SALMON FISHING – After several record daily sockeye counts over Bonneville Dam this week, fisheries managers’ expecations for overall record returns of sockeye salmon to the upper Columbia River are high. The salmon fishing season in the upper Columbia above Priest Papids Dam opens today.…
ADVENTURE TRAVEL – $200 discounts are being offered for guided six-day sea kayaking trips geared to paddling with orcas off Vancouver Island. Nancy Mertz, co-owner of Couer-d Alene-based Sea Kayak Adventures, said they have a few slots they’re trying to fill for camping excursions in…
WILDLIFE -- More anglers are heading into the mountains and hunters soon will follow, putting more people out among wildlife, including bears. The Grizzly Bear Outreach Project offers basic tips to help hunters and anglers avoid attracting bears, which can be dangerous to people if…
WILDLIFE -- A coalition of sportsmen-conservationists today applauded the elimination of a controversial amendment from a U.S. House of Representatives appropriations bill that would have prohibited implementation of a science-based management plan for bighorn sheep populations in a national forest in Idaho. The Association of…
BICYCLING – The orgnaizers of SpokeFest, the annual September bicycle celebration that branches out from downtown Spokane, are offering an early sign-up incentive: Register online by Saturday (June 30) and you will be entered into a drawing to win one of two iPOD Nanos donated…
SALMON FISHING -- Sockey are outdoing themselves in their 2012 run up the Columbia River. Tuesday's count over Bonneville Dam was a one-day record -- 41,573. That follows Monday's record upstream burst of 38,756 sockeye counted at Bonneville Dam. Both counts smash the previous record…
FISHING -- The Berkley Experience exhibit is coming to the North Division White Elephant store Thursday through Saturday with a variety of promotions and demonstrations for anglers. Bring a fishing reel and get it filled with up to 200 yards of fishing line for $1…
FLY FISHING -- A few lucky kids who sign up early will get special attention during the International Fly Fishing Fair coming to Spokane in July. The 47th annual Federation of Fly Fishers extravaganza – which roams to venues such as West Yellowstone, Mont. –…
SUMMER RESORTS -- Free chairlift rides, barbecues, live music and other activities headline the Summer Celebration set for Saturday (June 30) to open the summer season at Schweitzer Mountain Resort. However, with snow still covering the top of the mountain, bicycles are not yet being…
FISHING -- The light at the end of the tunnel looking downstream is the gleam of steelhead running in decent numbers over Bonneville Dam. The curve is going up sharply as about 500 fish a day are swimming from the ocean and over the first…
WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS -- A Massachusetts man is recovering in an Idaho Falls hospital following surgery for injuries he received after being gored by a bull bison near Norris Campground on Saturday in Yellowstone National Park. Park authorities did not have the man’s name, and his…
SALMON FISHING -- It's a bad year for that salmon fishing dream trip to some portions of Alaska. Record low king runs have forced the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Friday to close king salmon sport fishing seasons in some rivers including the…
FISHING -- Cool, wet weather has kept area lake fisheries alive into summer for local anglers. While some fishermen give up on area fishing lakes in spring after the first few fast-action weeks of the season, others are finding more at the lakes than just…
OUTDOOR EDUCATION -- The Sandpoint-based Selkirk Outdoor Leadership & Education (SOLE) is offering two five-day outdoor leadership programs for teens in August. Boosted by a grant from The North Face, cost for the sessions is only $50. Youths will be on the go with activites…
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook RIVERS -- Two conservation groups and three phosphate mining companies in eastern Idaho have formed a partnership intended to improve water quality in the Blackfoot…
RIVERS -- Recent rains storms with more on the way combined with high flows out of Canada are prolonging the region's "spring" runoff in a big way. The Kootenai River rose above flood stage at Bonners Ferry today, according to our S-R weather reporter. The…
ENVIRONMENT -- Can we expect a "Sportsmen's Act" introduced in Congress to actually be in the best interest of hunters and anglers? A Missoulian opinion columnist is skeptical in this column. "Those who watch Congress have surely noticed an alarming trend of putting misleading titles…
WHITEWATER -- Remember the mechanical bull riding made popular in Urban Cowboy? A pair of boaters in a 14-foot cataraft got a feeling for that rotating, jerking motion as they ran Slalom Rapid and got hung up in Seymour's -- a keeper wave on the…
CITY PARKS -- In 2013 the City of Spokane Parks and Recreation Department will be facing an estimated 5.5 percent budget reduction totaling about $1 million. Parks officials have set two public meetings this week to help form priorities for the program cuts that will…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- While the cows are tending to their calves, bull elk are growing antlers. Western Montana wildlife photographer Jaime Johnson reminds us this week that spring is beautiful time to be an elk.
WILDLIFE -- More than 6,400 pheasant chicks have been distributed in the past few weeks to people in the Spokane region who vow to raise and release the birds into the wild. The annual chick giveaway program is facilitated by the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council.…
RESERVOIRS -- The level of Lake Roosevelt is about 1284 on June 22. The lake is continuing to fill and spill is occurring over the drum gates at Grand Coulee Dam. The peak of the spring runoff is expected in the next two weeks. In…
MOUNTAINEERING -- Sad news from Mount Rainier National Park as a ranger attempting a rescue fell 3,000 feet to his death on Thursday. See the story here.
PUBLIC LANDS -- They had no trouble finding violations. A group of state and federal officers who conducted an ORV emphasis patrol recently on public lands east of Colville filed the following stats: 207 ORV/User Contacts 21 Citations (i.e. no helmets, road closure, fishing w/o…
SALMON FISHING -- Starting July 1, anglers will be required to rlease all chinook and sockeye with external floy tags and/or with one or more holes (round, approximately ¼ inch diameter) punched in the caudal (tail) fin. The Washington Fish and Wildlife announced the rule…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
