RESERVOIRS -- The level of Lake Roosevelt was 1280.60 at 9 a.m. today following about three weeks of gradually lower levels. Over the next week, the level of Lake Roosevelt will decline slightly and is expected to be between 1278.7 – 1279.70 on Aug. 31,…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Seven conservation organizations sent a letter today calling on Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and state agencies to rescind a state Department of Fish and Wildlife plan to thwart attacks on cattle by killing up to four wolves in the Wedge Pack in…
HUNTING -- An Asotin County ranch purchased by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife last winter is open to public walk-in access this year with the exception of some big-game hunters. Deer and elk hunters are allowed on the newly-acquired addition to the Chief…
WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS -- A judge has dismissed most of a widow’s claims in a $10 million suit against the federal government after her husband was killed by a mountain goat at Olympic National Park two years ago, saying that even if it seems unfair, the…
BACKCOUNTRY SKIING -- Montana skiers who've volunteered to maintain a ski-in cabin near Chief Joseph Pass say they're insulted the Forest Service is putting the cabin on the national reservation system. The Bitterroot Cross-Country Ski Club will no longer offer its services to operate and…
FISHING UPDATE -- The Clearwater River is NOT the temperature of bathwater, as reported yesterday. The Idaho Fish and Game Department's steelhead update report posted Tuesday said Clearwater River water temperatures were around 65 degrees. That caught MY attention. That's way too warm for normal…
PARKS – A hanging glacier that’s captivated hikers, climbers and tourists for as long as humans have explored Jasper National Park, Alberta, broke loose from its precarious perch on Mount Edith Cavell this month, according to a story with photos at Examiner.com. The crash of…
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT -- More than 800 hunters and anglers, birders and wildlife watchers and others interested in wildlife conservation have signed up to participate in the Idaho Wildlife Summit that starts Friday and runs through Sunday (Aug. 24-26). “It is extremely gratifying to see so…
HIKING -- Reports of aggressive mountain goats have forced rangers once again to close some trails in Olympic National Park, where a hiker was gored and killed by a goat two years ago. Hikers can play a role in preventing these otherwise docile creatures from…
PARKS -- Trail rehabilitation and restoration projects around Beacon Hill and Camp Sekani are getting a boost from the REI store in Spokane. The store's presented $4,464 to the Spokane Parks & Recreation board for use in the popular mountain biking and hiking area. This…
PUBLIC LANDS -- The new supervisor of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in Oregon is touring Wallowa, Union and Baker counties this week to meet the public he will be serving in the wake of a flap over restricting motorized use on the forest. Kevin Martin…
SALMON FISHING -- Fishing guide Anton Jones of Darrell & Dad's Family Fishing Guide Service says now's prime time for catching good-quality chinook salmon in the upper Columbia River near Brewster. Here's his report: On the Brewster Pool the bite has transitioned from Sockeye to…
View Larger Map TRAILS -- Author Jack Nisbet and forester Guy Gifford will be leading walks on Spokane’s South Hill bluff trails this month to explain the value of volunteer efforts and a $50,000 grant to improve the health and fire resistance of the forest…
WILDLIFE -- Most people just keep hiking through mountain talus slopes when they hear the squeaky whistle of a pika. But Montana wildlife photographers Jamie and Lisa Johnson have learned there's much to be gained by parking in a pika hot spot and hanging out…
FISHING -- With steelhead counts on the downward trend at Bonneville Dam, the first dam they reach from the ocean on their upstream migrations, they haven't even started to rise out of double digits over Lower Granite Dam, the last dam they cross before hitting…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- After discussions with ranchers who've had cattle injured and killed by wolves in the past four weeks, Washington Fish and Wildlife Department officials have raised to four the number of wolves that might be killed to stop the depredation. The guideline had…
CLIMATE CHANGE -- Out of sight, out of mind. Next thing you know, they're extinct. And it's happening faster than ever to fish species, according to a recent study detailed in a Columbia Basin Bulletin report. From 1900-2010, freshwater fish species in North America went…
OLYMPIA -- Regarding the state's cherished park system, the two men vying to be Washington's next governor are of the same opinion -- it needs public funding. They're just not sure on how much money to commit. Read this Everett Herald story on what candidates…
NATURE -- If you're looking for a different sort of fall vacation, consider focusing on one of five national wildlife refuge hot spots for the Eastern population during the fall migration of monarch butterflies. Every fall, monarch butterflies fly thousands of miles from as far…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Washington Fish and Wildlife officials say they plan to kill more wolves in northern Stevens County to curb a spree of attacks on cattle. After confirming that wolves killed one calf this week and injured another, the agency intends to kill up…
SALMON FISHING -- Starting tomorrow (Aug. 18), the daily limit for sockeye at Lake Wenatchee will increase to five fish 12 inches or longer. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife just anounced the change along with an extension of the sockeye fishing season at…
WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS -- Trail ride wrangler Erin Bolster and her famous steed, Tonk, were greeting fans at the Western Montana Fair in Missoula last week to celebrate the 1st anniversary of their heroic encounter with a grizzly bear. Bolster and Tonk rode into the national…
MARINE WILDLIFE -- A boater who was caught by the Coast Guard too close to Puget Sound killer whales on Wednesday won’t be penalized, but next summer violators could be fined thousands of dollars, the Associated Press reports. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is…
TRAILS – Trails at Liberty Lake, Mount Spokane and the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge are scheduled for rerouting or maintenance projects by the Washington Trails Association in the next few weeks. The most ambitious project involves work near a popular waterfall to make…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Shrinking budgets at national forests are putting the squeeze on native fisheries. Cutbacks in maintaning mountain roads have left a backlog of work totalling more than $1 billion in the national forests of Washington and Oregon alone, the Forest Service officials report.…
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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