FIRST AID -- There's nothing like a sweltering week of relentless summer sunshine to prompt a review of heat-caused illnesses. Knowing the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (see graphic above) helps you look after your own health as well as the health of…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Forest Service announcements that commercial huckleberry picking is illegal on Idaho Panhandle National Forests has prompted a flurry of calls to county sheriff's offices regarding violators in North Idaho. But the counties don't have authority to pinch illegal huckleberry operations unless they're...
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- While anti-hunting groups celebrated this week's court ruling that maintains endangered species protections for the thriving wolf population in the Great Lakes, wildlife managers and sportsmen who would like to control wolf numbers may ultimately gain ground from the ruling. Following is...
TRAILS -- Plan on raising a toast and supporting a the North Idaho Centennial Trail at the Ales for the Trail benefit, Aug. 12, with craft brews an music from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at McEuen Park in downtown Coeur d'Alene. Pay $30 for…
STATE PARKS -- Following a brief judicial delay this month, Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park today won a Washington State Supreme Court ruling that will allow its planned expansion to move forward, says Brad McQuarrie, general manager, in a media release just posted. Construction...
WILDLIFE -- A black bear charged a man jogging along Priest Lake on Monday, inflicting minor injuries to his leg before running off, Idaho Fish and Game Department officials say. The incident follows a more serious attack on a woman hiking about with her two...
CLIMBING -- They say lightning never strikes the same place twice -- but tragedy does. A University of Idaho professor from Moscow, Idaho, was killed in a thunder storm while climbing the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps a year after her husband had died from...
SWIMMING -- Here's one way to set a swimming record and beat the heat at the same time: A Montana attorney on Saturday fought through headwinds, high waves and exhaustion to become the first person to swim the length of the West’s largest freshwater lake…
FIRE SEASON -- High temperatures and no rain have rendered the landscape a tinderbox and the inevitable restrictions are coming. The Colville National Forest is the first of others to come to step up fire-prevention restrictions to higher levels, including a complete ban on campfires,...
FISHING -- This week's heat wave may encourage angers to swim with the trout rather than try to fish for them. But before taking a plunge, consider fishing first -- as in first thing in the morning, says Sean Visintainer of Silver Bow Fly Shop...
CAMPING -- If you have an RV or camping van, you may have a ticket to view the solar eclipse from on of hundreds of new temporary camping options. It seems that some landowners are opening their gates to cash in on the "total" craziness.…
WILDLIFE -- The protective status of four wildlife species and proposed steps to reduce elk hoof disease in Western Washington are on the agenda for the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting Friday and Saturday, Aug. 4-5, in Olympia. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife...
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.