Field reports: Michigan paves way for wolf hunting

PREDATORS – Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill Wednesday that clears the way to schedule Michigan’s first gray wolf hunting season since the resurgent predator, reviled by some as a menace to farm animals and beloved by others as a symbol of untamed wildness, was driven to the brink of extinction in the lower 48 states a half-century ago.

Michigan would become the sixth state to authorize hunting wolves since federal protections were removed over the past two years in the western Great Lakes and the Northern Rockies, where the animals are thriving. Hunters and trappers have killed about 1,100 wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Officials estimate the remaining population at roughly 6,000.

The state Natural Resources Commission will vote on a proposal by state wildlife regulators for a season this fall in which up to 43 wolves could be killed – about 7 percent of the 658 believed to roam the remote Upper Peninsula.

Gear Swap geared for fly fishers

FISHING – Fly fishers can buy or sell good used gear at the annual Fly Fishing Gear Swap, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday at Silver Bow Fly Shop, 13210 E Indiana Ave. in Spokane Valley.

Details: 924-9998; silverbowflyshop.com.

Program highlights Cascadia butterfly

NATURE – David K. James, author of Life Histories of the Cascadia Butterflies, will make a presentation on the Cascadia butterfly species occurring in the Inland Northwest, 7 p.m., Tuesday at the Community Building lobby, 35 W. Main Ave.

The free program is sponsored by the Inland Northwest Land Trust Speaker Series.

• A butterfly field trip, led by local butterfly expert John Baumann, is set for June 15 at the McKenzie Conservation Area along Newman Lake.

Group size limited. Preregister: (509) 327-4827, email jpb6_18_56@yahoo.com.

Lake CdA sites require access passes

BOATING – The Bureau of Land Management office in Coeur d’Alene is selling $40 season passes for Blackwell Island Recreation Site and Mineral Ridge Boat Launch on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Daily passes are $6.

The Blackwell Island boat launch and picnicking area will open May 24, depending on water levels. Mineral Ridge launch is open year-round.

With the pending June 1 closure of the City of Coeur d’Alene’s Third Street Boat Launch, boaters can expect more congestion this summer at alternative launches.

Info: (208) 769-5000. 

Bike-trail saboteur jailed for 30 days

TRAILS – An Oregon psychiatrist began a 30-day jail sentence last week for stringing nylon cords and dragging logs across downhill mountain biking trails, injuring three cyclists near Ashland.

Jackson Dempsey, 57, who has resigned as Jackson County psychiatrist, was charged with assault and three counts of reckless endangerment.

Jacks on record pace

FISHING – Immature spring chinook salmon – jacks – are coming over Bonneville Dam near a record pace set in 2009.