Outdoors

The avalanche that killed a Bozeman snowmobiler riding in the Gallatin Mountains on New Year’s Day – the first Montana avalanche death in more than a year – was somewhat of an anomaly. “Most avalanches happen when people are on the slope,” said Doug Chabot, of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. That can happen when a snowmobiler is riding across a hill or uphill, or when a skier or snowboarder is carving turns.

OUTGOING – The number of bald eagles is thinning out at Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Wolf Lodge Bay area where the national symbols gather each year to feast on spawning kokanee. After peaking at 217 two weeks ago, the number of eagles counted Thursday by U.S. Bureau of Land Management biologist Carrie Hugo dropped to 53.  

PUBLIC AREAS – The Martin Luther King holiday is the first in a series of fee-free entrance days federal land managers will be offering at parks, forests, U.S. Bureau of Land management lands, refuges and some other public lands where fees are charged. Washington State Parks also sets dates for fee-free entry scattered through the year.

OLYMPIA – A California geology professor said he has solved one of the enduring geological mysteries of the Pacific Northwest. Emmanuel “Manny” Gabet, a geomorphologist at San Jose State University, said prehistoric generations of pocket gophers created the vast fields of Mima mounds found in south Puget Sound and in other locations around the world.

DALLAS – A permit to hunt an endangered African black rhino sold Saturday night for $350,000 at a Dallas auction held to raise money for conservation efforts but was criticized by wildlife advocates. Steve Wagner, a spokesman for the Dallas Safari Club, which sponsored the closed-door event, confirmed the sale of the permit for a hunt in the African nation of Namibia. He declined to name the buyer.

The boat, RV and sportsmen’s show season is underway, giving outdoor enthusiasts a chance to see the latest products from manufacturers and make deals. Some of the shows feature seminars on sporting techniques. Following is a regional list of top upcoming shows:

Sandpoint's Sunday nordic ski event nixed by rain

Radio: Idaho official explains wilderness wolf trapping

Weather may give pheasants edge for season's end

Gophers may be source of mysterious mima mounds

Montana joins Idaho, Utah in hunt for federal lands

Bald eagles drifting away from Lake CdA gathering

Tribes keep fishing jurisdiction a hot potato on Lake Roosevelt

Oregon state parks consider ban on outdoor smoking

Northern lights expected to put on show tonight