Free programs: Backcountry safety, Ghost Bears, plus more at local libraries

BREWSTER -  TWISP - WINTHROP - NCW- As part of North Central Regional Library’s annual Columbia River Reads initiative, several libraries will be hosting outdoors-themed programs this spring.
Speakers will talk on a host of topics, including hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, backcountry safety, grizzly bear recovery and native plants of Central Washington.
 Now in its third year, the Columbia River Reads program encourages everyone in NCRL’s five-county library district to read the same book. This year, that book is Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed will speak at a public event in Wenatchee on April 13.
Free upcoming library events to support the program include:
• Life on the Pacific Crest Trail, with Wenatchee Valley College sociology professor Rich Brinkman: March 25, 12:30 p.m., Curlew Public Library; March 30, 6 p.m., Twisp Public Library; April 8, 2 p.m., Brewster Public Library and April 22, 1 p.m., Okanogan Public Library.
• Ghost Bears, a look at the elusive grizzly bear in the North Cascades, with wildlife biologist Bill Gaines: Chelan Public Library, March 28, 5 p.m., Warden Public Library, and April 18, 7 p.m., Winthrop Public Library.
• Incredible, Unforgettable and Edible Wildflowers of the Methow Valley, with Dana Visalli: April 6, 7 p.m. Winthrop Public Library
• Native plants of Central Washington: April 18, Wenatchee Public Library (time still to be determined), and April 27, 6:30 p.m. Leavenworth Public Library.
For more information, please contact Angela Morris at 663-1117, ext. 119.