FISHING -- A five-fish limit of rainbow trout from Lake Roosevelt is a beauty to behold in December, when the fish released from net pens in summer have had a chance to go wild putting on length and girth. These are healthy, lovely and delicious…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- A gray wolf has been killed on the Spokane Indian Reservation by a tribal member who was trapping other species, according to B.J. Kieffer, the tribe's Natural Resources Department director. "The incidental take occurred (Dec. 10) within the boundaries of the reservation,…
FITNESS -- Cheer up your child's holiday break by giving them a chance to be in better shape when school reconvenes in January. Here are a few modest suggestions to help break the epidemic of TV and computer laziness: While on vacation, play with children…
WINTER SPORTS -- Three-pin skiing guru Nils Larsen of Curlew is exposing his latest wares this weekend, inspired by his 2005 expedition to the remote Altai Mountains of China. See a video of Larsen's exposure to the backcountry horsemen who made skis to keep track…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Bighorn rams defy the concussion issue plaguing the sport of football. With unbelievable power they reserved for the mating seasons, males prove their superiority with a challenging ram by squaring off and rising to their hind feet to "ram" their horns together.…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Retiring Congressman Norm Dicks has receive a conservation award from a national parks group. The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees has awarded its highest honor, The George B. Hartzog Award, to Rep. Norm Dicks, D-WA, for his career-long support of America’s…
CONSERVATION -- Ducks Unlimited is holding a recruitment meeting Thursday (Dec. 13) in Spokane for people interested in helping organize a fundraiser for wildlife habitat projects. DU is a nonprofit (501.c.3), volunteer run, conservation organization, that covers the USA, Mexico and Canada. Bernard Brown, DU's…
SALMON FISHING -- The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will take public comment on a proposed plan to restructure salmon and sturgeon fisheries on the lower Columbia River at a meeting Dec. 14-15 in Olympia. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 4-2 Friday to…
HUNTING -- It's safe to say most sportsmen would rather not see the Washington hunting regulations pamphlet get any larger. But Stevens County hunter Fred Phillips is adamant that something should be added: a calendar. Phillips has been writing back and forth to the agency…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- No wolves have been killed yet in the first regulated wolf hunting season within the borders of Washington, the Colville Confederated Tribes report. Although gray wolves are still protected by state endangered species regulations, the tribe opened a season two weeks ago…
PREDATORS -- After seven of Yellowstone National Park's roughly 88 wolves had been legally shot in recent weeks while traveling outside the park -- including five wolves that had been radio-collared for research -- Montana wildlife commissioners voted today to close some areas outside the…
HUNTING - The former head of an Idaho group whose mission it is to protect ducks is being punished for using illegal methods to hunt them. Charles D. Steele of Hagerman was sentenced today to a year of supervised probation, a $2,000 fine and 25…
WINTER SPORTS -- Schweitzer Mountain Resort will be offering $10 lift tickets on Friday (Dec. 14) with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting Community Cancer Services and the Bonner Partners in Care Clinic. The event is Schweitzer’s first major event of the winter season. Schweitzer…
FISHING -- The public will have more time to review proposed changes to state sportfishing rules under an extended comment period announced Friday by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Under the new timeline, WDFW will accept written comments through Jan. 29 on the…
PADDLING – Gonzaga Prep wresters are pinning their annual fundraising goals on a 17-foot cedar-strip canoe they built with their own hands. “We started during summer and we’re just doing the hand-caned bamboo seas and putting the finishing touches on it,” team Coach Danny Pearson…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Forest Service law enforcement officers are investigating the destruction of the Skitwish Warming Hut, which was discovered this morning to have been destroyed by fire sometime during the past 48 hours. The warming hut is located approximately 14 miles east of Coeur…
WINTER SPORTS -- Warm thoughts for the future of ski areas.... Report pegs cost of warming climate to winter tourism at $2B annually The "Winter Tourism in Peril" report released Thursday by Protect Our Winters and the Natural Resources Defense Council said that warming temperatures…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Of course there are ups and downs, but overall this isn't a bad time to be among the critters. Montana wildlife numbers better now than 50 years ago Most of Montana's suite of wildlife species are doing better than they were 50…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- A graphic design student at Eastern Washington University has captured the grace of the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival's featured attraction in artwork that has won the $500 top prize in the festival's annual art contest. Xengyeng Xiong's computer-generated design, inspired by traditional…
HUNTING -- I'm thinking this man isn't hunting; he's running scared. On the other hand, I've always thought it would be cool to haul out my game on a train.
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Another point of view... Breaching dams a better, cheaper way to save Idaho's sockeye The Seattle Times' recent article on the federal government's work to save sockeye salmon estimated that the per-fish price tag of raising wild fish in hatcheries was $9,000,…
RIVERS -- The riches of the Butte-area mining have evaporated in Western Montana as the federal government continues to try to undo the century-old environmental havoc the leftover heavy metals contributed to the Clark Fork River. The $100-million project to remove Milltown Dam is complete.…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- A few rebel snowmobilers helped write a restrictive sentence for Selkirk Mountains snowmobilers with the tracks they left along the Selkirk Crest in the early 2000s. Warned to stay away from areas protected for the survival of the last remaining woodland caribou…
HUNTING -- A national sportsman's conservation group has paid a $500 reward to an Idaho bear hunter who provided the information game wardens needed to cite hunters using all-terrain vehicles in habitat protected from motorized traffic. Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is a national group of…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- A total of 121 bald eagles were counted Tuesday in the Wolf Lodge Bay area of Lake Coeur d'Alene, up from 100 eagles counted on Nov. 27 during their annual congregation to feast on spawning kokanee. BLM wildlife biologist Carrie Hugo said…
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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