BICYCLING – The Route of the Hiawatha near Lookout Pass will open Saturday for its 14th season, officials confirmed today. Lookout Pass Ski Area coordinates bus shuttles and bicycle rentals for the popular 15-mile rail trail that straddles the Montana-Idaho border. The trail opened three…
STATE PARKS -- Bare spots are yet to show through the snow covering the nordic ski trails at Mount Spokane, says Cris Currie of the Friends of Mount Spokane State Park. "There's debris all over the snow, but you can still ski and glide, and…
BACKPACKING -- A group of Western Washington University students found plenty of snow-free landscape for backpacking and camping up the Stehekin Valley from Lake Chelan last week. Portions of the Pacific Crest Trail in North Cascades National Park were snow-free and easy cruising, they said.…
PREDATORS -- After the Imnaha pack in northeastern Oregon was implicated in another loss of livestock, state officials have ordered another wolf removed from the pack. That will make three down from Oregon's first confirmed breeding pack in the past few weeks. Two wolves from…
FLY FISHING -- Thanks to a year's worth of rain in May and loads of snowpack remaining in the mountains, flows will be high and steady through the end of July on the Bighorn River in Montana below Yellowtail Dam. That's frustrating news for dry-fly…
FISHING -- Idaho Fish and Game Department officials have posted proposed fishing rule changes on the Fish and Game website or by contacting regional offices. Comments may be entered on the site until July 8.
FISHERIES -- The new upstream fish ladder at the Thompson Falls Dam and hydropower project in Thompson Falls, Mont., has opened and apparently fish such as bull trout and rainbows have started moving freely past the structure since April. The fish ladder was completed and…
FISHING -- Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks fisheries biologist, Ladd Knotek, will present a free program about the population and health of fish in the Fish Creek drainage on Saturday, 7 p.m., at Big Pine Fishing Access Site Campground. That's right off I-90 west of…
FLY FISHING -- The Glacier Outdoor Center is gearing up for the debut of the Glacier Anglers Cast-Off on Saturday with events, programs and free casting clinics scheduled from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in West Glacier, Mont. Cast-Off 2011 is open and free for all ages…
INVASIVE SPECIES -- A program to prevent a noxious weed from establishing itself along the Snake River watershed in northwest Wyoming is being declared a success. The Jackson Hole Weed Management Association began the project in 2001 after saltcedar — also known as tamarisk —…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
