FISHING – The 9,689 sockeye counted at Bonneville Dam through June 10 is a record since at least 1938 and outpacing the former record of 7,308 fish counted in 2012. The 2012 total return to the Columbia was 521,00 fish. At this time last year,…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Forcing outfitters with federal public land permits to pay seasonal staff at least $10.10 an hour would put some river guide services under water, send some horse-riding operations down the trail and let the air out of the tires of bicycle tour...
PUBLIC LANDS -- The supervisor of the Colville National Forest is leaving town to take Forest Service job in Arizona. Laura Jo West, a 26-year career Forest Service employee, has been named Forest Supervisor of the Coconino National Forest in northern Arizona. She replaces Earl…
WATERSPORTS -- The Q’emiln Park Boat Launch will open and parking fees will go into effect starting Friday, June 12, the Post Falls Recreation Department has announced. The boat launch opening was delayed this year by Avista's South Channel Dam Rehabilitation Project. Construction equipment being…
FISHING -- Saturday, June 13, is Free Fishing Day in Idaho, which means no license is required for residents or nonresidents. To help folks get a taste of the action, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and volunteers have set up free fishing day...
BICYCLING -- The 2nd annual Silver Valley Ride to Defeat ALS, a fundraising cycling event, will be held on Saturday, June 27, along the scenic Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, out of Kingston, Idaho. The one-day cycling event is a major fundraiser for the Evergreen…
PARKS -- Although bicyclists have been pedaling to Logan Pass on freshly plowed blacktop for three weeks, vehicle access from the west side to the top of Glacier National Park's Going to the Sun Road is set to open Friday, June 12. The entire route…
PUBLIC LANDS -- A knapweed pulling party is scheduled at the Rocks of Sharon area of the Dishman Hills Conservation Area's Iller Creek Unit on Saturday, June 13. Meet at the Stevens Creek trailhead parking area at 9 a.m. Organizer Bob Strong recommends bringing at...
PUBLIC LANDS -- The Wenatchee Ranger District will begin campfire restrictions starting Friday, noting that limiting fires to designated campgrounds in the first half of June is far earlier than normal. A campfire restriction means that wood and charcoal fires are allowed only in designated...
PUBLIC LANDS -- Spokane County closed on 280 acres near Nine Mile Falls on Friday, June 5, using funding from the voter-supported Conservation Futures Program. The S-R reported the background on this purchased in April. See story. The acreage preserves a large block of forest…
PARKS -- I sensed a crowd when I entered Canada's Banff National Park last summer. But here's a tip: Take a hike and you lose the vast majority of the people. Easy as that. Alberta national park reports 10% increase in visitors Between April 2014…
RIVERS -- Rock balancing has been taken to fascinating levels of art form by some enthusiasts. But biologists warn rock stacking when taken to extremes can be harmful to wild creatures, especially around lakes and rivers. Here's a post from the National Park Service that...
WILDLIFE -- Building a four- to six-land interstate highway through the Cascades mountains without safe crossings for wildlife was naive -- a little bit like building Grand Coulee Dam under the assumption that losing a few salmon runs isn't a big deal. But Washington is…
PUBLIC LANDS -- I've been told by a reader/dog owner that by writing about my uncomfortable experience with loose dogs at Mount Spokane, in Sunday Outdoors, I'm paving a way for a ban on all dogs in the state park. I disagree and suggest that...
RIVERS -- The spigot has been cranked down on the Spokane River at Post Falls Dam in the past four days in order to raise the level of Lake Coeur d'Alene, leaving the whitewater rafting season high and dry and fish managers in a sweat....
BICYCLING -- The group Bike CDA is raising the profile if bicycling in the Lake City, with a large number of bike rides and related activities organized through its Facebook page. June is Bike to Work Month, which is picking up the pace of events,…
FISHING -- The Grande Ronde River opens to spring chinook fishing on Saturday, June 13. Don't forget to take a rod for smallmouth bass! Here are details on the spring chinook fishing from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: Action / Species affected: Spring...
RIVERS -- Real live on a river is a beach. It's nice to get scientific proof. USGS reports Colorado River releases create sandbars as planned Glen Canyon Dam has been blocking flood events on the Colorado River for 52 years, essentially obliterating the ecologically important…
WILD EDIBLES -- Hiking at 5,000 feet today in the Cabinet Mountains, I found reason to have high hopes for this season's huckleberry crop, at least on this slope!
MARINE MAMMALS -- The joke, er, the effort to scare the burgeoning legions of sea lions away from Astoria docks and facilities by employing a fake orca has bombed. See yesterday's story But the story goes beyond the discovery that the fake orca could not…
PARKS -- The Friends of Spokane House re-enactors will present a weekend of local fur trade history from the years 1810 through1826 at the 2015 Fur Trade Symposium and Encampment June 13-14 in Riverside State Park. The free event takes place 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on…
FISHING -- It's no wonder some salmon don't bite in certain stretches of the Columbia River: They don't have time. Some adult spring and summer chinook detected at Bonneville Dam were detected at The Dalles Dam the very next day, a distance of 74 miles!...
PUBLIC LANDS -- Washington Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Derek Kilmer have introduced the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 2015 in Congress. The act introduced Thursday is designed to protect environmentally sensitive parts of the Olympic Peninsula. Murray and Kilmer…
TRAILS -- Two popular Seattle-area trails have been designated as national recreation trails. The Mount Si and Snoqualmie River trails were among 10 trails across the country cited Thursday by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis…
WILDLIFE -- Montana wildlife officials gave a good, practical explanation of why they killed a moose calf orphaned after it's mother died delivering its stillborn twin. But the man who found the cute survivor apparently wanted a miracle and a lot of money thrown down…
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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