Updated 8 p.m. with response from state Fish and Wildlife police chief. ENDANGERED SPECIES -- A farmer is being investigated in the shooting of a gray wolf in Whitman County on Sunday. The wolf was shot southwest of Pullman, said Washington Department of Fish and…
HUNTING/FISHING -- Declining fuel prices are good news for hunters in the peak of the fall seasons as well as for steelhead anglers pulling boats to the big rivers: The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline has dropped for 18 straight days to a…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Making it three-in-a-row posts on environmental lawsuits --- a coalition of advocacy groups today challenged the government’s denial of federal protections for the snow-loving wolverine, filing a lawsuit that contends officials ignored evidence a warming climate will eliminate denning areas for the…
PUBLIC LANDS -- At first, it sounds as though we should be outraged: Three conservation groups in Montana have been involved in more than 200 court cases nationwide against federal agencies, primarily the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service. In…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Sage grouse are generating considerable interest throughout the West as groups see their dwindling numbers as ways to address a wide range of public lands topics such as mining, oil drilling and livestock grazing. A small portion of a federal judge’s ruling…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Moose in wild and not-so-wild areas are popular subjects for in Inland Northwest shutterbugs, as one can see in a glance on our Readers' Outdoor Photo Gallery. But some neighborhoods are more oriented to family living than others. "This moose family visits…
HIKING -- British and American scientists have published new research showing that group nature walks help us combat stress while boosting mental well-being. Researchers from the University of Michigan and Edge Hill University in England evaluated 1,991 participants in England’s Walking for Health program, which…
HUNTING -- Ouch! Shooting a protected grizzly bear can be costly no matter who you are. Wyoming wildlife officer fined, ordered to pay $10K for shooting grizzly Luke Ellsbury, a Wyoming Fish and Game employee who mistakenly shot a grizzly bear last year was ordered…
FISHING -- Wise anglers keep diaries of their fishing trips in log books with dates so they can look back for water conditions, hatches, lure-fly selection and other details that might help them next time around. Last year at this time, Mike Berube of the…
TOURNAMENT FISHING -- Two Inland Northwest bass fishing teams traveled to California this weekend and thumped the home-state rivals on their own water. A two-man University of Idaho bass fishing team -- North Idaho boys -- won the FLW College Fishing Western Conference Invitational tournament…
HUNTING -- Helping a friend or family member haul a deer or elk out of the mountains can get a person a ticket without proper documentation. Same goes for transporting or sharing game fish. Idaho rules say any person who transports any wildlife or fish…
HUNTING -- Bear with me. I'm going to tell you something you probably already know. But as volunteers at the area rifle sight-in days tell me year after year, you can't believe how many veteran hunters violate the basics of safe gun handling. I know…
FISHING – The steelheader’s loss will be the trout angler’s bonanza. About 340,000 young steelhead raised at hatcheries to be released in Puget Sound streams will instead be stocked in Western Washington trout lakes this month. A lawsuit filed by wild steelhead advocates prevented Washington…
WILDLIFE -- A gray wolf that had been radio collared in North Idaho has hoofed it to a new home 850-miles south as the crow flies into Utah. The 4-year-old male has been verified on the south slope of the Uinta Mountains in Duchesne County…
HIKING -- Ultra-athlete Ben Clark will give a presentation tonight in Spokane on his quest to scale 14 Colorado Fourteeners -- peaks topping 14,000 feet in elevation -- in 60 hours. The free show starts at 7 p.m. at the Mountain Gear retail store, 2002…
WINTERSPORTS -- Cross country skiers in the region are working against time to get trails brushed out for grooming when the snow flies in the mountains. They'd welcome your help. Mount Spokane cross-country ski trail preparations are being coordinated by Spokane Nordic, with a another…
HUNTING -- Montana wildlife officials are proposing to keep confidential the names of hunters and trappers who kill any wildlife in the state. Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said Tuesday the proposal is in response to complaints that information obtained under Montana’s right-to-know…
FISHING -- Although it flows into the Clark Fork River below Interstate 90, Fish Creek is a sleeper resource unknown to most anglers. Luckly, Montana conservationists and fisheries managers have taken note. Here's the latest effort to preserve the habitat and potential for a fishery…
WINTERSPORTS -- The Panhandle Nordic Club is calling for volunteers to join them in a "lopping party" to trim brush along the ski and snowshoe trails on Saturday, Oct. 18, at Fourth of July Pass. Meet: Fire Station at Cherry Hill Park on 15th at…
MARINE MAMMALS -- There's no wildlife news bigger than this on the West Coat this week: More than 50 sperm whales emerged off the Southern California coast in an extremely rare, hours-long sighting that had whale watchers and scientists giddy with excitement. Pods of mothers…
WILDLIFE -- Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife workers used helicopter net gunners Wednesday to capture eight infected bighorn ewes along the Grande Ronde River. The wild sheep are to be transported to a South Dakota State University facility for research on pneumonia outbreaks that…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Nothing new came out of last night's dog and pony show of a public meeting in Colville about wolf management in northeastern Washington. Some people are angry about wolves one way or the other. We knew that. Washington Fish and Wildlife Director…
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT -- If you're one of those critics who always has a better idea for running Washington's Fish and Wildlife Department, here's your chance. The $139,000-a -year top position will be open at the end of the year as WDFW Director Phil Anderson retires.…
WATERSPORTS -- Generator updating at Nine Mile Dam on the Spokane River will require a further drawdown of Nine Mile Reservoir starting Monday, Avista officials say. The reservoir already has been lowered three feet since mid-August for the project to replace the original 1906 turbine…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.