CONSERVATION – A Sandpoint videographer has pledged to donate a $10,000 prize to to a local land trust project if enough people go online to vote for his film, “Land is my Sasquatch.” The video by Scott Rulander is among 10 finalists in a competition...
PREDATORS -- Oregon has posted an online quiz to help people – especially hunters – bone up on telling the difference between wolves and coyotes. The quiz found at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website shows photos of the animals at various ages....
POACHING -- Public sentiment is clearly behind the landowner who used his tractor to, shall we say, immobilize the pickup of elk poachers who were trespassing. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife police are hesitant to say that's the proper way to respond. There could...
WINTERSPORTS -- A Bend woman and her son have filed a $129,000 lawsuit against the Mt. Bachelor ski area, claiming that staff falsely accused them of stealing a pair of rental skis. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the lawsuit filed last week by Melissa Gottlieb and...
HABITAT -- A short documentary film chronicles the multi-million-dollar effort to shore up islands and wildlife habitat that have been extensively eroding in the Clark Fork Delta where the Clark Fork River meets Lake Pend Oreille near Hope, Idaho. Roughly 12-15 acres have been lost...
PUBLIC LANDS – A former Alaska wilderness ranger, now activist, photographer and author, George Wuerthner will present a free program, “Why Wilderness?” on Wednesday, 6:30 p.m., at the Coeur d’Alene Eagles Club, 209 Sherman Ave. Wuerthner, who’s written 38 books on America’s wild places and…
THREATENED SPECIES -- Federal scientists and land managers who’ve been crafting strategies to protect a ground-dwelling bird’s habitat across the American West for nearly two decades are going back to the drawing board under a new Trump administration edict to reassess existing plans condemned by…
PARKS – Speakers will take 10 minutes apiece this week to tell personal stories or offer perspectives on what connects the public to the trails and natural area of High Drive Bluff Park, better known as the Spokane’s South Hill bluff. BLUFF Talks, a fundraiser...
WINTERSPORTS -- Lookout Pass and 49 Degrees North are open for skiers and snowboarders starting today through the weekend, and Schweitzer Mountain resort has just announced its lifts will begin running on Nov. 18. Lookout Pass Ski Area led the pack of the region’s resorts…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- A rancher has killed an adult female gray wolf as it was caught in the act of attacking livestock on private grazing grounds in northern Ferry County. The livestock producer reported the incident on Oct. 27, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife…
PUBLIC LANDS – Renting the historic Red Ives Ranger Cabin on the St. Joe River is being switched from a mail-in lottery to a national online reservation system, the Idaho Panhandle National Forests reports. Starting this month, reservations will be made through the Reserve America…
WINTERSPORTS -- Lookout Pass led the pack of the region’s resorts to start its lifts for the season last weekend providing good snow for the opening. Lookout Pass plans to reopen Friday through the weekend. Lifts at 49 Degrees North also are scheduled to run...
FISHING -- Steelhead enthusiasts have until Sunday to donate and boost a juvenile steelhead research project on tributaries to the Clearwater River. The Clearwater-Snake Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited has received a $3,000 grant sponsored by Orvis and Trout Unlimited to study juvenile steelhead in...
FISHERIES -- Sullivan Lake is a great option for getting out to enjoy what's left of fall colors -- on the forest and on the fish! The Western larch needles are yellow and the crimson-colored kokanee are running from the lake into Harvey Creek where…
WINTERSPORTS -- It was an autumn winter wonderland at Mount Spokane State Park on Monday. Nora Searing and Cris Currie enjoyed their first ski tour of the season by breaking trail in decent snow conditions to the Nova Hut and beyond. More to come! Sno-Park...
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Another gray wolf has been found dead in Oregon, marking the third such unsolved death of a federally protected wolf in the past year, state and federal wildlife officials told the Associated Press. Another wolf was shot by a hunter who claimed…
FISHERIES -- The Memory of Fish, a film about the effort leading to dam removal and restoration of Washington's Elwha River, will be screened at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Magic Lantern Theatre in Spokane. American Rivers and award-winning filmmaker Jennifer Galvin...
HUNTING -- Perhaps the potential for repelling a grizzly attack with a can of bear spray hadn't been fully explored, until this.... An elk hunter near Livingston, Montana, was able to deploy bear spray at a charging bear, but the nozzle of the spray got...
HUNTING -- While bird hunting along Montana's Rocky Mountain Front, a sportsman must consider being loaded for bear as well as pheasant. On Saturday near Pendroy, a pheasant hunter shot and killed a grizzly bear that charged him after it was surprised by the hunter’s...
PREDATORS -- An elk hunter got the benefit of the doubt for killing a wolf in self-defense in northeastern Oregon last month, the first time that’s happened since the predator began migrating to the state in the late 1990s, state police said Thursday. The story...
FISHING -- Being a predator is risky business. Wolves are kicked by moose, for example. But this video of a northern pike that died and froze in the surface ice of a winter lake as it pursued a bass boggles my mind. Check it out.
BIKING -- In the attached photo, mountain biker Dan Wilson plummets down an "advanced" roller feature at Beacon Hill/Camp Sekani area. The rock is a purely optional route just above the trail Old School. "It's one of the many rocks up at Beacon, one if not the steepest rollers...
TRAILS --With new pole structures set and the majority of wire strung for Avista's transmission line rebuild project, Spokane South Hill bluff trail closures for safety are nearly over. All trails will be open Sunday, Nov. 5, for the Bloomsday Road Runners Club Cross Country…
OUTDOOR GEAR -- The University of Idaho Outdoor Program and UI Vandal Ski Team are holding the 43rd Annual Outdoor Equipment Sale and Ski Swap on Thursday, Nov. 9 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Student Recreation Center’s MAC court. Admission is free.…
CLIMBING -- "For years, I have walked under this steep, unrated and unredpointed overhang wondering if it was possible for me," writes North Idaho climber Jason Luthy, referring to a granite challenge near Sandpoint at Laclede. "After upgrading the bolts a few years ago, I…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
