Field reports: Incentive offered for hunting reports

HUNTING – Hunters have a chance to win one of nine 2013 special hunting permits if they report 2012 hunting activities for black bear, deer, elk or turkey to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife by Thursday.

Hunters who file their mandatory reports by phone or online by the deadline will be included in a drawing for five deer permits and four elk permits in various areas of the state. Those permits will be valid Sept. 1-Dec. 31.

To qualify for the drawing, hunters must submit a report for each tag they purchased and for each special hunting permit they received in 2012.

All hunters, whether successful or not, are required to submit hunting reports for those species by Jan. 31. Failure to meet the deadline prompts a $10 fine, payable before a hunter can purchase a 2013 license.

Dave Ware, WDFW game manager, said the annual hunting reports are important information for managing the resource and developing future hunting seasons.

The special-permits drawing gives hunters an extra incentive to file their reports early,” said Dave Ware, WDFW game manager. “If everyone waits until the last minute, it creates problems with reporting.”

Hunters can report by phone at (877) 945-3492 or on the WDFW online reporting site.

Public opinion sought on Centennial Trail gaps

TRAILS – The City of Spokane will present seven preliminary alternatives to address a gap in the Centennial Trail as it crosses East Mission Avenue at North Perry Street during an open house meeting, 6:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Stevens Elementary School, 1717 E. Sinto Ave.

City officials say they want public comments as they study options for improving the safety and convenience for pedestrians and bicyclists at Mission Avenue.

Condit Dam out, steelheading restored

FISHING – Steelhead fishing opened Saturday on a portion of the White Salmon River that’s been inundated behind Condit Dam for nearly a century.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife opened the stretch from the county road bridge below the former powerhouse to Northwestern Lake Road Bridge, an area closed in the past year during dam removal.

Winter treks led by Scotchman group

HIKING – Tracking critters with a naturalist, studying winter ecology and a ladies-only snowshoe trek into an ancient cedar grove are among a dozen winter outings the public can join, led by the Friends of the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness.

The annual outing series in the proposed wilderness area northeast of Lake Pend Oreille starts today with a snowshoe walk up the Lightning Creek Road to the Regal Creek Trail.

Some of the trips are easy, some are quite challenging.

Preregistration required.

Info: scotchmanpeaks.org.

Fly fisher speaks on smallmouth bass

FISHING – David Paul Williams will speak on fly fishing for smallmouth bass at 7 p.m. Wednesday at St. Francis School, 1104 W. Heroy Ave., sponsored by the Spokane Fly Fishers.

The club says Williams’ is a “Northwest master of smallies on the fly rod.”