PUBLIC LANDS -- As the House and Senate continue to battle over a budget compromise, the impact of a potential government shutdown on Washington state would be a pain for some people, but it wouldn't necessarily be earth-shattering to the short-term plans of outdoors enthusiasts.…
PUBLIC LANDS -- The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and Forterra today announced the purchase of 50,272 acres in the headwaters of the Yakima Basin watershed. The area, with benefits ranging from the watershed's importance to…
PARKS -- The first serious bout of winter-like weather has temporarily closed Glacier National Park's Going-to-the-Sun Road today at The Loop on the west side of the park. Weather conditions along the higher elevations of the Going-to-the-Sun Road today have included very windy conditions --…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Federal officials offered a staunch defense today of a proposal to drop legal protections for the gray wolf in most of the country, as opponents rallied in the nation’s capital before the first in a series of public hearings on the plan.…
FISHING -- The area of the Snake River upstream from Lower Granite Dam has been the hottest September spot in the Columbia River system for bounty angers targeting northern pikeminnows for cash rewards. The 2013 season for the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program, funded by…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- A coalition of six conservation groups, including The Lands Council based in Spokane, filed a lawsuit today challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to cut more than 93 percent of protected critical habitat for the endangered mountain caribou — from…
FISHING -- It's not necessarily a year for celebration, but it isn't one of despair, either. The steelhead counts over Lower Granite Dam continue to mount and put fish in the sights of anglers in the Snake, Clearwater and Grande Ronde river areas of Washington…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Federal wildlife agents are investigating the death of an endangered gray wolf in Okanogan County. U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesman Doug Zimmer says the adult female wolf was shot and killed on Sept. 20 during a big game hunt in the area.…
OUTDOORS -- A two-day Wilderness First Aid course is being offered this weekend, Oct. 5-6, by North Idaho College Outdoor Pursuits. The course is intended for the outdoor enthusiast who wants more than an urban first aid course provides. The emphasis of the class is…
FISHING -- A monster trout caught below Dworshak Dam in July has been deemed a rainbow following DNA analysis. That makes the 28-pound, 9-ounce fish the largest rainbow trout legally caught in Idaho, according to a story by Eric Barker of the Lewiston Morning Tribune.…
TRAILS – A non-profit group has raised $400,000 to secure a key piece of Lake Pend Oreille waterfront for a trail near Sandpoint. Friends of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail president Jon Sayler said a couple of large donations helped raise the required money a…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed a revision in the critical habitat designation the Canada lynx, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal would designate more than 41,000 square miles within the states of Maine,…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Federal land managers offer free entry to parks, forests, U.S. Bureau of Land management lands, refuges and other national interest lands where fees are charged on certain holidays scattered through the year. The next freebie is Oct.13 -- National Wildlife Refuge Day…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Good news/bad news for hikers who enjoy the trails to Abercrombie and Sherlock Peaks in Pend Oreille County: The Colville National Forest will begin road maintenance and reconstruction on Oct. 1 on the following roads. Forest Service Road 7078000 (Sherlock Peak Road)…
FISHING – The forecast for B-run steelhead -- the bigger steelhead bound primarily for Idaho's Clearwater River -- has been downgraded for the second consecutive week, prompting fisheries officials to consider reducing bag limits for the Clearwater catch-and-keep season, which begins Oct. 15. Fisheries managers…
PUBLIC LANDS – The Bonners Ferry Ranger District will close the access road to the Roman Nose trailhead this week for repairs, according to the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. Forest Service Road 1007 over Caribou Pass will be closed Tuesday-Friday so culverts can be replaced.…
CAMPING -- Most of the campgrounds are empty, but streams around Lake Pend Oreille are ripe with "new meat" for this year's infestation of yellowjackets to gnaw at. I'll have a Kokanee with that, sir.
FISHING -- It's time to sign-up young anglers ages 8-14 for the limited spaces in the annual Youth Steelhead Clinic set for Oct. 24 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Oct. 26 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Both events will be held at…
FISHING -- Four people, including me, reeled 13 chinook salmon to the boat today in the Hanford Reach and got eight of them INTO the boat. That's a good indication that the record run of chinook salmon heading up the Columbia and Snake Rivers is…
SALMON FISHING -- I've headed to the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River to see first hand what this record run of chinook salmon is all about. Photo above shows a 50-pounder I landed there a few years ago. Think big! Stay tuned.
HUNTING -- Amanda Lowrey, 25, a Sandpoint mother of two girls, is among the top four finalists in the final rounds of the 2014 Extreme Huntress Competition filmed in July in Texas. Episodes will run online starting next month and then will be televised next…
BOATING -- "But officer, we're just out fishing..." I've seen boat set up something like this for federal drug enforcement being transported on I-90 near Seattle. Seems the feds have to keep up with the speed-boating criminals. But outboards totaling 2,000 hp? Can you imaging…
STATE LANDS -- Revenue collected from sales of the Discover Pass was nearly $1 million higher than the previous year, according to a report prepared for the Washington Parks and Recreation Commission. But it still falls short of funding the needs of state parks. Sales…
FISHING -- Even small fish have the potential for big results. Ask the residents at Life Care Center of Post Falls, Idaho, who enjoyed four fishing trips this summer to Falls Park. On Sept. 5, the last trip of the season, Resident Jim Blake caught…
HUNTING -- Alex Harris of Coeur d'Alene has been putting in for Idaho's once-in-a-lifetime bull moose tag for 10 years and even at that he was lucky to draw a 2013 tag. Some hunters have applied for decades and are still coming up zip. So…
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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