WILDLIFE -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he shares Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead's desire to end federal protections for Yellowstone grizzly bears. According to the Associated Press, Salazar wrote to Mead last week saying he expects the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies…
WILDLIFE -- A Missoula-area bighorn herd that's been ravaged by disease suffered another blow recently as a single truck wiped out a third of this season's bighorn lamb reproduction in the lower Rock Creek drainage. The unidentified Idaho driver collided with seven lambs while driving…
FISHING -- An couple of Brits fishing with a guide on British Columbia's Fraser River near Chilliwack landed a 12-foot, 4-inch sturgeon last week. With a girth of 53 inches and weighing an estimated 1,100 pounds, guide Dean Werk of Great Fishing Adventures estimates the…
PRIVATE TIMBERLANDS -- Forest Capital Partners, which has a regional office in Colville, has sold its 1.88 million-acre timberland portfolio to Hancock Timber Resource Group and Molpus Woodlands Group. FCP, with headquarters in Portland and Boston, paid $1.65 billion for the timberland in a 2005…
HUNTING -- Outback Outfitters guide Jon C. Wick, 46, of Summerville, Ore., and Tod L. Reichert, 72, of Salkum, Wash., have pleaded guilty to criminal violations in a 2007 Blue Mountains elk hunt involving Washington’s coveted “Governor’s tag.” Reichert purchased the Eastern Washington Any Bull…
WILDLIFE ISSUES -- The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has removed all references to its Olaus Murie conservation award after the researcher’s family objected to the group’s policy on wolves. The Missoulian has the full story. In a letter to RMEF President David Allen, Olaus Murie’s…
TRAILS -- Heavy rain and lingering snow have created a few obstacles for hikers, campers and other heading into the backcountry this weekend. Best to check with Forest Service offices today to make sure your destination is reachable. For example: Hikers headed to Iron Mountain…
ROCK CLIMBING -- Climbers were humbled earlier this month to find a massive rock fall had wiped out a generation of climbing routes on the east face of Chimney Rock, a landmark on the skyline east of Priest Lake. And the danger lingers. The collapse…
SALMON FISHING -- A fishing season for fall chinook salmon will open Sept. 1 in the Snake and Clearwater rivers under rules adopted by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission. The harvest season will continue until further notice or Oct. 31, whichever comes first, in…
FLY FISHING -- My good friend Randy LaBeff has a way of making sure his work takes him to the Anaconda-area of Montana every year around this time. Once again, he scored. Here's his Facebook post from minutes ago: I am really excited! Work has…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Today's Outdoors column rounding up the recently elevated profile of gray wolves in Washington ends with a hint to another irony of Washington's East-West dichotomy. Washington's wolf management plan requires 15 breeding pairs of wolves to be established for three years in…
NAVIGATION -- Getting a map is easier than ever with online services and software. But getting a good durable map that's specific for your application took a big hit this month as Northwest Maps -- formerly Northwest Map and Travel Book Center -- closed its…
FISHING -- Hardy Kruse of Spokane, who ran one of Spokane's first fishing shops with a special corner for fly fishers, is the latest of several notable angling personalities to drift out of this world in recent weeks. Kruse, 85, died Sunday after a long…
CYCLING -- Local cycling guru Michael Emde has an enticing tidbit for participants in Saturday's Jederman Gran Fondo: There are no traffic lights and there are only 20 over the length of the 112 mile course... The forecast is for 84F and very little wind!…
WILDLIFE -- Idaho's bighorn sheep are coveted by hunters, only a handful of which are allowed to hunt them each fall. They are a prize for wildlife viewers and a symbol of the wildness that set's Idaho apart from much of the world. Yet Idaho…
POACHING -- A Western Washington man has pleaded guilty to 14 counts of luring bears with doughnuts, salmon and other bait so they could be killed for fun by himself and family from the porch of his Methow Valley recreation cabin. James Erickson, 52, of…
MOUNTAINEERING -- Safely below the snowline, I was hiking in the Alps near Chamonix, France, last week when 9 climbers were killed by an avalanche on Mont Blanc, the highest peak in western Europe. It was particularly eery for me and my family, since we…
OUTDOOR SPORTS -- Maybe you'd like to try a traditional sport, such as canoeing or kayaking, or maybe you're curious about more modern sports such as geocaching, slacklining or stand-up paddling. Sekani Adventure Day -- Saturday (July 21) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. --…
FISHING -- The gillnets didn't get all the northern pike in the Pend Oreille River. This spring, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department and Kalispel Tribe used gillnets to remove about 87 percent of the non-native northern pike in the Box Canyon section of the…
Nature didn't stand still while I've been on vacation. In the past two weeks, the cheatgrass has gone from green and soft to cured with spear-like seedheads that cling to socks and fur. I just brushed dozens of cheat seeds out of my dog's fur…
FORAGING -- Bruce Howard of Spokane says this is an epic year for serviceberries, the pulpy purple fruit on the native shrubs that caught our eyes with lovely, delicate white blossoms in April. "With the weather we've had, they are like real fruit this year,"…
TOURNAMENT FISHING -- Herb Zielke from Muskies Inc., Mountain Muskies Chapter 60 here in Spokane says the group is taking registration for the Newman Lake Open Muskie Tournament on July 21. The event runs 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. out of Newman Lake Resort. Registration…
BACKPACKING – Backpackers who are tired of Ramen and balk at plain instant oatmeal might benefit from the free clinc on backpack cooking basics Thursday (July 19), 7 p.m., at REI in Spokane. Topics to be covered include recipies as well as preserving, preparing packing…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge biologists will present a program and an lead evening walk on Wednesday (July 18) to highlight bats, the important critters of the night skies. "Bats of the World and the Channeled Scablands" starts at 7:30 p.m. at the…
BOATING -- The City of Post Falls boat launch and swim beach at Q’emiln Park has opened to the public Friday. Avista officials said river flows had dropped sufficiently to allow all of the spill gates at the Post Falls hydroelectric facility to be closed…
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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