Latest from The Spokesman-Review

• Wildlife Services’ deadly force brings environmental problems

  May 27, 2012 in Outdoors on Page C12 Like the prow of a ship, the Granite Mountains rise sharply from the creamy-white playa of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Here, in rugged terrain owned by the American … 2

• Escure Ranch closes after vandals cause $5,000 in damage

  March 27, 2012 in City on Page A6 A popular U.S. Bureau of Land Management recreation area about 20 miles south of Sprague, Wash., has been closed as the agency repairs about $5,000 in damage caused by vandals. … 1

• Cash-strapped state parks banking on Discover Pass, new approach

  December 4, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C14 The Washington State Parks system, the fourth oldest in the nation, is at a brink of uncertainty in the state’s lingering budget crisis. After 98 years, officials are looking at … 23

• Parks offer fee-free days

  November 6, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C11 National parks will be waiving entrance fees for three days to celebrate Veterans Day weekend, Friday through next Sunday. Fee-free days have been offered the past two years as a …

• Discover Pass now required

  September 15, 2011 in Outdoors on Page K5 Washington’s new Discover Pass, required on vehicles accessing most state lands, might impact some sportsmen even though they get a parking permit when they buy their hunting and fishing licenses. …

• BLM explores land use proposals

  July 24, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C10 Grazing, energy development, motor vehicle access, shooting areas and wildlife protections are among the issues being confronted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in a resource management planning effort. …

• Landers: Snowpacks make holiday planning necessary

  June 30, 2011 in Sports, Outdoors on Page B1 Conditions are ripe for heading outdoors during the holiday weekend, but the field isn’t wide open for recreation. “I’ve worked out of Sandpoint since 1978,” said Mary Ann Hamilton, Forest … 1

• Interior retreats on wilderness plans

  June 2, 2011 in Nation/World on Page A6 WASHINGTON – Under pressure from Congress, the Obama administration is backing away from a plan to make millions of acres of undeveloped land in the West eligible for federal wilderness …

• Discover Pass will be ticket to state land access

  May 1, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C10 The Discover Pass – expected to raise up to $64 million in two years for state parks and other lands – is a done deal in the Washington Legislature and …

• Fraternity pays $4K for damage to forest

  April 10, 2011 in Outdoors on Page C10 A University of Idaho fraternity has paid the U.S. Forest Service $4,382 in a court case over damages it caused by building an illegal road into a Clearwater National Forest …

• Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program deserves Olympia’s attention

  March 10, 2011 in Outdoors on Page B1 Groups as diverse as elk hunters and bird watchers have found common ground on an issue simmering in Olympia. Unfortunately, Gov. Chris Gregoire and lawmakers are slower to recognize the … 5

• Hart takes tax argument to court

  November 2, 2010 in Idaho on Page A6 BOISE – Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart is going to court over state income taxes he owes, charging in 1st District Court in Kootenai County that Idaho’s state income tax … 3

• Hart makes timber fund ‘donation’

  October 31, 2010 in Idaho on Page B1 BOISE – Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, sent a check as promised to the state’s school endowment for $2,450, but he called it a “voluntary donation” to the permanent … 5

• Hart says he’ll pay state for timber

  October 19, 2010 in Idaho on Page A1 BOISE – Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart announced Monday that he’s sending a check to the state for logs he took from school endowment land in 1996 to build his … 4

• Vestal: Hart doing little to earn sympathy

  October 13, 2010 in City, Idaho on Page A5 John McHone has a beef with Phil Hart. McHone thinks anyone who steals timber from public lands – as Hart did to build a log home in Athol – ought … 3

• Parks, forests waive entrance fees

  August 13, 2010 in News, Outdoors, City, Idaho No entrance fees will be charged on Saturday and Sunday at national parks as well as at national forest and Bureau of Land Management areas where entrance fees are charged.

• Some Idaho forest fees waived this weekend

  June 4, 2010 in Idaho on Page A7 The Idaho Panhandle National Forests will waive entrance fees on Saturday and Sunday for day-use areas that are not part of larger campgrounds.

• State closes purchase of property

  October 13, 2009 in Outdoors, City on Page A1 The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department closed a $6.2 million deal Monday to acquire 1,693 acres of wildlife-rich wetlands and uplands from Horseshoe Lake south to Fan Lake. The land …

• Idaho wildland agencies need volunteers

  May 3, 2009 in Green Local News, Awayfinder destinations Will Cline says “I have a problem with just sitting in the living room,” and that explains, to some extent, why the 81-year old Coeur d’Alene resident has been a …

• Expansive lands bill establishes trails, wilderness in Northwest

  March 26, 2009 in Outdoors, City on Page A1 Recreational trails through the Northwest and a wilderness area in Idaho are part of a massive public lands bill that passed the U.S. House on Wednesday and awaits President Barack …

• Congress moves to boost protected public lands

  March 25, 2009 in Region Hiking trails through the Northwest and a wilderness area in Idaho are part of a massive public lands bill that passed the House Wednesday and will likely be signed soon …

• Lands bill falls short in House

  March 12, 2009 in Nation/World on Page A3 WASHINGTON – Democratic leaders suffered an embarrassing defeat Wednesday as the House failed to pass a public lands bill. The 1,248-page bill, which included provisions ranging from new Pacific Northwest …

• Jane Danowitz: Reserve gift of public lands for all

  December 30, 2008 in Opinion on Page A11 The treasures of our public lands should be a gift for all, not the private bank account to be used by a few. Whether it comes to mining around the …

• Goldmark to seek statewide office

  July 17, 2007 in City on Page B3 OLYMPIA – A year after a cowboy-hatted Peter Goldmark rode a horse into Spokane to launch his unsuccessful campaign against U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Goldmark’s saddling up again. This …