BELLINGHAM - Western Washington University will once again offer its popular flyfishing course, which uses the sport as a basis for learning about stream ecology and conservation issues in the Pacific Northwest.
The three-credit class, "The Art, Science and Ethics of Flyfishing" (ESCI 397T), will meet from 8:30 to 11:50 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for four weeks, beginning June 23. In addition, an evening class will also be offered the same days from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Both classes will include a three-day weekend field trip to British Columbia at the end of the course.
The course integrates science, ethics and environmental management of rivers, using flyfishing as a motivating activity to understand stream ecology. Leo Bodensteiner and Steve Meyer, of WWU's Huxley College of the Environment, are the instructors.
"I have been teaching this class for five years and love the integration of science and the sport of flyfishing," Bodensteiner said. "It is a beginner's class for anyone with an interest in fish and stream ecology."
Inspired by Liam Wood, a young flyfishing enthusiast who lost his life in the Bellingham pipeline explosion in 1999, author David James Duncan ("The River Why," "The Brothers K") proposed the idea of a flyfishing education program in Bellingham especially intended for those with no previous angling experience. The first class was offered in 2004.
The course is sponsored by the Fourth Corner Fly Fishers, Fred Meyer, Sage Manufacturing, the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, and the Liam Wood Flyfishers and River Guardians.
For more information about the course, please visit http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/~leobode/.
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