In brief: American Camper Report released

Campers have been finding a little more elbow room at campsites across the country in recent years.

According to a recent survey, more than 40 million Americans – or 14 percent of the U.S. population – participated in camping in 2013. That’s the same participation rate as 2012.

These figures are found in a new study – the 2014 American Camper Report – released last month by The Outdoor Foundation and sponsored by The Coleman Co.

Here are a few more numbers from the report:

• Americans went camping a total of 597.7 million days.

• Camping lost a net of 423,955 participants from 2012 to 2013, which is a significant improvement over the 4.2 million participant loss from 2011 to 2012.

• Tents were, by far, the preferred type of shelter.

• The Mountain Region had the highest camping participation rate at 21 percent.

• The average camper went on 5.4 camping trips in 2013.

• 85 percent of campers took their first trip between birth and age 15.

• Campers plan to go on an average of 4.9 trips this year, a decrease from 5.5 trips in 2012.

Snow grooming in Kootenai

Kootenai County Snow Groomers installed barricades last Monday to proceed with trail grooming, which began on Tuesday.

Only snowmobiles and authorized off-highway vehicles are allowed onto the trails. Users of the groomed trails must purchase and display the current year’s registration and Groomer’s Sticker. Violations of this ordinance constitute a misdemeanor.

Trail users are cautioned not to pass a groomer on a trail in either direction, instead wait for the groomer operator to see you and they will stop and let you by in a safe place.

Gray wolf killed by hunter

Utah wildlife officials have confirmed a protected 3-year-old female collared gray wolf was mistaken for a coyote and killed by a hunter near Beaver, Utah, on Sunday. The 70-pound animal had been collared in Cody, Wyoming, last January.

The hunter shot the wolf about 5 miles east of Beaver in Beaver County on the south end of the Tushar Mountains and called Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) law enforcement officials upon noticing the collar. State conservation officers then contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“We are still investigating, but it seems initially that it was a case of mistaken identity,” DWR director Greg Sheehan said.

Sheehan said it is possible the hunter could face citations for killing the animal protected as endangered by the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act in that part of Utah. The federal agency will conduct the investigation.

This is the first documented killing of a gray wolf in Utah since the animals were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the mid-1990s.

Salt Lake Tribune