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Outdoors blog archive for Nov. 2014

SATURDAY, NOV. 29, 2014

FRIDAY, NOV. 28, 2014

THURSDAY, NOV. 27, 2014

Schweitzer skiers enjoyed their first chairlift ride of the 2014-15 season as the resort opened limited terrain on Nov. 22. (Courtesy)

Four area ski resorts opening this weekend 

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…

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Following wild turkey tracks. (Tina Wynecoop)

We won't be talking turkey at Thanksgiving

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,…

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WEDNESDAY, NOV. 26, 2014

Map shows North Cascades Highway (State Route 20) in northcentral Washingtons. (Washington State Department of Transportation)

North Cascades Highway closed for season

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…

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This gray wolf howling north of the Grand Canyon was documented in November 2014 as first gray wolf in northern Arizona in more than 70 years. The wolf is wearing a radio collar attached in another Northern Rockies state, but the device is no longer transmitting a signal that would accurately detail the animal's origin. (Arizona Game and Fish Department)

Gray wolf news updates 11-26-2014 13 

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…

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Washington’s Discover Pass was introduced in 2011, requiring the $30 annual pass to enter state parks and most other state lands. Sales of the pass did not initially meet expectations, forcing the cash-strapped State Parks to issue pink slips to eliminate 160 of the agency’s 516 full-time employees. (Associated Press)

Sno-Park permits soon required at Mount Spokane 

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…

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TUESDAY, NOV. 25, 2014

A reader submitted this photo of a bald eagle snatching a Lake CdA kokanee to the S-R eagle web page.

Four bald eagles show up at lake CdA, so far

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…

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MONDAY, NOV. 24, 2014

S-R Outdoors editor Rich Landers and his dog, Scout, accompanied Jim Costello, center, to the Rock Lake area of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness to survey areas that could be impacted by proposed mines.  The Montanore and Rock Creek mines would drill from outside wilderness boundaries into ore deposits underneath the Northwestern Montana wilderness area. (Rich Landers)

Mining in the Cabinets: It's a question of wilderness 

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…

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FRIDAY, NOV. 21, 2014


Let's name Mt. Spokane's new downhill ski runs 

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…

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THURSDAY, NOV. 20, 2014


Brian and Anne Grow leave the groomed trails behind to enjoy some old-style cross-country gliding on skier-made tracks at Mount Spokane. (Rich Landers)

Nordic skiing isn't everyone's cup of tea

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…

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The winter gathering of migrating bald eagles peaks in mid-December at Lake Coeur d’Alene. (File)

Bald eagles slow to show at Lake CdA 

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…

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Wild turkeys in downtown Dayton, Wash., in November 2014. (Jerry Dedloff / Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife)

Wild turkeys window shopping in Dayton

WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Downtown Dayton, Wash., is a hot spot for wild turkeys, who apparently feel at home on Main Street even in the week before Thanksgiving. Reports the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: This was the scene in downtown Dayton (Columbia County) this…

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WEDNESDAY, NOV. 19, 2014



 Elk cross the Gardner River near Mammoth in Montana in Yellowstone National Park last April.  (Associated Press)

Idaho farm-raised elk get loose near Yellowstone

WILDLIFE -- State officials say 28 domestic elk escaped from a hunting ranch in eastern Idaho near Yellowstone National Park but only one is unaccounted for and it’s wounded, according to the Associated Press. Veterinarian Scott Leibsle of the Idaho Department of Agriculture says Broadmouth…

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Outdoors blog

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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Blog Archives

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