 1-57342-053-0) and Day Hikes Around Bozeman Montana (ISBN: 1-57342-054-9). Stone was introduced to Sonoma County during the Spring 2005 OWAC Conference. This book is a direct result of that conference.

The book is a collection of 95 of the county’s best day hikes, providing access to both well-known and out-of-the-way greenspace. Hikes are found along the Pacific, across the coastal ridges, into wide valleys, and through thick forests. The hikes explore the cliffs and bluffs of the coastline, the inland mountains, hillsides and valleys and lead through numerous state parks, regional parks and undeveloped land. Highlights include fog-shrouded redwood forests, creekside canyons, wildlife sanctuaries, lakes, tidal bays, wave-pounded coastline and sweeping panoramic views.

Both books have straight forward directions with maps to accompany each hike. Stone is author and publisher of Day Hike Books. He has hiked every trail in the Day Hike Book series. With 22 hiking guides, many in their third and fourth editions, he has hiked thousands of miles throughout the western United States and Hawaii.

The books are distributed by Globe Pequot Press at (800) 962-0973; they may be purchased direct or from www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, or your favorite bookstore or outdoor shop.

Supporting Member Notes

• OWAC welcomes new supporting member Sunbelt Publications. Founded by members Diana and Lowell Lindsay, Sunbelt publishes and distributes books and maps, specializing in California and Baja California. Billing itself as "THE Source for Book on the Californias," the company distributes some 2,500 titles to more than 1,000 customers and publishes five to ten titles a year. Sunbelt offers OWAC members a 20% discount on all book purchases. Contact Sunbelt at 619-258-4911, 800-626-6579 or info@sunbeltpub.com, or visit www.sunbeltpub.com.

• OWAC also welcomes the American Sportfishing Association as a new supporting member. ASA, the sportfishing industry's trade association, gives the industry a unified voice, speaking out on behalf of sportfishing and boating industries, state and federal natural resource agencies, conservation organizations, angler advocacy groups and outdoor journalists. The organization invests in long-term ventures to ensure the industry will remain strong and prosperous as well as safeguard and promote the enduring social economic and conservation values of sportfishing in America. ASA also represents the interests of America's 44 million anglers, who contribute $41.5 billion annually in retail sales toward the sportfishing industry's $116 billion-a-year impact on the nation's economy. OWAC's primary contact is Ms. Leslie Boatman at lboatman@asafishing.org or 703-519-9691. For more on ASA, visit www.asafishing.org.

• Urban Park Concessionaires also joins us as a new Supporting Member. UPC provides a full range of marina and resort services to customers, guests and agency partners. These services include retail facilities such as convenience stores and tackle shops, marina operations including slip, storage and boat rentals, lodging rentals, launch ramp operation, and entrance gate operation as well as a full range of reservation and resort management services. UPC operates facilities at Diamond Valley Lake in southern California, Laughlin Bay Marina in southern Nevada, Lake Camanche in central California and Lake Chabot, Los Vaqueros and San Pablo Reservoir in the San Francisco Bay Area. UPC also operates concessions at California State Parks such as Angel Island State Park and Big Basin Redwoods State Park. OWAC's primary contact is Sean Senti at ssenti@calparksco.com or 925-426-3071 x103. For more information visit www.calparksco.com and www.norcalfishing.com.

• Finally, OWAC welcomes aboard the Humboldt County Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Humboldt County CVB provides travel information about the Redwood Coast, home to the world's tallest trees and the continental U.S.'s longest stretch of pristine beaches. OWAC's primary contact is Richard Stenger at 800-346-3482 or press@redwoods.info. For more information as well as a virtual tour of Humboldt County, visit http://redwoods.info.

• Alpen Optics introduces new Teton series of binoculars click here

• Mammoth Lakes Tourism announces opening of Top of the Sierra Interpretive Center at 11,053-foot summit of Mammoth Mountain click here

• 2007 operating dates announced for luxury Sequoia High Sierra Camp (client of Catherine Boire Public Relations) click here

• Arroyo Grande-based MacDaddy's, a premiere manufacturer of precious metal and gemstone fishing lures and flies, won the Golden Apple Award for Innovation in Marketing at the recent JA New York Jewelry Show in New York City. click here

 March 2007 Committee Update

Craft Improvement: Craig Hanson — There's still one open seat on the panel for the panel discussion in Bishop of "How to improve the bottom line through better marketing." If you have any suggestions about the final panel member, contact Craig.

Californian of the Year: Craig Hanson — Keep those nominations coming! The Californian of the Year should be a person you feel exemplifies the spirit of the outdoors through contributions above and beyond the call of duty. Deadline for nominations is June 1. Contact Craig with questions.

Raffle: Carol Martens — Carol is still accepting donations. Bring the items you'd like to donate with you to Bishop, but please tell Carol about them ahead of time so she can be better organized at the conference.

Maybe you're especially good at taking photos of animals and birds in their natural habitats. Maybe you've self-published a book and know the pros and cons. Maybe you have a knack for getting straight answers from sources who initially don't want to give them. Maybe you know how to sell images to retailers and/or manufacturers. Whatever it may be, I'm willing to bet there's something you know that a lot of other members would be interested in learning.

Please don't limit yourself just to "craft improvement" pieces, though. I'd love to get some rhetorical stuff as well. Most of us have plenty to say about this curious business and how it works. I, for instance, think that magazine publishers are getting increasingly lax about payment practices and that freelancers should expect to be paid on time, according to a written agreement, just like virtually all other independent contractors are. Good, reasoned arguments always make for good reading.

I know we're all busy with work that actually pays, but please do consider taking some time to contribute something. Perhaps the greatest benefit of membership in OWAC is the opportunity to learn from and share with our peers; let's do so not just at conferences but throughout the year.

I'll gladly take submissions via either email or U.S. Mail. Please include a brief bio and a small mugshot. Also, since we're web-based now, feel free to send plenty of supporting images. — ZT