INVASIVE SPECIES – Yellowstone National Park staff are getting pretty darned good at catching fish in their effort to control an invasive species apparently released years ago by a selfish, boneheaded bucket biologist. Yellowstone Lake has had another record year for lake trout removal after…
WINTERSPORTS -- After a soft holiday weekend opening for snow tubing, scenic rides and skiing and boarding on the beginner hill, Silver Mountain Resort plans to crank up more lifts on Friday. The resort plans to operate Chair 1, 2 and the beginner conveyer lift....
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- A pair of public-use spotting scopes have been stolen from the permanent wildlife viewing blind at Reardan Audubon Lake Wildlife Area adjacent to Reardan. The two scopes were cut off steel posts sometime in the week of Nov. 14, Washington Fish and...
TRAILS -- Updates on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail, an Eastern Washington stretch of a cross-state rail trail, will be presented at an open meeting of the Tekoa Trail and Trestle Association tonight, 7 p.m., at Tekoa City Hall. People who cannot travel to the…
A draft management plan for two recently created central Idaho wilderness areas prohibits campfires at high elevations to protect whitebark pine and eliminates horses and other recreational stock in some areas to protect alpine soils. The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management...
OUTDOOR GROUPS -- Backcountry Hunters & Anglers invites members and other sports with similar interests to raise a brew and see what the Washington Chapter is up to in the region and around the state. The group's BHA Pint Night is set for 6 p.m.-8...
HUNTING -- A few birds may still be hanging on at hunting sites for the Eastern Washington Pheasant Enhancement and Release Program, and hunter "clean-up crews" are probably sweeping some of the fields today. The final release of farm-raised rooster pheasants was made a last…
HUNTING -- Despite mild weather that reduced hunter success throughout November, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced today that it will not extend the 2016 big game general season. However, 41 hunting districts have shoulder season that allow antlerless elk hunting, largely on private land,…
A fierce and chilling fight of took the lives of two bull moose in Alaska this season. One of them must have been knocked out cold, and the other froze to death.
WILDLIFE -- The ambassador program to educate hikers about safely and ethical enjoyment of the mountain goats on Scotchman Peak is winning praise from the Idaho Panhandle National Forest in a newly released video (below). The Friends of the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness launched the program…
FISHING -- A 19.02-pound rainbow measuring 32.5 inches long and entered in the Adult Rainbow Division by Don Hale is the winning fish caught in the 2016 Lake Pend Oreille Fall Fishing Derby, according to unofficial results released today. The fish barely topped the 19-pound,…
WILDIFE WATCHING -- The number of bald eagles arriving for the annual congregation at Lake Coeur d'Alene has more than doubled in a week. The big birds are homing in on the feast of spawning kokanee -- the biggest fish run in 20 years...
HUNTING -- Justin Souza says he didn’t even know the big beast was there – that is, not until he saw a cloud of warm breath rising from a seemingly anonymous mound of earth. The story by Hunter D'Antuono of The Livingston Enterprise tells of…
TRAILS – A woman with a muscle degenerative disease wants to be allowed to take her electric bicycle onto mountain bike trails. The U.S. Forest Service restricts Bella Berlly’s motorized bicycle to routes for off-highway vehicles such as Jeeps, the Columbian reports. The routes in…
WINTERSPORTS -- The winter backcountry season is kicking into gear near Sherman Pass, and visitors who've planned ahead and secured reservations to ski or snowshoe into the Snow Peak Cabin will find, as one backcountry enthusiast called it, "a vastly improved outhouse." Snow Peak Cabin...
STREAMS -- Hangman Creek used to produce 1,000 fish a day for Nez Perce Indians during the salmon spawning runs. Nowadays, the stream that merges with the Spokane River near downtown Spokane is a shadow of its former grandeur and hospitality to fish. Even if...
CONSERVATION – The Backcountry Hunters & Anglers are the latest sportsmen’s group to take advantage of a Montana license plate program that benefits nonprofit groups. “There’s quite a few plates with different designs to represent elk, deer and trout groups, so we jumped in late…
WINTERSPORTS -- Staff at 49 Degrees North misled the media and customers on Friday with an announcement that the ski area's lifts would be opening for the season today. This morning, the resort's snow report started waffling, saying that assessments had to be made after…
WINTERSPORTS -- Lookout Pass chairlifts will open for skiers and snowboarders on Sunday, the resort has just announced. The start of the season at Lookout will come after 49 Degrees North's opening today. The Chewelah-based resort was he first regional ski area to open for...
WINTERSPORTS -- "Summer is definitely gone now," says Cris Currie after exploring Mount Spokane State Park on cross-country skis today. "There is good skiing and snowshoeing up the summit road in the CCC area. Snow depth is about 6 to 8 inches with more on…
WINTERSPORTS -- Chair lifts will open Saturday morning at 49 Degrees North, the first regional ski resort to announce the start of the 2016-17 ski and snowboard season. Lift 1, Lift 3 and Lift 5 will run from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Opening Day...
PADDLING – “My Sea-kayak Adventures with the Girls,” will be presented at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 28, for the Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club at Mountain Gear Corporate Headquarters, 6021 E. Mansfield Ave. in Spokane Valley. The free slide program will be presented by...
THREATENED SPECIES – Federal officials are proposing one of the largest ever projects to remove juniper trees to protect habitat for imperiled sage grouse and might also benefit cattle ranchers. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Monday announced it’s taking public comments through Jan.…
HUNTING -- Considered successful by hunters, rancher and wildlife officials, expanded elk hunting seasons authorized last year in Montana have been expanded for this season. With the Nov. 27 end of the general big game season, many hunters are turning their focus to the elk…
WINTERSPORTS -- A popular snowmobile warming hut in the Coeur d'Alene River area has burned down for the second time in four years and the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office is asking the public to help with the case. The Skitwish Warming Hut has burned 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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