FISHING -- Our recent report on the reaction to drastic changes proposed for Columbia River commercial and recreational fisheries has prompted a heads up for anglers in the upper Columbia River. The comment on lower Columbia River fisheries reform being debated by Washington and Oregon…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Killing seven members of a wolf pack that repeatedly attacked a Northeast Washington rancher’s cattle cost about $76,500, according to preliminary state figures, according to today's story by S-R reporter Becky Kramer. The amount includes all hunts targeting the Wedge Pack, which…
TRAILS -- A skilled group of skilled youths and other volunteers have prevailed after putting a week of sweat into the seemingly hopeless task of clearing blowdowns off the Big Lick Trail in the Kettle River Range. The maze-like tangle of downfall had rendered the…
HIKING -- A proposed extension of the Appalachian Trail could add add a few hundred miles of foot trail -- and possibly a canoeing option -- to link the trail all the way south to the Gulf of Mexico. The nonprofit organization Trust for Public…
WINTER TRAVEL -- Slippery roads this week are a reminder that drivers should be prepared for mishaps that might catch stuck, stranded or off the road in winter conditions. A bag of items stashed in your vehicle could spell the difference between comfort and misery…
HUNTING -- Normally we're uplifted by parents who take their kids hunting. Not this time. No one was injured, physically at least, but a Western Washington hunting incident described by this weekend story in the Olympian might be one of the grimmest stories I've read…
PARKS -- The Washington Transportation Department has closed two passes on the east side of Mount Rainier for the winter. Chinook Pass on Highway 410 and nearby Cayuse Pass on Highway 123 have been closed by recent snow and avalanche danger, department officials announced today.
PUBLIC LANDS -- The Outdoor Industry Association and more than 100 outdoor-related businesses are asking President Barack Obama to designate 1.4 million acres of federal wildlands surrounding Canyonlands National Park as a national monument, according to a report by Brett Prettyman of the Salt Lake…
FISHING -- Anglers registered for the annual steelhead fishing derby on the Clearwater and Snake Rivers will be given food, prizes and information at the opening ceremonies on Friday (Nov. 16) in Lewiston. Activities that formerly were split at the beginning and end of the…
BIRDING – Wildlife biologist Jeff Kozma, who specializes in cavity-nesting birds with the Yakama Nation, will present a program on the reproductive ecology of the white-headed woodpecker in Washington’s ponderosa pine forests on Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. at Riverview Retirement Community, Village Community Building, 2117 E.…
STATE LANDS -- Shooters are creating a safety hazard and trashing a section of state land near Newman Lake, Department of Natural Resources officials say. Complaints from area landowners have prompted more enforcement and citations for littering, using motorized vehicles in closed areas and failure…
HUNTING -- Reports have been coming in for two weeks that whitetail bucks are actively scraping, sparring and now they're pursuing does. Rattling is a good hunting tactic in the early portion of the rut. The late season for whitetail bucks opened in select northeastern…
ADVENTURE -- When they talk about "action films," these are the real deal. The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour has hit the road and the next stop is the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane. About two dozen films will be shown in Spokane over…
PREDATORS -- For the second year, wolves will be join furbearers as targets during Idaho’s winter trapping season. Although trappers must take a course in safe techniques before they can purchase a wolf-trapping license, bird hunters and other people who let their dogs run freely…
PUBLIC LANDS -- A coalition of environmental groups made arguments before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Portland, Ore., today in an ongoing effort to repeal the Idaho roadless rule and replace it with one adopted under President Bill Clinton. The Wilderness Society,…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Kokanee provide two notable spectacles in this region for anglers and nonanglers alike: Bald eagles flock to the Wolf Lodge Bay area of Lake Coeur d'Alene to feast on spawned out kokanee starting this month and peaking around Christmas. The spectacle attracts…
FISHING -- For the first time since 1999, anglers will be allowed to harvest kokanee in Lake Pend Oreille starting in 2013 under a fishing regulations adopted Thursday by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission. The popular fishery has rebounded enough under a fisheries recovery…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Six new members have been appointed to the Bureau of Land Management’s Coeur d’Alene District citizen-based Resource Advisory Council. The appointees will serve a three-year term and advise the BLM on public lands issues. “I want to welcome our new and reappointed…
PUBLIC LANDS -- The calm before the storm that brings on winter. Montana outdoor photographer Jaime Johnson reminds us why we love mountains with this scene of the Mission Mountains captured a few days ago.
HUNTING -- The whitetail deer mating season -- better known as "the rut" -- is the best few weeks of the year to tag a big buck. The rut in Eastern Washington will be reaching it's peak just about the time the late buck season…
PUBLIC LANDS -- The last gasp before winter. Justin Haug of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife captured this photo of Forde Lake in the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area of northcentral Washington in October.
By popular demand, the annual Kendall Subaru Clearwater Snake Steelhead Derby will be held Nov. 17-24 to allow anglers to take advantage of a national holiday -- Thanksgiving. In addition, the 2012 Kendall Subaru Clearwater Snake Steelhead Derby will include Washington waters. Adding miles of…
HUNTING -- It's buyer-beware when paying money to an outfitter for a big-game hunt, especially when the deal is made online and payment is in person without going through a safety net such as PayPal or a credit card. I give examples of hunters who…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Supposing you could keep it from freezing, would leaving a nectar feeder out in your yard in late fall tempt hummingbirds into staying around when they should head south for winter? Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists say most research on…
ELECTIONS -- Sen. Jon Tester has been re-elected in an intense campaign battle -- heavily funded on both sides from outside sources. Who gave Tester the edge? Sportsmen, says backcountry hunter and writer Ben Long of Kalispell in this High Country News piece.
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
