WINTER SPORTS – Cross-country skiers can test their performance over the course of the season and take a stab at winning cool prizes by entering the four-race Selkirk Nordic Series at Inland Northwest venues. The series schedule includes: Jan. 21: Cougar Gulch Race, 5- or…
RECREATION -- East Siders don't are having a tough time this week handling appointments to Washington panels. Okanogan County commissioners wrote a letter to Gov. Chris Gregoire criticizing the appointment of Jay Kehne to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission because they said he didn't…
BIRDS -- A video released by WSU Veterinary School today offers insight into a migration spectacle as well as the treatment being offered for a migrant snowy owl injured in November by a collision with a car near Davenport. Snowy owls are making news as…
CONSERVATION -- Working with the Inland Northwest Land Trust, a landowner has protected 3,900 acres of forest land in Stevens County west of Horseshoe Lake with conservation easements. The latest of two easements assures 2,540 acres will remain a working forest with wildlife habitat on…
PUBLIC LANDS -- The Washington State Senate Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Waters Committee Monday (Jan. 9) voted unanimously to refer a bill to the Ways and Means Committee that would make the Discover Pass transferable between two vehicles. The Discover Pass was established by…
HUNTER EDUCATION -- Washington drivers could license their cars with a National Rifle Association logo if the Washington House of Representatives passes a bill that would create an NRA special license plate. The Seattle Times reports some of the money from the sale of the…
WILDLIFE RESEARCH -- More than 40 volunteers showed up for a training course on Dec. 3 to learn how to use their expertise in backcountry snowshoeing or ski touring to help researchers study wolverines. It's already paid off. Read on for the big news from…
SHOOTING -- Someone has gone to the effort of compiling video clips of shooting mishaps, including a lot of people getting thumped by high-powered guns. Some incidents are humorous, some sad, some downright scary for the lack of thought and muzzle control. It includes the…
PARKS -- The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday three-day weekend, Jan. 14-16, will be the first of 10 Washington State Parks “free access days” in 2012. The Discover Pass will not be required for vehicles at state parks. Most of State Parks free days are…
WILDLIFE -- Critters have many adaptations for handling the rigors of winter. Some hibernate, some constantly look for food. Some develop thick winter coats to stave off the cold while some others change color to be better predators or less vulnerable prey. Creatures that change…
OUTDOOR RECREATION -- This is sad news for Coeur d'Alene River anglers, floaters and users of the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. Future of historic Enaville Resort (Snakepit) uncertain as owners battle cancer -- story by D.F. Oliveria/Huckleberries.
PUBLIC LANDS -- Getting no satisfaction from a letter of concern to the forest supervisor, three Washington-based conservation groups have appealed a Colville National Forest travel plan designating where ATVs, motorcycles and other off-highway vehicles can go at the south end of the 1.1 million…
OUTDOORS -- Kyle Hansen, a sophomore at West Valley High School, received his first check for writing outdoor prose on Saturday. You can see he wasn't disappointed in this photo from his parents. Hansen won the top award in The Spokesman-Review's 2011 Outdoor Writing Contest…
BIRDING -- Ghost Bird, a documentary about the search for the ivory-billed woodpecker -- thought to be extinct until researchers scored some earth-shaking video -- will be presented Wednesday, 7 p.m., at the Spokane Audubon Society general meeting program. See Ghost Bird trailer here. These…
WILDLIFE -- With no large predators, the elk roaming Theodore Roosevelt National Park have been too much of a good thing in North Dakota. Volunteers help park managers by stepping up to kill 462 elk in the park this fall during the second year of…
WINTER SPORTS -- The mountains are in need of new snow for skiers an the hopes of river runners. But at the valley level north of Republic, Wash., there's boundless optimism for the Ferry County Rail Trail Partners Ski Day on Saturday, Jan. 14, at…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- A duck normally only seen in Asia has somehow turned up in California, drawing excited bird watchers from all over the U.S. and Canada to a wildlife refuge in the state’s Central Valley, the Associated Press reports. Wildlife officials say a male…
WINTER SPORTS -- The Lookout Pass Free Ski School started its 72nd year this morning to a swarm of enthusiasm. More than 500 kids age 6-17 had been registered in the program last week. The resort's professional instructors are being joined by Ski School volunteers…
WINTER SPORTS -- The Panhandle Nordic Club's annual Best Hand Ski and Snowshoe fund-raising event will go as scheduled on Saturday regardless of the snow conditions at Fourth of July Pass. Current conditions are NOT for skis or snowshoes, the club reports. Expect ice and…
WINTER SPORTS -- A flip-photography contest prompted local slope shredder Blake Sommers to create this nifty glimpse of folks giving a workout to the Mount Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park. Check it out.
Seattle Times outdoor writer Mark Yuasa takes his best shot at answering that question from the early forecasts for the Washington Coast and Columbia River. Read his story here.
PUBLIC LANDS -- National parks will be waiving entrance fees to celebrate Martin Luther King holiday weekend, Jan.14-16. The Park Service is waiving fees for a total of 17 days in 2012. The Martin Luther King weekend fee waiver is the first scheduled for the…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.