TIMES ALBANY BUREAU

ALBANY — The state Department of Environmental Conservation announced Thursday that the 15th annual Becoming an Outdoors-Woman workshop will be Sept. 5-7 at Silver Bay on Lake George, Warren County.

The program offers weekend-long workshops and more than 30 different outdoor skills classes. Participants choose four half-day classes in subjects such as camping, map and compass, shotgun, muzzleloading, archery, fly fishing, fly tying, fishing, deer hunting, canoeing, GPS, wildlife identification, kayaking, canoeing, outdoor photography, fish and game cooking, survival and wilderness first aid.

This is the 15th year that DEC has offered the program. To date, more than 2,000 women have participated. A recent survey by the National Sporting Goods Association found a 75-percent increase in the number of women hunting from 2001 through 2005. More than 3 million women hunt and more than 5 million women now enjoy shooting sports.

Although the workshops are geared toward women, anyone over the age of 18 may participate. The registration fee for the three-day workshop is $190 a person, which includes instruction in all sessions, program materials, use of equipment and meals.

The fee does not include lodging. Participants must arrange their lodging directly with Silver Bay.

For more info, contact Becoming an Outdoors-Woman, 625 Broadway, Albany, N.Y. 12233-4754. Telephone: (518) 402-8862. Online: www.dec.ny.gov/education/68.html.