WINTER SPORTS — Although I thought Sandpoint had arrived long ago, the North Idaho town has just been  named one of the nation’s “top 10 emerging ski towns” in the March 2013 issue of  National Geographic’s Adventure magazine.

“These 10 North American ski towns may not have the name recognition of the world’s best-known destinations, but that’s just fine with them. These are the local’s favorites, the up-and-comers. They’re real towns, often cheaper and friendlier than the big dogs—at least for now. If you’re on the hunt for great skiing without the crowds and glitz, read on.” said the article's author, Aaron Teasdale.

Sandpoint, and more specifically, the 2,900 acres of ski terrain at Schweitzer Mountain Resort, is described as being ”Best For: Non-extreme skiers and boarders seeking the famed tree skiing of the Selkirks without the trip to Canada.”

Other ski towns in the Top 10 include Red Lodge, Mont.; Ogden, Utah; Reno, Nev.; Revelstoke, B.C.; Nelson, B.C.; Driggs, Idaho; Mammoth, Calif.; Waitsfield, Vt.; and Durango, Colo.

The article asked locals in each town for suggestions on where to eat, sleep and spend time away from the ski hill, as well as the best ski run on the mountain.

Heres a list of top recent outdoors stories in The Spokesman-Review:

Anglers Hook It and Cook It at Alaska fishing event

Nordic skiing trails sprout near Sandpoint

Out & About: Spokane native lands state-record mackinaw

Field reports: Coyote hunt eyed to protect wolf

Wolf hunts affect Yellowstone study

Study: Salmon get home using Earth’s magnetic field

Photo gallery: 35th annual Langlauf a hit at Mount Spokane

Fishing & Hunting Report for the Inland Northwest

WILDLIFE WATCHING — Ospreys are going to grab a little of the spotlight Sunday (Aug. 5) during the popular Festival at Sandpoint musical extravaganza.

Biologist Janie Fink, founder of Birds of Prey Northwest, will present a program with live raptors during the Festival’s Family Day Concert.

The Festival's two-week concert series is held at Memorial Field, right below the nests of two osprey pairs that have delighted Festival-goers for decades. When the light poles were replaced last fall, nesting platforms were included on two of the new poles and a webcam was focused on one of the nests.

Birdwatchers have had the privilege to watch online video streaming as the osprey family advanced through courtship, nest building, egg laying, hatching and rearing of the young birds.

At Sunday’s Family Concert, featuring a day of activities for kids and a performance of “Pinocchio” by the Spokane Youth Orchestra, Fink will be giving a 30-minute program on Idaho raptors. She’s bringing live birds that her center is rehabilitating after injury — including an owl, eagle, falcon, hawk and osprey — for kids and adults to see up close.

The Family Concert activities begin at 4:30 p.m.; admission is $6.

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 including backpacking and kayaking and delving into a variety of activities such as wildlife rehabilitation, trail maintenance and environmental science.

Space is limited for the sessions, which start Aug. 5 and Aug. 14.

Info: (928) 351-7653; www.soleexperiences.org.

WILDLIFE WATCHING — Ospreys nesting above War Memorial Field in Sandpoint hatched their first chick Monday, and a web cam is giving viewers an up-close and personal view as the adults feed the bird.

The emergence of another chick could happen any day — or hour.

The first chick to hatch was being fed this morning around 9 a.m. The camera is positioned perfectly to see the action as though you were in the nest.

With a web cam fixed above the nest platform, the public was able to watch the ospreys arrive on April 10 to begin building their nest and go through courtship.

In late April, the camera caught skirmishes between the pair that adopted this nest and a second osprey pair that was attempting to hijack the nest. (The field on Lake Pend Oreille has two osprey nests.)

The Sandpoint Osprey Cam is a collaboration of the City of Sandpoint and Sandpoint Online with corporate support by Avista and Northland Communications. Consulting biologist is Jane Fink of Birds of Prey Northwest.  Moving the nest and puting up the web cam was no easy task. Read about the project.

The Sandpoint Online web page includes a chat feature for osprey watchers to trade observations, plus  Fink is providing an interpretive blog.

The number of daily page views grew into the thousands on May 7, when the female osprey laid the pair's first egg at 12:48 p.m.  (above left). That egg hatched on June 18.  The second should hatch any hour or day.

The parents will be feeding fish to the birds every few hours for weeks.  Enjoy the show.

Meantime, check out this incredible osprey fishing video and brief yourself with Fink's answers to osprey FAQ»

BICYCLING — A few slots remain open in the June 2 CHaFE 150 bicycle event ride out of Sandpoint.

