FISHING -- The numbers over the dams tell the story of this year's downsized steelhead run to the Columbia and Snake Rivers. What the numbers don't say is that anglers putting in their time are catching fish, and having a good time doing it. More…
CLIMATE CHANGE -- The warming globe is giving sailors more room to roam. Read the disturbing story: Ship's historic crossing signals extent of Arctic melt, Edmonton Journal.
RIVERS -- The Spokane River Cleanup is set for Sept . 29. The 10th annual event is likely to follow last year's footsteps with about 800 people picking up tons of trash based out of High Bridge Park, the University District and Spokane Valley. Pre-register…
WILDLIFE REHABILITATION -- Boo Boo, the black bear cub found by fire crews with second degree burns on all four paws last month, has been moved to a rehabilitation area in central Idaho. Idaho Fish and Game biologist Jeff Rohlman picked up the young bruin…
PUBLIC LANDS -- The crowds that trashed the prized North Fork Coeur d'Alene fishing waters this summer have subsided back to the places they leave their garbage the rest of the year. So it’s time for a river cleanup. On Saturday, Sept. 15, the North…
PUBLIC LANDS -- A pine beetle outbreak that has left many Western states with vast stands of dead and dying trees has eased for the second consecutive year, the U.S. Forest Service says. That's the good news. The bad news is that more trees are…
HUNTING -- Washington's two-day early Canada goose hunting season in Units 4 and 5 -- most of Eastern Washington -- is set for Friday and Saturday (Sept. 14-15). Check your regs carefully, and get ready for what appears to be great hunting.
WINTER SPORTS -- The photo above comes today from Revelstoke Mountain Resort, a day's drive north in British Columbia, where the ski area operators were stoked to wake up and see the first snowfall of the season in the Canadian Rockies area. Revelstoke Mountain is…
FISHING -- I love the looks of this graphic from the Fish Passage Center showing yesterday's spike of steelhead pouring over Lower Granite Dam. The big push up the Snake has begun! From just over 240 fish a day a week ago, water temperatures had…
OUTDOORS -- This video of time-lapse photography captures the soothing essense of Pacific Northwest scenery in just a few minutes. But a Portland photographer devoted a year and exposed 260,000 frames to produce it.
WILD FIRES from recent lightning storms on tinder-dry landscapes are an issue for people heading outdoors in almost every direction. Here's a regional roundup from Mountain West News: Thousands of lightning strikes spark hundreds of fires in Washington state The 300-acre Cascade Creek Fire is…
SALMON FISHING -- I guess you could say she got a good start. Deborah Whitman-Perry's first experience in catching a king salmon turned out to be an 83-pounder while fishing out of Good Hope Cannery Resort at Rivers Inlet, British Columbia. She got to savor…
FISHING -- Washington is outstanding in the latest Lunge Log, the international “brag board” where Muskies Inc. members in North America post their longest catches (and releases). Tops on the MuskiesInc.org “Longest Releases” for 2012 is a 46 incher hooked on June 16 by Ed…
PUBLIC LANDS -- For the second time in seven years, the U.S. Forest Service has rejected a proposal by Tom Maclay to build a destination ski resort on Lolo Peak. Read the story in the Ravalli Republic.
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- No report yet on whether more Wedge Pack wolves have been killed in northern Stevens County as they continue to kill cattle while eluding the guns and traps of Washington Fish and Wildlife Department officers. Get up to speed with: Fight over…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Fire fighters have their hands full in forests and lowlands from blazes started by Saturday night lightning storms and fanned by Sunday's huge winds. A Facebook friend in Wenatchee says the orange on the skyline is more than a little frightening. At…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Last night's wave of thunder storms in Eastern Washington has sparked numerous fires in the dry canyons and forests near Leavenworth, Chelan and Wenatchee. Here's the just-posted Forest Service report for details on locations, with the grim warning that high winds are…
FISHING -- Although the steelhead have been slower to make their way upstream to the Snake River, the run has arrived on the Lower Deschutes River, along with a palpable excitement among anglers, reports Mark Morical of the Bulletin in Bend, Ore. "Each year, the…
HUNTING -- Larry Carey, who measures dozens of trophy big-game animals in Spokane each year as an official Boone and Crockett scorer, bagged his own wall-hanger recently while antelope hunting with relatives near Cimarron, N.M. Carey, 74, shot a pronghorn measuring 85 inches green. After…
FISHING -- In preparation for a fall rotenone treatment to get rid of scrap fish and northern pike, catch limits will be lifted starting Saturday at Fish Lake off the Cheney-Marshall Road. Ditto for Little Beaver Lake in Okanogan County. Read on for all the…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- The Colville Tribe confirmed Washington’s ninth wolf pack Sunday as they trapped and released a 104-pound gray wolf. The new group of gray wolves has been called the Strawberries Pack. The wolf is the third to be captured, fitted with a GPS…
HUNTING -- Bowhunters have been learning over the years -- some of them the hard way -- that bears and even cougars will sneak in on them while they are calling elk during the September rut seasons. Cow and calf talk is especially effective in…
WILDLIFE -- More than 200 Roosevelt elk shed antlers seized by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife can be purchased during an online auction that's underway. Bidding for about half of the items will close Sept. 19, and bidding for the other half of…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- In case you missed it from last week, Oregon has confirmed its fifth breeding wolf pack after documenting pups in a group roaming the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Read on for details from the Associated Press.
NATURAL HISTORY -- Natural and cultural history of the Dry Falls area will be presented in displays by the Wanapum Heritage Center and the Ice Age Floods Institute on Saturday (Sept. 8), 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Dry Falls State Park Visitor Center south of…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
