BIRDS -- Wisdom -- a 64-year-old Laysan albatross known worldwide -- returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 19 after a year at sea. A few days later, she was observed with her mate on the low island that's speck on the map...
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Cold weather is magic for bird watching. Naturalist Terry Gray of Moscow devoted three hours to walking through the University of Idaho Arboretum and Botanical Garden on a recent brisk morning and reported observing 22 bird species. He also captured photographs of...
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Most of the deer hunting seasons are over, but the whitetail breeding season is still underway. This buck photographed by Montana outdoor photographer Jaime Johnson seems to have his priorities in order. Good luck out there.
TRAILS -- Volunteers generous with their time and muscle have cleared the way for miles of happy hiking, biking, skiing, and horse riding in the Inland Northwest. Blowdowns were cleared this season, brush was cut, bridges and rock walls were built – all where budget-strapped…
OUTDOOR JOBS -- The U.S. Forest Service is gearing up for another round of temporary hiring. From Monday, Nov. 30, through Dec. 7, the agency will be accepting applications for more than 1,000 temporary spring and summer jobs in Oregon and Washington. Positions are available...
HUNTING -- Black Friday was a bright day for my English setter Scout, but a dark day for a few chukars.
FISHING -- Idaho Fish and Game Commission recently approved fishing rules changes for the 2016-18 seasons. New rules will take effect on Jan. 1. Statewide changes include a new possession limit, which will be three times the daily bag limit after the second day of…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Kokanee are spawning and dying in North Idaho's two largest lakes and bald eagles are loving it. Dozens of eagles are congregating at Granite Creek and in the Bayview shoreline area to take advantage of revived kokanee fisheries in Lake Pend Oreille....
FISHING -- After four days of fishing in the 2015 Fall Derby at Lake Pend Oreille, the top fish include a 20-pound rainbow and a 20-pound mackinaw. The contest sponsored by the Lake Pend Oreille Idaho Club takes a break for Thanksgiving and continues Friday…
THREATENED SPECIES -- Idaho officials on Tuesday approved implementing the state’s plan to protect habitat for greater sage grouse on endowment lands, despite frustration with federal land managers. The Montana Land Board approved restrictions meant to protect sage grouse habitat earlier this month. According to…
FISHING -- State and tribal fish managers are gearing up their to northern pike invading Lake Roosevelt, according to presentations last week at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting in Portland. Chris Donley, Spokane region fisheries manager for the Washington Department of Fish and...
OUTDOORS NEWS -- I used to think a million was a big number. Nowadays if you wake up and say you feel like a million bucks your spouse might wonder what's bugging you. A millionaire can't feel financially secure anymore. Nevertheless, this Outdoors Blog has once...
WINTERSPORTS -- Lookout Pass will open for skiers and snowboarders on Thursday and Schweitzer Mountain Resort in Sandpoint will open Friday, becoming the first of the Inland Northwest’s five ski areas to start up the lifts for the 2015-2016 season. Lookout Pass, off Interstate 90…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Today's news that a new wolf pack -- the Loup Loup Pack -- has been confirmed in north-central Washington near the towns of Omak and Twisp has sparked a trend on the newspaper reader comments thread that's rarer than an endangered species:...
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Reviving the kokanee fishery at Lake Pend Oreille is attracting more than fishermen. A good number of bald eagles are congregating in the Bayview area to hunt spawning kokanee, and those eagles are attracting bird watchers. Norma Jean Knowles caught the photo...
TRAILS -- Many of the region's trails are littered with blowdown trees after the Nov. 17 wind storm, and the most desperate situation is at Mount Spokane, where the 60 kilometers of cross-country ski trails are virtually clogged with timber. Volunteers organized by the Spokane...
WATER -- "Drink before you're thirsty," says the savvy coach of endurance sports. The same logic and science can be applied to conserving water locally and globally before there's an obvious need. Here's the latest research to back me up: International study finds world's groundwater…
PADDLING – "Great Slave Lake Expedition," a program by wilderness paddling adventurers Harvey Brown and Rosemarie Bisiar, will be presented at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23, at Mountain Gear Corporate offices, 6021 E. Mansfield in Spokane Valley. The couple flew in with inflatable sea kayak...
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- The annual congregation of bald eagles at Lake Coeur d'Alene has begun. The eagles also are showing up to feed on spawning kokanee at Priest Lake and Lake Pend Oreille, but the birds that return to Coeur d'Alene's Wolf Lodge Bay are…
OUTDOOR FILMS -- The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour lineup of films for the three-day run starting tonight in Spokane at the Bing Crosby Theater was decided this afternoon. Here's what you'll see if you were thinking ahead to buy tickets for the wildly...
FISHERIES -- Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery employees worked all night Tuesday and Wednesday to save 1.2 million fingerling salmon from debris-choked flood waters that swept down Icicle Creek. “The last flood this bad was 2005,” said Travis Collier, Assistant Hatchery Manager. Nearly two and a…
HUNTING -- Pheasants are scheduled to be released this week at up to 44 Eastern Washington sites that are detailed in the Fish and Wildlife Department’s Pheasant Enhancement Program website. The first releases will occurred in September in advance of the youth upland bird season....
WILDLIFE -- A buck white-tailed deer killed Nov. 1 in a hunting area about 25 miles east of Yellowstone National Park has tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The case of fatal neurological disease that infects elk, deer and moose hadn't previously been discovered close…
INVASIVE SPECIES -- A pair of feral pigs reported by a bird hunter near Potholes Reservoir were recently killed along the Winchester Wasteway by a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officer. The state has a no-tolerance policy for the non-native species known to be...
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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