RIVERS – Environmental groups are asking Gov. Jay Inslee to increase the summer time flows of the Spokane River, to improve recreation and to maintain the scenic falls in the middle of the state’s second-largest city. The groups on Tuesday asked Inslee to revisit an…
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT -- Members of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission are getting the cold shoulder from Gov. Butch Otter, likely for taking a stand against the governor's wishes to give more hunting tag options for the wealthy. The commission took its stand last fall…
RIVERS – Washington’s U.S. senators have proposed a bill that would prevent mining on about 340,000 acres of public land in the Methow Valley to protect water quality and salmon habitat. The legislation introduced Wednesday would withdraw U.S. Forest Service land in northcentral Washington from…
CRITTERS -- For the second year in a row, Idaho health officials say preliminary tests on dead ground squirrels south of Boise have come back positive for plague. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is still confirming the diagnosis, but officials are asking the…
OUTDO – States are offering a chance to go fishing without the expense of purchasing a fishing license during Free Fishing Days this month Idaho Free Fishing Day is Saturday, June 11. Washington is offering two free days, Saturday and Sunday, June 11-12. Montana will…
STATE LANDS -- Two “free days” are being offered at Washington State Parks in June. In other words, a Discover Pass will not be required on vehicles for entry. On Saturday, June 4, in recognition of National Trails Day, and Saturday, June 11, for National…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Jack Ward Thomas, 81, passed away Thursday, May 26, at his home in Florence, Montana, of natural causes, bringing many hunters and conservationists to remember his leadership as a wildlife ecologist and 13th chief of the U.S. Forest Service. The Rocky Mountain…
FISHING -- This will bug any fly fisher who can't cast a line in Western Montana this week. But according to the Rock Creek Fisherman's Mercantile, the salmonfly hatch is ON!
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- A Spokane-area man has been sentenced to six months in prison for shooting and killing a grizzly bear in northwestern Montana last year, according to the Associated Press. Shalako Katzer of Mead and federal prosecutors previously reached a deal that called for…
FISHING -- "What happened to the 370,000 hatchery steelhead stocked in Sprague Lake in 2014?" That's been a frequently asked question among anglers this spring. Mitch Byrd of Spokane reeled in the answer this week. Those truckloads of West Side steelhead that needed a home...
FISHING -- Not yet. The first attempt to delist one of the 13 species of Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead protected under the Endangered Species Act has been denied by federal authorities. The decision made public Thursday by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries cites...
FISHING -- Washington is closing it's Snake River spring chinook fishing seasons. One stretch has closed while the other season will end on Monday, May 30. Here are details from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Locations: A) Below Ice Harbor Dam: Snake River...
RIVERS-- The third phase of the World Jet Boat Races originally scheduled for Friday, May 27, on the Grande Ronde River has been changed to run the Snake River near Lewiston. The water levels had dropped too low for safety on the Ronde, organizers say.…
FISHING – State and tribal leaders today reached an agreement on Puget Sound fisheries that is expected to pave the way toward opening summer salmon seasons and waters recently closed to recreational fishing. Here are details, such as they are at this time, from the...
HUNTING -- Some wild turkey hunters are glad they didn't get in a big hurry. Washington's spring gobbler season started April 15 and runs through May 31. Some filled both of their spring tags early in the season. Others prolonged the fun ....
NATURE -- You could walk by it without noticing. One must get down on hands an knees or preferably on your belly, exposing yourself like bait for ticks, to really appreciate prairie smoke. The brick-red flowers nod gracefully in the breeze 4-8 inches or so…
FISHING -- Good reports have been coming from the annual mid-May salmonfly hatch frenzy along the upper Deschutes River in Oregon. But seeing is believing. Here's today's fishing report from fly fisher Nic Calero of Portland. He also posted photos if deep-red banded rainbow trout.…
FISHING -- With the rainbow trout spawning season winding down, two key stretches of the Spokane River reopen to fishing in June. But be careful... the stretches open on different dates just days apart. Here are the fishing seasons for the city-area stretches of the…
TRAILS -- The fourth annual Bay Trail Fun Run along Lake Pend Oreille is set for 9 a.m. on June 12 to raise funds for maintaining the popular route near Sandpoint. Participants will run/walk 5-kilometer or 10-K courses to support the Pend d'Oreille Bay Trail,...
TRAILS -- Snow recedes and exposes trails, expect to find downfall on many of the popular hiking routes in the region. The photo above captures a spot on Trail 9 to Revett Lake in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests near Thompson Pass. Volunteers from the…
MOUNTAINEERING -- Professional climber Melissa Arnot, 32, on Monday became the first American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and survive the descent without supplemental oxygen, according to Outside Online. Arnot's ascent of the 29,035-foot peak’s northeast ridge from Tibet marked her sixth...
WATERSPORTS -- A new Spokane River boat access on an improbable site just downstream from Plante's Ferry Park is progressing nicely. While the traditional Plante's Ferry access site requires a significant carry for boater take-outs, the new access will open the stretch of river to...
WATERSPORTS -- As a reminder for the spike in boating activity for the Memorial Day Weekend, the Post Falls Cabela's store joined the sixth annual Ready, Set, Wear It! campaign to encourage boaters to wear life jackets while on the water. "We had participants come…
FISHING -- Scott Haugen of Four Seasons Campground emailed several photos like those above showing resort anglers beaming with the rainbow trout they've been catching from the resort. Each photo had two things in common: The rainbows were big and bright. So were the smiles…
FISHING – After 46 years, Washington has a new state record black rockfish, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed today. The fish weighing 10.72 pounds was caught on May 15 by Steven Charles Orr of Rochester, Washington. The fish, measuring 26.15 inches long,...
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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