Highs, Lows Of The Year Outdoors
MILESTONES
* Lisa Pelly, landscape designer from Battle Ground, Wash., became the first woman to chair the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.
* Some national forests began charging access fees for use of popular trailheads.
* Preserving wild salmon and steelhead officially became a priority for the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department, ending decades of management geared primarily to raising hatchery fish.
* Peregrine falcons reared three chicks near the Sunset Highway bridge over Latah Creek, the first documented nesting of the endangered falcons in Spokane.
* An end to commercial logging on national forests was called for by a coalition of Inland Northwest conservation groups.
* The PBS series “Birdwatch,” became the nation’s first weekly TV show devoted to birdwatching.
ANNIVERSARIES
20, Spokane Fly Fishers
20, Missoula’s International Wildlife Film Festival
60, Ducks Unlimited
75, Izaak Walton League
125, Yellowstone National Park
TRANSITION
Died: Cooper Jones, 13, struck from behind by a Cadillac while he was racing on a highway west of Cheney. No criminal charges were filed against the woman driver, who was fined $250 and told not to do it again.
Died: Jacques Cousteau, 87.
Status declined: Columbia, Snake and Grande Ronde river steelhead federally listed as endangered. Oregon spotted frog listed as endangered in Washington.
Status improved: Aleutian Canada goose reclassified from endangered to threatened in Washington. Gray whale improved from endangered to sensitive status.
Defunct: The Outdoor Press, after 32 years of publication.
Defunct: Badger Lake Resort.
FOR THE RECORD
* Joy Turner, 15, of Coeur d’Alene, became the youngest hiker to complete the 2,658-mile Pacific Crest Trail in a single season.
* Canoeists Mike Kinziger and Cameron Curtis of the University of Idaho paddled the Palouse River from Laird Park to the Snake River (roughly 120 miles) in 36 hours, 17 minutes.
* A banded common tern migrated 15,600 miles from Finland to Australia, the longest documented journey of any bird in the world.
Washington saltwater fish: Striped marlin, 104 pounds, off Grays Harbor (first ever caught in Washington waters). Starry flounder, 8.57 pounds, Sekiu Point. Pink salmon, 6.38 pounds, Mukilteo. Albacore tuna, 52 pounds, west of Grays Harbor.
Washington freshwater fish: Brown bullhead, 3.9 pounds, Ludlow Lake, Jefferson County. Chum salmon, 27.97 pounds, Satsop River. Lake whitefish, 6.63 pounds, Lake Roosevelt.
Idaho fish: Mountain whitefish, 5 pounds, 14 ounces (also a world record), Island Park Reservoir. Tiger Muskie, 21 pounds, 8 ounces, Hauser Lake. Large-scale sucker, 5 pounds, 9 ounces, Cascade Lake.
Record restored: A 33.1-pound rainbow caught in the Kootenai River of Montana was officially recognized as the world record. But in December, world record keepers agreed to reinstate the honor to a trophy that had been forgotten - 37-pounder caught in Lake Pend Oreille in 1947 by Wes Hamlet of Coeur d’Alene.
OUT & ABOUT
* Idaho Fish and Game Department Director Steve Mealey dropped trou to moon the crowd from a boat on Lake Pend Oreille.
* Shaped skis revived the stagnant ski industry.
* Idaho authorized an interagency committee to begin planning for future recreation growth at Priest Lake.
* A Siberian accentor, which typically ranges from Siberia to China, made national news by straying for a monthlong appearance along the Wood River near Hailey, Idaho.
* Jet boats were restricted by the Spokane County commissioners from using portions of the Spokane River.
* A partial skeleton of what could be a deer dating back 7 million years was found in Franklin County, Washington.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos