HUNTING ETHICS -- Right-wing rocker/hunter Ted Nugent has come and gone from the Inland Northwest. Here's a column wrapup with a few of my final thoughts on the celebrity and his impact on the sport of hunting as I know it.
SALMON FISHING -- This year's huge and prolonged runoff down the Snake River system has dealt Salmon River fishing guides a tough hand -- until this week. "Salmon Fishing is on!" reports Amy Sinclair of Exodus Wilderness Adventures in Riggins. "We are done singing the…
TRAILS -- With more than 23 miles of trails to maintain on the South Hill bluff trail system below High Drive, a group is organizing to do the job right. Join them Saturday, 9 a.m.-noon, for a practical clinic on how to protect trails from…
CAMPING -- The Kootenai National Forest, which manages the Cabinet Mountains of northwestern Montana and a portion of Idaho, has enacted stricter food storage rules to help prevent campers, hunters and cabin dwellers from luring bears in to trouble. Storing food in a vehicle satisfies…
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT -- The Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge no longer is just an expanse of wild prairie along the Missouri River Breaks in northern Montana. It's a lightening rod for how wildlands will be managed. A proposed management plan would modify proposed wilderness areas…
RIVER RUNNING -- Due to high water and related health and safety issues, the 30th annual Pend Oreille County Poker Paddle has been rescheduled from July 16-17 to Aug. 27-28. Info: Greater Newport Area Chamber and Visitors Bureau website.
WILDLIFE -- Teams of wildlife biologists have begun the second year of effort to determine the status of grizzly bears in the North Cascades. U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Western Transportation Institute biologists are using…
LAKES -- Anglers and campers will see new ground at Banks Lake this summer. Starting Aug. 1, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will lower Banks Lake by 30 feet to complete about $2 million worth of work at Dry Falls Dam and North Dam. "It…
HUNTER EDUCATION -- This expert from my recent pre-concert interview with rock guitarist Ted Nugent, a right-wing hunting/shooting fanatic, gives sportsmen a lot to chew before deciding whether they want to follow him as a credible spokesman for hunting, shooting sports, conservation -- or politics,…
FLY FISHING -- The Swede's Fly Shop crew was presented feathers to fins at Rufus Woods Lake on Sunday, and they came home with lots of stories and even more mangled flies, says Allen Peterson. "Stop by the shop for direrctions, flies and all the…
NATIONAL FORESTS -- Ray Kresek, author of “Fire Lookouts of the Northwest,” maintains a Fire Lookout Museum in north Spokane available to the public by appointment. Contact:(509) 466-9171; email rkresek@comcast.net Kresek recently was honored by the U.S. Forest Service with a national Smokey Bear Award.…
HIKING -- A Tuesday report from the Blue Mountains indicates that the snow is gone in "most" of the critical areas, but Umatilla National Forest crews are just completing their work to clear roads and now they're starting to getting out to clear trails. Here's…
St. Joe River Whitewater Rafting from Tanner Grant on Vimeo. RIVER RUNNING -- While fishermen have been chomping at their bits, whitewater rafters have been enjoying the prolonged high flows in Idaho's St. Joe River. Tanner Grant of Spokane shot this video of a June…
STATE PARKS -- After years of effort and the approval of a park master plan, the coast is clear for organized volunteer groups to work with park managers to re-route and improve the multi-use trail system at Mount Spokane State Park. And the're wasting little…
HUNTING/FISHING -- Since July 1, Idaho has been offering reduced license and tag fees to nonresident disabled American veterans participating in a hunt in association with a qualified organization. Before July 1, reduced license and tag fees were available only for resident disabled veterans. Under…
PADDLING -- The Little Spokane River's flows are still unseasonably high, but they've dropped to a pleasant level. I joined a group of canoeists Sunday at flows of 300 cfs and we effortlessly floated from St. George's School to the takeout near the confluence of…
PREDATORS -- Idaho's proposed hunting-trapping plans for controlling wolves are detailed online. The same website asks viewers to complete an online survey rearding the proposals. Idaho Fish and Game officials say they will survey 1,000 randomly selected hunters and 2,000 members of the public about…
PUBLIC LANDS -- A Clearwater National Forest Service crew leader and 23 volunteers from the North American Pack Goat Association made major improvements to an Idaho stretch of the Lewis and Clark National HistoricTrail last weekend. The organization established in 2001 to promote packing with…
HIKING -- Maria Trujillo Vogel and her husband, Cary, tried to ride the trail to Blossom Lake on the Idaho Montana Divide east of Prichard,Idaho, on their mountain bikes last weekend for an annual July trip. "Left the bikes half way because we had to…
MARINE MAMMALS -- A newborn calf has been spotted among one of the pods of killer whales returning to the Puget Sound. The Kitsap Sun reports the baby orca was seen Wednesday, when a majority of the three pods of killer whales returned to the…
BIG-GAME HUNTING -- Idaho resident elk hunters who didn’t draw in any controlled hunt permits can pick up a general season tag now that the controlled hunt drawings are over. Tags for elk zones subject to a quota went on sale Sunday. Resident quota elk…
CONSERVATION -- Very little good news is coming from the national hunting, angling and conservation groups that keep an eye on the U.S. Congress and it debates deficits, debt ceilings and revenue shortfalls. On the chopping block today are projects that have protected water quality,…
SKIING -- The Phase1 plans for the proposed expansion of Lookout Pass Ski Area is being watched by the Stevens Peak Backcountry Coalition. Here's the group's latest update, and a map. In a related topic, the coalition posts this update on the Idaho Panhandle National…
STEELHEAD FISHING -- Although this year's big flows have delayed the migration of this year's adult steelhead run UP the Columbia River, the surge has begun at Bonneville Dam -- the first dam the fish hit as they come inland from the ocean. Within a…
SALMON FISHING -- Good news and less good news for salmon anglers comes from today's meeting of the Columbia River fisheries Technical Advisory Committee. The group of scientists updated expected run sizes as follows. Summer chinook = 80,000 at the Columbia River mouth. Pre-season forecast:…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
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