PUBLIC LANDS -- A public open house meeting is scheduled Tuesday in Grangeville to help the public understand a new proposal in the controversial Upper Lochsa Land Exchange involving national forest and private timberlands in Idaho. The new proposal to protect timberlands west of Lolo…
View Snowy Owls in the Upper US, 2011-12 in a larger map BIRDWATCHING -- Inland Northwest birders have been buzzing this month about the early arrival of snowy owls as they migrate from the arctic to northern Washington and new places in North Idaho. This…
WINTER SPORTS -- Once again, fifth-grade students are being treated like royalty at Inland Northwest ski resorts, with free skiing and other discounts. The Fifth Grade Ski or Ride Free Passport, costs $20, entitles students to three free lift tickets at each of the participating…
ICE CLIMBING -- A climber suffers serious injuries while ice climbing in Wyoming. Feel the pain with him and the helplessness of his partner as they focus on getting to safety. Would you have done anything differently? Would you have made it?
OUTDOOR TRAVEL -- I'm having a difficult time deciding which of these free programs I'll check out on Monday evening: Bicycling under the Midnight Sun on Norway’s Lofoten Islands, program by Chuck and Wendy Huber for the Spokane Mountaineers, Monday, 7 p.m. at Mountain Gear…
NATURE -- Mount Rainier National Park ranks as “possibly the most flowery place in the world,” according to a recently published book that picks the 50 best wildflower spots in the world. The book, “Wildflower Wonders: The 50 Best Wildflower Sites in the World,” was…
HUNTING -- John Roland retrieves my duck while we were waterfowling by canoe today. Who needs a dog? Best of all, after the hunt I sent him back to his master and let her feed him.
Playing on the craze of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, for the third year ROW Adventures will be offering "Adventure Tuesday™" -- featuring one-time, limited quantity deals to quick dialing adventure travelers. No need to stay up all night. Adventure Tuesday™ will begin at 9…
HUNTING -- Don Gunter of Post Falls had all the tools for going out to fill the coveted Idaho moose tag he drew this year: Rifle, pickup, knives and saws, strong hunting partner... But he also was prepared for the bigger job of handling a…
HUNTER SAFETY -- Wearing fluorescent orange clothing already was a requirement for hunters in Montana when I passed my hunter education course and bought my first hunting license in the 1960s. I know some guys think only scaredy cats wear hunter orange, especially in Idaho…
FISHING -- The holidays are taking a bite out of the fishing pressure on the Snake and Salmon rivers, but the fishing in the Salmon near Riggins has been very good for anglers with a pass to leave home. "A lot of bigger native steelhead…
Here are best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving in the form of a short story you'll find heartwarming, or perhaps a bit of a heartburn. It was passed on to me from a reader. A game warden was driving down the road when he came…
MOUNTAIN WEATHER -- "Today I hiked down to the Spokane Mountaineers chalet (near the cross-country ski trails) through knee-deep snow," said Holly Weiler, a club member and diehard hiker. "Then I hiked back to the car and discovered a big tree across the driveway, right…
CRITTERS -- One of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's four 11-month-old grizzly bear cubs enjoys a pumpkin for a snack at the Zoo in Cleveland on Tuesday. Besides providing the animals with enrichment, the pumpkins are a preview to the treats many of the animals will…
WINTER SPORTS -- Silver Mountain opend its lifts Monday while 49 Degrees North had customers floating on two feet of prime powder for it's opener on Saturday. Lookout Pass will reopen on Thanksgiving and Mt. Spokane opens Friday, conditions permitting. FREEBIE FOR 5th GRADERS Don't…
BIG GAME -- A Washington bighorn ram that had endured countless hardships, evaded predators and the occasional hunter lucky enough to draw the rare bighorn sheep hunting permit for the Vulcan Mountain area met its end in a collision with a motor vehicle last week…
HUNTING ACCIDENTS -- The widow of a man fatally shot by a hunter who mistook him for a bear in September has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the hunter and three Western Washington companies, reports the News-Tribune in Tacoma. Although a jury acquitted the shooter…
WILDLIFE WATCHING – The annual gathering of bald eagles that feast on spawning kokanee at Lake Coeur d’Alene is getting off to a slow start. The eagle count at Wolf Lodge Bay is down by 70 percent from last year at this time, said Carrie…
WINTER SPORTS -- "We just began Chapter II of winter 2011/12," Kevin Davis of the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center says in an announcement this afternoon. "This change in weather is introducing a significant load to a weak snowpack. As of the sending of this email…
FISHING -- As I explained in my Thursday outdoors column, a proposal has come through the back door of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to revert back to allowing bait fishing in the Kettle River. Selective gear rules adopted with local citizen input in…
FLY FISHING -- While skiers were waiting in lift lines to go busting powder over the weekend, 20-something Spokane fly fisher Dustin Bise snapped this photo to illustrate his peaceful day casting for trout on the Spokane River.
WINTER SPORTS -- Alpine skiers weren't the only ones reveling in the early onslaught of winter and the deep powder in the mountains last week. Cross-country skiers were having a great time making tracks from the back-country of North Idaho, on Mount Spokane's ungroomed but…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Off-road vehicle riders have more routes for legally riding their ATVs and motorcycles on the Colville National Forest, according to a plan approved this month. Forest Supervisor Laura Jo West signed the South End Motor Vehicle Management Plan, which designates roads and…
FISHING -- The jury's still out on how much the lowest maintenance drawdown in Banks Lake's history will impact the reservoir's popular sport fisheries. But opportunistic bass, walleye, whitefish and panfish anglers are making photos and detailed notes of exposed structure they'll want to explore…
WINTER SPORTS -- Backcountry travelers are urged to sign up for one of several free avalanche classes being presented by the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center as well as Idaho State Parks and Recreation. While groups can book special avalanche classes -- The Spokane Mountaineers have…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
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