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...
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...
HUNTING -- Fall turkey hunters must wear a hunter orange vest or clothing during the portion of their season that corresponds with any modern rifle big-game seasons. Without a formal announcement, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has posted online an emergency rule a...
HUNTING -- Pre-season scouting has left me with some serious doubts about the prospects for a successful elk hunt. The area I've been hunting in the Blue Mountains has been hit hard by logging in recent years. That was OK for awhile, but in the...
WINTERSPORTS -- A free program spotlighting gear skiers will need in the transition from inbounds slopes to the winter backcountry will be presented by representatives from G3 (Genuine Guide Gear) and Scarpa at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Mountain Gear's retail store, 2002…
TRAILS -- I often see and hear about close calls between cyclists and walkers on the Spokane River Centennial Trail. Sure it can go both ways. I've seen walkers in groups rudely taking up the entire trail as others approached, or walkers with dogs on...
HUNTING -- Shooting ranges require users to have hearing protection. But many of the shooters who are honing their shotgunning skills at the skeet range this week or zeroing in their deer rifles will head into the fields or forest on opening day with nothing…
FISHING -- Idaho's 2017 coho fishing season will open Saturday, Oct. 7 -- that's 10 days earlier than announced in an Idaho Fish and Game Department release earlier this week. The date change reflects a clerical error. The season is set to run Oct. 7-Nov.…
HIKING -- Three “triple crown” hikers and one “double-triple crowner” will be among the presenters at the Fall Hikers Fest on Oct. 14 at Lake City Church, 6000 N. Ramsey Rd. in Coeur d’Alene. This is a place to learn from those who have learned…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- A Washington State University professor erred in controversial research released in 2014 suggesting that killing wolves that attack cattle is counterproductive because it stimulates more attacks, according to a statistical analysis released today. Working with a Ph.D. statistician, the Washington Policy Center...
FISHING -- Fisheries managers in Idaho and Washington could be on the verge of reopening steelhead harvest on the Snake, Salmon, Little Salmon and Clearwater rivers and opening a coho season on the Clearwater. But on the hot topic of opening harvest on a weak...
SHELLFISHING – The first razor clam dig of the fall season will get underway Oct. 6-7 at four ocean beaches, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today. The agency has approved the dig on evening tides at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and...
