PUBLIC LANDS -- While Republicans this week toned down controversial proposals for the 2016 GOP Platform and its official stance on transferring federal public lands to states, party members are taking another stab at wilderness in Congress. Utah Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee...
MARINE LIFE -- Where did all the sea otters on the north Washington Coast go this week? To one spot! A raft of about 690 sea otters was photographed south of Hoh Head in an aerial survey by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists.
WILDLIFE -- A mountain goat in Alaska jumped into the ocean to get away from crowds snapping its picture, and the animal drowned when it couldn't get back to land because of the crush of people on shore, the Associated Press reports. The only positive…
The venerable Outdoors Blog will be easing off the throttle for a while. Expect fewer posts as I take a bit of a break for time to fish, hike, and reflect. Stay tuned.
FISHING -- Effective immediately, sockeye fishing is open and for retention and total salmon limits have been increased on the Okanogan and Similkameen rivers now that enough fish have moved up the Columbia to assure adequate spawning, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department has announced.…
OUTDOOR SKILLS -- Women can learn the basics of fishing, hunting and other outdoor skills at a September weekend workshop presented by Washington Outdoor Women. The annual workshop is scheduled Sept. 16-18 at Camp Waskowitz near North Bend. WOW is a non-profit program dedicated to…
WILDLIFE – A deadly disease that has killed huge swaths of Southern Oregon’s urban black-tailed deer population in past years appears to have receded, but biologists say it likely won’t ever go away, according to a story by Mark Freeman of the Mail Tribune. Just…
RIVERS -- Avista is completing spill gate maintenance work at its Little Falls Dam, which requires the Little Falls Reservoir to be drawn down over the next few months. This work will begin on Monday, July 11, and is scheduled to be completed within 12…
HUNTING -- One year after a touristed wildlife refuge lion was killed in an African hunt carried out by a Minnesota trophy hunter, setting off an international firestorm, federal authorities said recently they are still investigating the death of Cecil the lion, the Minneapolis Star…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Twenty years ago, before the Bundy's became icons of public land grab selfishness, the retiring Forest Service chief penned a thoughtful head's up to hunters in a story published in The Bugle by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Jack Ward Thomas, the...
FISHING -- A boom in unexpected upstream-bound sockeye has prompted fish managers to open the fishing season in most sections of the upper Columbia from Priest Rapids Dam to the Brewster Area. The first of the stretches open Thursday, July 7. Summer chinook fishing already…
FISHING – A state judge has created a public access point to the Ruby River after a 12-year fight by an out-of-state landowner to block people from getting to the waterway where it flows through his property. District Judge Loren Tucker ruled last week that...
BICYCLING – A program on the benefits of bicycling to rural tourism will be presented at 7 p.m. tonight July 7 At Banyons on the Ridge (golf course) in Pullman. Russ Roca and Laura Crawford of the Path Less Pedaled, world cyclo-tourists and consultants for...
FISHING -- Water managers have started releasing more cold water from a reservoir in northern Idaho for endangered Snake River sockeye salmon following a year where lethally hot water killed 99 percent of the run. The decision late last week to bump up the amount...
PUBLIC LANDS – The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public input about its management plans for the newly created wilderness areas in central Idaho. The Idaho Mountain Express reports that the Forest Service is planning public meetings later this summer to gather input on the…
TRAILS – Volunteers are leading a series of hosted summer hikes to introduce newcomers to the different units of the Dishman Hills Conservation Area in Spokane Valley. Preregister online at www.dishmanhills.org/ The remaining events include: July 6 at 9:30 a.m. –Trail Host at Iller Creek...
WATERSPORTS – A three-man team on a catamaran has finished first in the 750-mile motorless Race to Alaska on Saturday, beating last year’s winning time by more than a day. The Ketchikan Daily News reports that captain Randy Miller and crew members Ian Andrews and…
SHOOTING -- Slob shooters are responsible for forcing the Department of Natural Resources to close an informal shooting range near Suncrest. The shooting range on State Highway 291, known as Stonelodge or Mile Marker 19, has been the site of two fires started by target…
WILDLIFE ATTACKS – Montana wildlife officials say a 38-year-old mountain biker who was killed by a bear riding just outside Glacier National Park likely collided with the bear before he was attacked, and they have called off the search for the bear. Wildlife response team...
PARKS -- Illegal fire-making appears to have contributed to one of Whitman County’s most popular campgrounds – Kamiak Butte – being closed until further notice. The county park’s five miles of forested hiking trails remain open for day use, but as of Friday the park’s…
TRAILS – Although work is still underway to clear boulders that have blocked Harts Pass Road northwest of Winthrop since November, vandals got through and vandalized Forest Service structures. Harts Pass, the highest point in Washington accessible by car, is a popular trailhead for the…
WILDLIFE -- Today is a big day for Washington wild game meat fans -- some ROADKILL becomes legal to collect along the state's highways. Washington residents are now among about 20 states that allow salvage of road-killed deer and elk, according to a new program...
FISHING -- Hells Canyon Sportfishing guide Ryan Rosenbaum was all smiles before releasing a huge white sturgeon in the Snake River last weekend. Even a veteran guide doesn’t often get to put clients onto a 10 footer with a 54-inch girth. In this case, the...
PUBLIC LANDS -- The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests are officially proposing to continue prohibiting year-round motorized use in recommended wilderness areas with the exception of summer motorized/mechanized travel on one trail, Fish Lake Trail 419. This is the same decision that was made in January...
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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