Out & About

Trust preserves another land jewel

OUTSTANDING – A conservation easement that will perpetually protect the natural beauty of 503 acres, including 1.5 miles along Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, has been secured by the Inland Northwest Land Trust.

This is the 38th conservation easement the non-profit Land Trust has set up for the benefit of the land and the private property owners.

In all, the trust has helped protect 65 special places – 9,199 acres – in eastern Washington and North Idaho, said Vicki Egesdal, INLT spokeswoman.

The public is invited to a program on the land trust’s year in review on Monday, 6 p.m., at the Community Building Lobby, 35 W. Main Ave.

Info: 328-2939.

Senior on Everest recounts expedition

OUTCOME – Spokane Mountaineer Dawes Eddy, 66, will present a slide program on his spring of Mount Everest and brief fame as the oldest American to scale he world’s highest peak on Wednesday, 7 p.m., at the Jepson Center’s Wolfe Auditorium, Gonzaga University.

Physiology researcher Don Winant will present a report, “Built to Scale: Dawes Eddy at Extreme Altitude,” with details of a medical study that followed Eddy to Everest and back.

Cost: $10.

Officials push for spray use

OUTCRY – A hunter attacked by a grizzly bear two weeks ago in southern Montana also had the misfortune of being shot in the arm by a companion trying to stop the attack.

The incident occurred as Montana wildlife officials have been trying to get the word out to hunters that pepper spray is the most effective deterrent to bear attacks.

It’s also the safest for the bear and the humans involved – as well as the future of bear hunting.

Subsequent shots killed the bear in this attack, adding to a heavy toll hunters in the name of self-defense have been taking on the protected species in recent years.

Federal wildlife managers may have no choice but to curtail hunting in grizzly habitat if hunters don’t get with the program.

Better deal for Idaho boaters

OUTSMART – When Idaho boaters register their vessels next season, the new invasive species sticker requirement will be included in a single registration sticker.

“It saves a tremendous amount of money,” said Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, adding, “That’s what the public wanted, too – they didn’t want another sticker on their boat.”

However, owners of boats registered out of state or non-motorized boats still will have to purchase the separate invasive species sticker, which raises money for the state’s efforts to keep invasive mussels and other critters from getting into the state’s waterways.

Sales of the invasive species stickers raised about $750,000 this year.