WATERSPORTS – A grant program has been established for non-profits seeking assistance in promoting boating in the Northwest. The grants are being awarded through the Northwest Marine Trade Association's Grow Boating program, which seeks to increase the number of boaters and encourage current boaters to...
PUBLIC LANDS -- After more than 10 years of grassroots efforts to gain widespread support in the Idaho Panhandle and into Western Montana, a bill to designate an Idaho portion of the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness has been introduced in Congress. Today, U.S. Senator Jim Risch...
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- The bald eagle bonanza has boomed at Lake Coeur d'Alene's Wolf Lodge Bay in the past week. The number of bald eagles arriving for the annual congregation at Lake Coeur d’Alene doubled two weeks ago -- and that number tripled in the…
POACHING – With $9,000 in reward money on the table, enforcement officers for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife continue to search for the poacher or poachers who gunned down five elk in a canyon near Ellensburg last month. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation…
WINTERSPORTS -- A new, improved warming shelter has been installed along one of the cross-country skiing-snowshoeing trails at Fourth of July Pass. Members of the Panhandle Nordic Club put up the shelter and installed a wood-burning stove. "The snowshoe hut up on the Twisted Klister...
ENDANGERED SPECIES – The California gray wolves will keep their endangered species protections even once the rebounding animal hits a population of at least 50, state wildlife officials said Wednesday. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife published its plan for managing wolves late Tuesday,…
RIVERS -- Following a road-show of meetings this fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bonneville Power Administration will host two public scoping webinars on Dec. 13 to present information and take more comment on the operations of 14 federal hydropower…
FISHING-HUNTING -- Officials with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game are once again proposing a plan to raise hunting and fishing fees, despite previous resistance from state lawmakers who have refused to advance similar proposals. A feature of the proposal would allow sportsmen...
PUBLIC LANDS – Congress has approved a bill that will rename the Olympic Wilderness within Olympic National Park in honor of former Washington Governor and U.S. Senator Dan Evans. The legislation will rename the Olympic Wilderness within Olympic National Park as the “Daniel J. Evans...
HIKING -- Dishman Hills Conservancy members are leading a winter hike into the Rocks of Sharon on Saturday, Dec. 10, likely through several inches of cold, beautiful snow. The group will depart the Stevens Creek Trailhead at 10 a.m., hike about 3 miles gaining 600…
PUBLIC LANDS -- A co-operative agreement for the management of moose and caribou between the federal government and Alaska tribes is the first in what may be a trend toward more Native American authority on public lands. The new agreement gives a committee of Alaska…
WILDLIFE -- Several thousand migrating snow geese perished in the toxic Berkeley Pit water where they landed last week in Butte, mine officials told the Montana Standard today. Montana Resources and Atlantic Richfield Company officials say they are not yet ready to release a hard...
FISHING -- The list of winners published last week after the 2016 Lake Pend Oreille Fall Fishing Derby has a lot of untold stories to go along with them. One worth noting is Nolan Stewart, 12, who won the Junior Division with a rainbow trout…
FISHERIES – Options for the state's reform policy on Columbia River salmon management will be up for public comment during a Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9-10, in Olympia. The commission's meeting agenda also schedules action on a variety…
HUNTING -- "Holy crap!" Buck says. "That was too close, whatever it was." Given a perfect situation, this video captures a bowhunter crawling close enough to touch and startle a big mule deer buck.
FISHING -- "I've fished the Spokane River three days a week obsessively for the last year and half and was certainly rewarded for my patience," says Sean Zenishek. Even in the slow action of winter. Although he's a fly fisher, he said he switch-hits to...
WINTERSPORTS -- Sunday was Janye McLaughlin's first chance to ski this season at Mount Spokane State Park, and the cross-country skiing trails seemed to say, "Welcome back!" After coaching skiing class sessions for Spokane Nordic most of the day, "the highlight was during my return...
WINTERSPORTS – Signup is underway for the club-sponsored youth cross-country ski program that runs for eight winter weekends at Mount Spokane State Park. Families who become members of Spokane Nordic, the club that supports the cross-country trail system on the mountain, can register children in...
TRAILS – Another segment of the Ferry County Rail Trail was smooth-surfaced last month bringing the improved sections along Curlew Lake and the Kettle River north of Curlew to 12.5 miles. The latest project completes surfacing on more than half of the 25-mile non-motorized rail...
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Being a lone wolf has its downside. In this case prey is successfully fighting back in Alaska. Tit for tat in the wildlife world
Some of the most passionate and dedicated backcountry skiers in the nation are expected to flock to the McCall area for a world-class mountaineering event at Brundage Mountain this December. The McCall Winter Sports Club and the USSMA (United States Ski Mountaineering Association) are teaming...
WILDLIFE -- Ten fishers were released by state and federal biologists today in the Nisqually River watershed of Mount Rainier National Park as part of a collaborative effort to restore the species to Washington. Fishers, a housecat-sized member of the weasel family, were eliminated from…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Motorized recreation groups and industries are jumping at the chance to court favor with president-elect Donald Trump. Key on their list of desires is more vehicle access to public lands. A recreation "Roundtable" of about a dozen groups has proposed several initiatives…
FISHING – A longtime Washington state fishing guide has pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge that he violated the Endangered Species Act by helping clients keep a pair of wild coho salmon, the Associated Press reports. Photos of the fish posted on social media...
WINTERSPORTS -- Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park is the last area resort announcing it plans to open for the season, with lift to start operating Friday. Silver Mountain Resort announced Wednesday that it plans to crank up lifts starting Friday. More snow is in…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
| Dec. 2016 | Nov. 2016 | Oct. 2016 | Sept. 2016 |
| Aug. 2016 | July 2016 | June 2016 | May 2016 |
| April 2016 | March 2016 | Feb. 2016 | Jan. 2016 |
