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…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
