Get out your buckets and clam guns - some beaches will open for harvest

Some coastal beaches will be open for razor-clam digging starting Friday.

Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks and Kalaloch will be open for digging Feb. 16-17 from noon to midnight each day. Twin Harbors will also be open Sunday during the same hours.

Copalis Beach will remain closed due to the low number of clams available for harvest.

Diggers must keep the first 15 razor clams dug regardless of size or condition. Each digger's limit must be kept in a separate container.

Low tide: Friday, minus-0.3 feet at 5:47 p.m.; Saturday, -.05 at 6:28 p.m.; and Sunday, -0.3 at 7:08 p.m.

The Bush administration has released a proposal for the U.S. Forest Service that would require the sale of $800 million in land sites across the United States to pay for conservation and recreation programs for fiscal year 2008.

The agency also wanted to make additional reductions in funding for recreation and wildlife programs such as closing campgrounds, boat launches and picnic sites, while increasing subsidies for commercial timber sales. The Forest Service plans to accept public input before making a final decision on cuts.

In Washington, proposed land sales include parts of Colville National Forest in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties; Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Clark County; Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Snohomish and Skagit counties; Okanogan National Forest in Okanogan County; and the Wenatchee National Forest in Chelan and Douglas counties.

A similar proposal last year met with strong bipartisan opposition from state and federal lawmakers as well as hunting, fishing and other recreation and conservation groups. Details: www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/spd.html. and www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget.

President Bush's budget proposal also calls for a $230 million increase for National Park operations.

If approved by Congress, Mount Rainier would receive an increase of $1.2 million, raising its 2008 operation budget to $11.3 million; Olympic National Park would get an increase of $1.67 million; and North Cascades National Park would get $670,000 more.

The increase would help the park service's budget, but the proposal doesn't include funding for damage created by November's severe flooding, which heavily damaged backroads and trails.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is Friday through Monday. Birdwatchers are asked to count the birds they see in their neighborhoods and enter the data via a Web site. The national event is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society. Details: www.birdsource.org/gbbc.

The Balde Eagle Festival is Friday through Sunday in Grand Coulee on the north side of Banks Lake in Grant County.

The festival offers bus tours to the bald-eagle winter roost site and other wildlife-viewing areas, wildlife symposiums and art, photo and poetry contests.

The Northrup Canyon bald eagle-viewing site is off State Route 155, about seven miles south of Grand Coulee. It has two small parking lots and a foot trail. Details: 800-268-5332 or www.eaglefestival.com.

Mark Yuasa can be reached at 206-464-8780; e-mail: myuasa@seattletimes.com; fax: 206-464-3255; address: P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111.