Tue., Dec. 5, 2017
TRANSITIONS -- The Outdoors Blog is evolving. After nearly 41 years as Outdoors editor at The Spokesman-Review, Rich Landers has officially retired. He will continue writing occasionally as an Outdoors correspondent, but the reins of the department and Outdoor coverage have been handed to the...
Fri., Oct. 27, 2017
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...
Thu., Sept. 7, 2017
WILDLIFE -- Birds and critters can’t heed health agency warnings to take refuge indoors from the pall of wildfire smoke smothering the West. They’re stuck outside, coping with bad air quality much as they deal with weather extremes throughout the year. “Wildlife appears to be...
Tue., Aug. 29, 2017
WILDLIFE -- For the first time in Washington, wildlife managers have found in deer a viral infection known as Adenovirus Hemorrhagic Disease, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reports. Officials confirmed AHD, which can be deadly to deer, in a herd east of Goldendale...
Mon., July 24, 2017
PARKS – Mountain goats are eating themselves out of house and home in Olympic National Park, where officials are weighing several options to remove the non-native species to uphold their mission to preserve native habitat. Capturing and relocating the animals or even killing some of...
Mon., July 10, 2017
WILDLIFE -- Videos of black bears that circulate online can be hilarious. Bears have personality. They do funny things. But sometimes bears and other wild animals attack people for no clear reason. Don't ever forget that. Bear awareness education can go a long way in...
Fri., July 7, 2017
WILDLIFE -- Following several bear encounters in the past week, including the terrifying attack on a woman and her dogs hiking near Priest Lake, the Idaho Panhandle National Forest is putting out more education on living and recreating in bear country, especially in this season...
Mon., June 19, 2017
WILDLIFE ATTACKS – Authorities say a black bear killed a 16-year-old runner while he was competing in a 3-mile Alaska hill-climb race near Anchorage on Sunday. The teenager, whose identify has not been released, was a participant in the juniors division of the Robert Spurr...
Fri., June 2, 2017
WILDLIFE -- North Idaho outdoorsman Bob Legasa packed his ever-present video camera through Yellowstone National Park on a morning visit over the holiday weekend. Lucky us! Take a few minutes to see the wildlife bonanza Legasa captured in just a few hours of easing through...
Wed., May 17, 2017
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- The first indication was a missing chicken a couple of months ago. A Pullman resident emailed and asked about the prevalence of foxes in this region. "Are you sure it wasn't a coyote?" I asked. He sent a photo and it was...
Mon., May 1, 2017
WILDLIFE -- People who enjoy hiking, protecting wildlife and dealing with the public are being sought as trail ambassadors for Trail 65 to Scotchman Peak northeast of Lake Pend Oreille. The Friends of the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness initiated the Trail Ambassadors Program last year to...
Thu., April 6, 2017
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- It's not uncommon for people to underestimate the size of a gray wolf. An adult male stands about 30 inches at the shoulder, weighs 70-120 pounds and can be more than 6 feet long from the tip of nose to point of...
Thu., Feb. 2, 2017
WILDLIFE -- Two large southeastern Washington wildlife areas were closed to public access today through April to prevent human disturbance to deer and elk struggling through the worst winter conditions in years. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife closed the 4-O Ranch and Grouse...
Tue., Jan. 31, 2017
WILDLIFE – Authorities say a cow moose is safe and back in the wild after she fell through an unlatched window into the basement of a home in Hailey,Idaho. The moose spent about three hours in the basement early Sunday morning, the Idaho Mountain Express...
Tue., Jan. 24, 2017
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- The wind-packed or sun-crusted snow blanketing much of the region delivers one of the most difficult conditions for wintering birds and a wildlife. Crusty snow with mild temperatures is more deadly than powdery snow and frigid cold. It's time to rein in...
Fri., Jan. 20, 2017
WINTER -- I don't plan to continue on the winter survival horse beat, but following yesterday's popular story about the Wyoming pack horse being rescued after six weeks in the wintry forest, two Idaho horses are reported stranded by snow drifts at elevation 8,000 feet...
Fri., Jan. 13, 2017
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Washington wildlife managers spent $135,000 to kill seven of 11 gray wolves in a pack that had attacked or killed about 15 cattle on national forest grazing allotments in northeastern Washington last summer and fall. The Department of Fish and Wildlife have...
Thu., Jan. 12, 2017
THREATENED SPECIES -- Federal officials today released a draft plan for restoring grizzly bears to the North Cascades. Following two years of public process, the plan presents four options, ranging from taking no action to varying efforts to capture bears from other locations and transplant...
Mon., Jan. 9, 2017
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- A coyote and badger hunting together on the prairie surrounding the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in northern Colorado, confirmed in photos, seems like a very unusual association. But U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services biologists say coyotes and badgers are known to...
Sat., Dec. 24, 2016
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. Consider wildlife one of your most special gifts.
Wed., Dec. 14, 2016
WILDLIFE -- A conservation strategy for managing recovered grizzly bear populations has been the main focus of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee is holding its final meeting of 2016 Tuesday and today in Missoula. "From a single grizzly sighted in the Big Hole basin where...
Mon., Dec. 12, 2016
HUNTING -- As winter advances, the rut is waning and whitetail bucks are beginning to think less about procreation and more about surviving. Montana outdoor photographer Jaimie Johnson says this buck was loosing interest in does last week.
Mon., Nov. 21, 2016
HUNTING -- A resident elk hunter was mauled Sunday morning by a female grizzly after surprising the sow and her two cubs on the Rocky Mountain Front of northwestern Montana. The man was with a group hunting private land on the south fork of Willow...
Mon., Oct. 10, 2016
REFUGES –The annual community work party to plant and improve habitat at Turnbull National Refuge will run 9 a.m.-noon. on Saturday, Oct 15, based out of the refuge headquarters south of Cheney. A potluck lunch will follow. "We have hundreds of native saplings to plant...
Sun., Aug. 7, 2016
TRAILS -- Coyotes are reportedly menacing dogs -- mostly unleashed dogs -- along the South Hill bluff trails below High Drive. It's late in the season for the coyotes to be associated with a den as was the case in 2012 when several dogs were...
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
