WINTERSPORTS -- Two Level 1 Avalanche Awareness classes -- a basic requirement for safe backcountry travel on skis, snowshoes -- whatever -- are being offered in the Sandpoint area and in Spokane by Selkirk Powder Co as well as by Selkirk Outdoor Leadership & Education.…
OUTDOOR PURSUITS -- “We concluded that these forms of the sport are pushing boundaries and taking the element of risk to a place where we as a company are no longer willing to go,” Clif Bar wrote last month in an open letter to the…
WINTERSPORTS -- The Methow Valley has good news for cross-country skiers champing at the bit to get onto groomed trails. While Mount Spokane nordic trails area still begging for a base, Methow Trails had enough early season snowfall to open trails for skiing, snowshoeing and…
HUNTING --Three southeastern Idaho men have been banned from hunting for a year after one of them used a powered parachute to spot deer and radio back information to two others on the ground. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game in a news release…
WINTERSPORTS -- A new rental service for cross-country skis and snowshoes is officially debuting today at Mount Spokane State Park. Fitness Fanatics, based at 12425 E. Trent Ave., will have a trailer full of gear to rent, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursdays-Mondays during the winter season.…
BEAR ATTACKS -- Hikers and hunters who venture into bear country can benefit from reading investigations of bear attacks. Here's a report on the most recent investigation of a bear mauling in the Northern Rockies. CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A panel of wildlife experts has…
FISHING -- Clarkston-based fishing guide Toby Wyatt has this professional insight on what steelhead anglers might expect, possibly as soon as this weekend: Despite a very strong run of B run Steelhead due to low burn stained ( runoff from fire's) water the Clearwater has…
HUNTING -- Shhh. I skipped out of the office today for a little quality time in Snake River chukar country with my setter, Scout.
UPDATED 2:35 p.m. on 1-27-14 -- 49 Degrees postpones opening because of warm weather. WINTERSPORTS -- Four ski resorts in the Inland Northwest have announced they plan to be running lifts this weekend. Skiing will be on limited terrain until more snow falls; ticket prices…
The family we're joining for Thanksgiving dinner today are long-time outdoors-loving friends with daughters the same age as ours. Early this morning, their daughter Elise texted my daughter, Hillary with an urgent message: "Do you know any good games to play? Because if you don't,…
OUTDOOR TRAVEL --The North Cascades Highway is closed for the winter after an avalanche assessment on Tuesday determined transportation workers could not safely reopen it. The 37-mile stretch of Highway 20 between Mazama and Newhalem closes every winter due to avalanche danger. The highway temporarily…
PREDATORS -- It's been a quiet week in the region some people would like to call Wolfbegone. But here are a few notes about the species as wolves continues to recover their native range in the Northwest. A Whitman County wolf shooting case is in…
WILDLIFE -- Looks like everyone's a winner in this deal. The Idaho predator derby organizers wanted to make a point that they don't like wolves. And they're point was made on a huge stage of publicity. No wolves were killed in a previous derby even…
WINTERSPORTS -- The change from Discover Passes to Sno-Park Permits is one of the transitions underway at Mount Spokane State Park as snow begins to pile up and road plowing begins. Starting Dec.1, vehicles accessing the cross-country skiing and snowshoer parking areas will be required…
FISHING -- Sam Ellinger of Ellensburg has set a state record for the largest Pacific bluefin tuna caught off the coast of Washington, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed. The 39.20-pound tuna measured 41 inches and was caught 28 miles offshore southwest…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Four bald eagles were counted today at Lake Coeur d'Alene in the weekly fall survey conducted during the annual fall-winter congregation at the northeast corner of the lake. That's up from zero birds counted last Wednesday by U.S. Bureau of Land Management…
FISHING -- A decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin dredging a silted-in shipping channel in the Snake River near Lewiston is facing a court challenge by Northwest fishing and conservation groups and the Nez Perce Tribe. The groups said in a…
PUBLIC LANDS -- I'm getting mixed reviews in comments and emails about my Sunday Outdoors story: Not-so-wild wilderness: Mining proposals threaten Cabinet Mountains streams, lakes and grizzlies. Some people say I featured only wilderness activists and that there's really nothing to worry about regarding the…
UPDATED with 2015 fees. WATERSPORTS – Annual permits for launching any vessel at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation area can be purchased online in a new page on pay.gov. Details and a link are on the Lake Roosevelt website. Permits cost $6 for a week, $20…
ADVENTURE -- The lineup of films for the three-day run of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour in Spokane has been decided — just hours before the first films will be shown tonight starting at 7 p.m. at The Bing Crosby Theater. Shows are…
WINTERSPORTS -- Now that the Washington Parks and Recreation Commission has approved the controversial expansion of the downhill skiing area at Mount Spokane State Park, much more work must be done. More planning is needed, plus permitting, installing a chairlift and building seven new ski…
WILDLIFE -- A government study with significant implications for the U.S. energy industry says the breeding grounds of a struggling bird species need a 3-mile or larger buffer from oil and gas drilling, wind farms and solar projects. The Associated Press reports that’s a much…
PUBLIC LANDS -- A proposal to expand downhill skiing at Mount Spokane was approved by the Washington Parks Commission today during a meeting in Spokane. The proposal has been years in the making. By a 5-2 vote, commissioners approved the designation of the land for…
WINTERSPORTS -- Cross-country skiing is an active way to glide through winter, as S-R columnists explored in the paper this week. But several readers pointed out that they prefer other less athletic ways to endure the snowy months. Among them, Gary Polser, who writes: My…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- The annual winter congregation of bald eagles at Lake Coeur d'Alene has not yet started, according to biologists who surveyed the north end of the lake on Wednesday. For decades, the eagles have provided a popular wildlife-viewing attraction as the birds are…
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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