Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Out & About: Jennings too ‘polarizing’ for wildlife commission

Idaho’s Lochsa River offers exciting whitewater day trips at a discounted rate. (FILE)

OUTAPPOINT – Gov. Jay Inslee this week filled one of three openings for Eastern Washington slots on the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Jay Holzmiller, a resident of Anatone, will succeed Chuck Perry of Moses Lake, whose term expired.

Holzmiller, 56, is an equipment operator for Asotin County and a livestock grower. He is a hunter and a 1975 graduate of Anatone High School. He’s been involved in Snake River salmon and shoreline protection issues for about two decades.

The governor also will be filling a seat vacated last week.

David Jennings, billed as a birder, scuba diver and environmental advocate when appointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire in 2009, was removed from the commission for lack of confirmation. His term was to expire in 2014.

“For the sportsmen of Washington, Jennings was too much of a polarizing figure, and we don’t need that on the Fish and Wildlife Commission,” Sen. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, told Northwest Sportsman magazine.

Pearson is chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, which holds confirmation hearings on commission appointments.

Lochsa whitewater trip 80 percent off for grads

OUTRAFT – 2013 high school graduates can get one last screaming deal before hitting the real world: ROW Adventures is offering grads an 80 percent discount on Lochsa River whitewater trips.

Check it out: (866) 836-9340, rowadventurecenter.com.

Ski resorts launch summer activities

OUTDO – Schweitzer and Silver Mountain resorts are starting their summer operations, offering weeks of music, festivals, food and physical activity for sightseers, hikers and mountain bikers.

• Silver’s gondola is running this weekend and next weekend. Five-day-a-week operations run June 28-Sept. 2. A new easy-rated bike trail leads to the bottom of Chair 3, open to bikes. Riders enjoy 30 miles of trails and 3,400 feet of elevation loss: silvermt.com.

• Schweitzer will open with June 30: schweitzer.com.