PUBLIC LANDS -- Morel mushrooms are beginning to show in the region's national forests. They're free to harvest, but commercial gathering is prohibited on national forests in this region, and anyone harvesting large amounts of mushrooms must obtain a permit. Here are details posted this...
WILDLIFE -- If you're into big game -- including really big game -- you might be interested in a free lecture this week, "Extinction of Mammoths and Mastodons near the End of the Pleistocene," by Daniel Fisher, professor of paleontology and curator and director of…
FISHING -- Gonzaga University men's basketball coach Mark Few is known for having some formidable bigs in the paint. He also is pretty good at landing some finny bigs in the water. Last week he broke away from the courts to get a good start on yet...
FISHING -- Washington will open certain areas of the Snake River on certain days to fishing for spring chinook starting April 28, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today. Idaho had previously announced its season would open April 22. Don't get too revved...
HUNTING -- If you like your guns and free time, don't poach big game in New Mexico. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez last week signed legislation elevating the wasting of game from a misdemeanor to a felony, according to Sporting Classics Daily. People convicted of…
SHOOTING -- Long-range shooting enthusiasts will gather next weekend, April 21-21 for The Precision Steel Challenge event at Rock Lake Rifle Range, 2356 Glorfield Rd, St. John, Washington. Bring binoculars or scopes to check out the action. Some of the targets for these skilled marksmen...
WINTERSPORTS -- A few backcountry skiers are still hanging on to winter with the added benefits of longer days and warmer temperatures. One of the region's classic backcountry ski treks is the Stevens Peak Traverse, enjoyed Saturday by Spokane skiers Peter Groza, Carl Sunderman and…
MOUNTAINEERING -- While spring flowers are sprouting and blooming in the lowlands, some of Washington's high mountains are in prime conditions for ski mountaineering. That's the word received today from my favorite youngest daughter, who said her Saturday adventure in Mount St. Helens National Volcanic…
WILDLIFE -- The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted 2017-18 hunting season rules -- including reductions in antlerless deer hunting -- and approved land transactions -- including an addition to a Reardan wildlife area -- during a public meeting today in Spokane. Here's information on…
FISHING -- Drop off locations include Kettle Falls Marina on the lake near the town of Kettle Falls, and Noisy Waters gas station on the west side of Lake Roosevelt... 2017 Northern Pike Reward Program Rules Anglers participating in the Northern Pike Reward Program must...
PUBLIC LANDS -- Getting to where you want to go on public lands this spring has been a problem because of our unusually wet winter and spring, and the problem is getting worse. The Colville and Idaho Panhandle National Forests have issued more road closure...
PUBLIC LANDS -- Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has halted plans to transfer management of Montana’s National Bison Range to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The former Montana congressman told the Missoulian in an email that he is committed to not selling or transferring public lands.…
PARKS -- Spokane city parks and golf officials just don't get it. God gives them a great natural asset virtually free and they abuse it. Two stories in The Spokesman-Review today illustrate an important point for the future: City, Avista, and golf organization apologize for misunderstanding that...
WATERSPORTS -- The emergency closures of access to the Spokane River enacted in March have all been lifted as of this morning. The Spokane City Council and the Spokane County Commission both voted Tuesday night to lift their emergency closures. The Spokane City Council led…
TRAILS -- A lot of concern is brewing on Spokane's South Hill as a bulldozer this week has been carving a road past the beloved bluff trail system below Bernard and north along the bank of Hangman Creek to the power station below 29th. Questions...
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Wolf monitoring in Oregon has not been well-served by pricey technology in the past year, state wildlife officials say in their annual wolf recovery status report. Numbers of wolves are up but it's not clear how much. Here's a story about the…
FISHING -- With water, water everywhere this spring, water levels at two popular trout fishing lakes -- McDowell Lake and Potter's Pond -- on the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge are profoundly altered....
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- The first thing that comes to mind upon seeing the the photo of spring gobblers above is "White meat or dark?" The mottled white-black tom photographed this week in Pend Oreille County by Mark Turner is a handsome specimen known as a...
WINTERSPORTS -- This year's bounty of snow paid dividends to the region's ski resorts, confirmed this week as by the likes of Whitefish Mountain Resort's report of record visits. The northwestern Montana resort says it had a season record of more than 346,000 skier visits…
HUNTING -- While growing up in Central Montana, I shot my first wild turkey as an elementary school kid about 10 years after they were introduced to the state. My dad and I know virtually nothing about turkey hunting going into our first hunt. A...
PARKS -- Palouse Falls State Park gets a lot of buzz during spring when the 185-foot falls thunder with runoff. This year's flood-stage flows have attracted even more attention. So much so that a book is a handy thing to bring along in the car…
PUBLIC LANDS -- There's a potentially explosive new twist today on the road washout warnings that have been regularly in the news this spring. A washout in the Bonners Ferry Ranger District has exposed two cases of dynamite. The Idaho Panhandle National Forests has just...
FISHING – Registration is underway for the annual Kids Fishing Day on May 6 at Clear Lake, sponsored by area sportsmen clubs, the Kalispel Tribe and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Volunteers are meeting to rig up 950 rod-reel combos to be used…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- With the help of my leashed-dog's nose, I stumbled onto a litter of seven tiny coyote pups -- their eyes still closed -- while exploring sagebrush country in Lincoln County, Washington, this weekend. Ranger, my Brittany, stood on point and I went...
FISHING -- Fishermen are finding PLENTY of water at the region's lakes that are open so far this season, with more trout lakes to open April 22. Coffeepot Lake's water level is well above the boat ramp, in stark contrast to last year when anglers...
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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