The 5th annual catered event includes 150- and 80-mile ride options in a Gran Fondo format.

Sign up online.

Read on for details.

WILDLIFE WATCHING — Things have been looking up for a pair of ospreys since groups in Sandpoint organized to relocate a nest that had to be moved at Sandpoint’s War Memorial Field during renovations.

With a web cam fixed above the nest platform, the public has been able to watch the ospreys arrive on April 10 to begin build their next (see photos above) and go through courtship.

In late April, the camera caught skirmishes between the pair that adopted this nest and a second osprey pair that was attempting to hijack the nest. (The field on Lake Pend Oreille has two osprey nests.)

The Sandpoint Osprey Cam is a collaboration of the City of Sandpoint and Sandpoint Online with corporate support by Avista and Northland Communications. Consulting biologist is Jane Fink of Birds of Prey Northwest.  Moving the nest and puting up the web cam was no easy task. Read about the project.

The Sandpoint Online web page includes a chat feature for osprey watchers to trade observations, plus  Fink is providing an interpretive blog. The number of daily page views is in the thousands and growing especially this week:

Monday at 12:48 p.m. the female laid their first egg (above left).

Soon we'll all be able to watch the hatching and raising of a brood.

Meantime, check out this incredible osprey fishing video and brief yourself with Fink's answers to osprey FAQ»

WINTER SPORTS — “The end of an era is upon us,” says the announcement from Schweitzer Mountain Resort.

As the resort shuts down for the 2011-2012 season, Ski Patrol Director John Pucci will be retiring after 45 years as a patroller  and 38 years as the director at Schweitzer.

NATIONAL FORESTS — A Forest Service administrator in Vermont has been named the new Sandpoint District ranger by Idaho Panhandle National Forests acting forest supervisor Maggie Pittman.

Erik Walker, Deputy District Ranger in the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont will replace Dick Kramer who retired from the Sandpoint District ranger position in May.

Walker comes to the Idaho Panhandle with more than 20 years of Forest Service experience on a wide variety of natural resource issues throughout the nation including Lake Tahoe and the Lassen National Forest in California, the Las Vegas and Carson Ranger Districts of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada, and the Manchester Ranger District in Vermont.
  

Walker and his wife say they look forward to getting out in the local area and taking part in some of their favorite activities, including snow-shoeing, skiing, hiking, biking, gardening, kayaking, and photography.

Walker is expected to report to Sandpoint at the end of August.
  

HIKING — The  list of area hiking clubs that ran with my Sunday Outdoors feature on hiking clubs left out one with some history, said Rosalyn Clark of Sandpoint.

The Bonner County Monday Hikers have been heating their heels on roads and trails every Monday since 1991.

“We’re loosely organized, but we have eight  or sometimes 30 to 50 on an outing,” she said.

“Every Monday we decide where we’ll hike the next Monday, rain or shine. We’re mostly older people, but not all of us. You just need to have Mondays free.”

Info: rosiebob@gmail.com

STEWARDSHIP — About 40 volunteers chipped in Saturday to remove trash from the shoreline along Sand Creek in downtown Sandpoint during the annual Sand Creek Clean Up.

The helpers were organized by the Downtown Sandpoint Business Association and Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper.

The event removed a truck full of garbage in a little more than an hour, and prevented the trash from fouling Lake Pend Oreille and the beauty of the spring and summer seasons in downtown Sandpoint.

ENVIRONMENT — Friday is Earth Day, and Sandpoint groups are making a point to get the whole family involved.

Sandpoint’s Earth Day Festival is set for 4 p.m.-8 p.m. at the Sandpoint Events Center (corner of Pine and Euclid).

Family activities include a talk by Earth Day co-founder Doug Scott, information from more than 20 local conservation groups and vendors, displays and games for the kids, electric car demos, great local food.

And then there's the no-host beer and wine bar.

The event is sponsored by Idaho Conservation League, Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness and Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper.

Info:  (208) 265-9565.

WINTER SPORTS — The Friends of the Scotchman Peaks and Idaho Conservation League are sponsoring a winter backcountry film festival Friday and winter outdoor skills workshops on Saturday in Sandpoint.

Winter backcountry films will be shown at the Panida Theater Friday starting at 7 p.m.

On Saturday, the free workshops will run 9 a.m.-noon at the Sandpoint Community Hall, featuring Kevin Davis, Forest Service avalanche expert, and Dennison Webb and Erik Yost of Selkirk Outdoor Leadership & Education. The two workshops are designed as beginner (or refresher) courses in backcountry winter travel.

Check it out the details and schedule.