Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy BIRDWATCHING -- The latest report on this season's snowy owl irruption aired last night on MSNBC. It features snowy owls at Damon Point near Ocean Shores, Wash., with Brian Bell, the Washington Birding…
FISHING -- This photo illustrates the crowd that can be attracted by offering the free loan of ice fishing gear. More than 350 people showed up at Hauser Lake Saturday for an Idaho Fish and Game Department Take Me Fishing event. They borrowed gear, feasted…
WILDLIFE -- This week's story about the havoc Burmese pythons are inflicting on wildlife in the Florida Everglades has been brewing for quite a while. Here's my November blog post featuring photos of a python that had swallowed an entire deer - whole.
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- On Sunday, the CBS news program 60 Minutes highlighted the killer instinct within animal rights/anti-hunting organizations. Friends of Animals President Priscilla Feral was allowed to explain how she's worked to help enact rules requiring a federal permit to hunt the endangered scimitar-horned…
NORDIC SKIING -- The annual Langlauf 10-kilometer cross-country ski race, set for Feb. 12 at Mount Spokane, is offering a two-for-one $25 entry fee for skiers who enter along with a first-time participant. Langlauf is the most popular nordic ski event in the region, featuring…
WINTER SPORTS -- A free program on the basics of snowshoeing will be presented Thursday (Feb. 2), 7 p.m. at REI in Spokane. The class will focus on selecting appropriate gear (including women’s specific gear) and finding out where to go snowshoeing in this region.…
PREDATORS -- Hunters across Montana have shot 145 wolves since the season opened in early September. The state has set a statewide quota of 220 wolves for the season that started in early September. If that quota is reached, it would reduce the state's wolf…
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT -- Idaho Fish and Game Department Director Virgil Moore delivered the state of the agency report to the Fish and Wildlife Commission last week. The annual report, available online, details the agency's funding sources and how officials spent the money. The report also…
WILDERNESS -- The Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation -- a group that offers all sorts of hands-on support for the two fabled Idaho wilderness areas -- is holding its 6th Annual Winter Gathering and Fundraiser Saturday (Feb. 4) starting at 6:30 p.m. at The Orchid Room…
HUNTING -- Idaho's application period for spring turkey controlled hunts starts today and runs to March 1. The application period for spring black bear ends Feb. 15. Spring turkey and spring black bear seasons start April 15 – some controlled hunts open later. Leftover tags…
SALMON FISHING -- If the chinook salmon returns for 2012 holds up to the early forecast, anglers in Idaho could enjoy the third best run in more than 30 years. The forecast suggests a return that’s a little more robust than last year, Idaho Fish…
WILDLIFE -- It's not something that strikes everyone, but the relatively shallow lowland snow accumulation this winter has made an impact on the sportsman's club that volunteers to pick up road-killed big game. "It seems we are picking up more animals hung up in fences…
RIVERS -- The river running season is officially underway on Hangman (Latah) Creek, and it could be over in another day or two. Unlike most rivers that require spring runoff to get the juices flowing, Hangman is notorious for brief spurts of high flows generated…
WILDLIFE -- Idaho Fish and Game biologists confirmed a recent sighting of a Canada lynx on the Salmon-Challis National Forest. The sighting is the first direct evidence of lynx presence on the forest since 1991. Idaho Fish and Game collected hair and scat samples from…
FORESTS -- Backpackers passing through the Holden Village area between the Glacier Peak Wilderness and Lake Chelan will continue to seek a lot of heavy equipment activity during the environmental cleanup o fthe Holden Mine. Federal agencies gave the formal OK to the project this…
PREDATORS -- As January ends, Idaho’s first wolf trapping season has harvested 60 wolves statewide in the TRAPPING season that opened Nov. 15. That compares with 204 wolves taken by sportsmen in the HUNTING season that opened Aug. 30. Idaho's total wolf kill by hunters…
FISHING -- It's time for a women's road trip to Riggins, Idaho, to warm up the town and win cash in the Women with Bait steelhead fishing derby on the Salmon River. Every guided boatload of ladies gets a "bait boy" to do all the…
CONSERVATION -- Western voters who identify themselves as sportsmen view America’s public lands as critical to their state’s economy and quality of life, accoding to survey results released Monday by Colordao College, in Colorado Springs. The State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll…
FISHERIES -- In an effort to improve the kokanee fishery in Dworshak Reservoir, the U.S. Corps of Engineers and Idaho Fish and Game are experiementing with "fertilizing" the waters. This is a popular idea with some people, but not by others, including those who've filed…
ANGLING -- Saturday's free ice-fishing event at Hauser Lake, organized by Idaho Fish and Game, was a huge success in luring people of all ages to try the sport. Lots of credit to go around, but you have to give a big high five for…
FORESTS -- The Washington Department of Natural Resources has discovered a new infestation of Douglas-fir tussock moths that occurred last summer in the Blue Mountains of Washington and Oregon. Light defoliation caused by the moths was mapped across 9,000 acres of the Umatilla National Forest,…
WILDLIFE -- Hypnotizing. Could you ever get tired of looking into a snowy owl's eyes? The nifty image above was captured over the weekend by wildlife photographer Jaime Johnson of Lincoln, Mont. See a video with some details of this season's snowy owl irruption.
NATIONAL FORESTS -- Reduced recreation funding on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests will keep the Lochsa Historic Ranger Station from opening its doors this summer, according to a report by the Lewiston Morning Tribune. The log structure on the Lochsa River, about 48 miles east…
HUNTING -- Nonresident hunters eyeing an elk hunt in Montana this fall need to be on the ball a few months earlier than usual to make their applilcations for special permits. Hunting and fishing licenses went on sale Jan. 16 and March 15 is the…
OCEAN FISHING -- A three-decade quest to reel in a marlin weighing more than 1,000 pounds ended spectacularly for businessman Bob Rich Jr. this fall in the Black Marlin Classic catch-and-release tournament off Australia's Great Barrier Reef. If you've never experienced the power of these…
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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