HIKING -- The future for mountain goats on North Idaho's Scotchman Peak is brighter, thanks to "goat ambassadors" who have been hiking the popular trail to educate hikers on avoiding contact with the goats. The Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness (FSPW) have wrapped up a...
HUNTING -- I've killed an elk near a road where it could be loaded in a pickup exactly zero times in my hunting career. Every one had to be quartered or the meat removed from the bone in the field to be hauled by a…
WINTERSPORTS – Sno-Park permits will be required on vehicles parking at Mount Spokane State Park trailheads starting with the first significant snowfalls that require plowing, said Jerry Johnson, park ranger. Until then, Washington Discover Passes will suffice, he said. Usually significant snowfall occurs by Thanksgiving,…
PUBLIC LANDS -- The National Park Service is floating a steep increase in entrance fees at 17 of its most popular parks, mostly in the West, to address a backlog of maintenance and infrastructure projects. Visitors to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion and other…
FLY FISHING -- Winter is prime time for fly fishers to build their inventory of patterns. To get novices on the right track at their vise, Wayne Jordan will be teaching four Beginner Fly Tying Classes. The first one is set for Nov. 11 at...
TRAILS – Progress in research, mapping and planning a public trail corridor along Hangman Creek will be presented at a open house meeting on Saturday, Oct. 28, starting at 1 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 5810 S. Meadowlane Rd. in Spokane. The Hangman-Latah Creek...
WILDERNESS -- A federal judge last week upheld protections for some of the last roadless areas of the Kootenai National Forest in northwest Montana and the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, according to a release from Earthjustice. A challenge by snowmobilers that sought to overturn the...
PADDLING – Mike Elliott, author of “This Old Canoe: How To Restore Your Wood-Canvas Canoe,” will present a free program on wooden canoes, 7 p.m., tonight, Oct. 23, at Mountain Gear Corporate Headquarters, 6021 E. Mansfield in Spokane Valley, sponsored by the Spokane Canoe &…
TRAILS -- It's a perfect day for flying, which means some of the popular trails on Spokane's South Hill bluff are closed today through most of Tuesday as a helicopter working for Avista hauls materials for a transmission line rebuild project. The helicopter is flying…
ADVENTURE -- The World Tour from the Banff Mountain Film Festival will make its stop in Spokane with three nights of different adventure films showing at the Bing Crosby Theater on Nov. 17-19. The tour is sponsored in Spokane by Mountain Gear where advance tickets…
TRAILS -- This minute-long video offers a fast-motion hint of the intensive labor involved in rehabilitating a section of trail. The video was shot last week by Zach Carter as Washington Trails Association volunteers worked on Trail 130 at Mount Spokane State Park.
PUBLIC LANDS – As predicted, Congress appears to be on the path of opening one of the country's purest critical wildlife areas to petroleum development without bringing the measure, which has bipartisan opposition, to a specific vote. The U.S. Senate voted down an amendment last…
WILDFIRES – A 15-year-old boy who allegedly started a wildfire by tossing fireworks along a hiking trail in Oregon’s scenic Columbia River Gorge, with the blaze causing evacuations, the closing of an interstate highway and causing ash to rain down on Portland, has been charged…
TRAILS -- Portions of the South Hill bluff trails are set to be closed on Monday and Tuesday as Avista uses a helicopter to fly in new power poles for a transmission line rebuild project. Depending on weather conditions, the helicopter will be flying Oct.…
BIRDNG – A federal plan to let hunters shoot trumpeter swans has drawn fire from some of the people who toiled to bring the majestic white birds back from the brink of extinction. Here's the story from the Associted Press out of Minnesota: Trumpeter swans,…
FISHING -- A thief has assured a fly-fishing priest will live his newly made vow of poverty as the newly-ordained Roman Catholic priest’s fishing gear was stolen from a vehicle parked outside a church in Butte. The Rev. Kirby Longo told The Montana Standard that...
THREATENED SPECIES -- Federal officials have announced public meetings in Idaho to amend the 2015 sage grouse conservation plan that was accomplished in 2015 after more than 10 years of collaborative effort. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management in a news release Wednesday says meetings...
WILDLIFE -- A mule deer buck was killed on Saturday after attacking runners and goring two helpers during the third annual Half Ass Half Marathon north of Davenport. The buck came onto the Lincoln County road used for the course and began acting aggressively and...
NATURE -- A free program on moths will be presented by members of the Washington Butterfly Association on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m. in Room 1B of the Downtown Public Library, 906 W. Main St. "An Invitation to the Dark Side of Lepidoptera" will...
HUNTING -- Idaho youth pheasant hunters will get a chance to pursue stocked roosters through the pheasant season, Oct. 21-Dec. 31, on 810 acre Access Yes! parcel on the Palouse River, north of Potlatch. Idaho Department of Fish and Game is promoting the program with...
WILDLIFE -- The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation awarded $233,373 in grant funding for nearly two dozen conservation projects in Washington that enhance wildlife habitat, assist research and promote hunting heritage, the Missoula-based group says in a release. The grants benefit 4,966 acres across Asotin, Clallam,…
ENDANGERED -- The Kalispel Tribe is going to take another shot at restoring endangered Selkirk mountain caribou with a $96,000 grant for a maternal penning project. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant along with other funding the tribe has obtained will be used to…
TRAILS – Readers had lingering questions, and so the The Spokesman-Review, about last Sunday’s story about a woman who was struck from behind by a bicyclist as she walked on the Spokane River Centennial Trail. The Spokane Police Department told Virginia Pearsall, 67, that no…
FISHING -- Washington fish managers have decided to allow catch-and-keep steelhead fishing starting Sunday for a weak run of Snake River fish. Idaho will decide on Friday whether to allow some harvest this season on the Snake, Clearwater and Salmon rivers. Currently anglers are limited…
HUNTING -- Big-game hunters heading out this week can help wildlife managers in Idaho and Washington collect valuable information about deer and elk populations by taking a few minutes to stop at a hunter check station if they pass one on their way home. Idaho...
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
