Becky Kramer

An ancient cedar grove appears to have survived a wildfire that swept through North Idaho, and officials are also optimistic about the fate of a similar stand in Montana. A sprinkler system was set up as the Grizzly fire complex advanced on the Settler’s Grove near Eagle, Idaho. Firefighters had to leave before the system was fully in place, but initial reports indicate that Wednesday’s low-burning fire spared the centuries-old trees, said Shoshana Cooper, acting public affairs officer for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. More will be known when the road to the grove is safe for travel, she said.

Under a microscope at the North Idaho Fair & Rodeo, a drop of water from Lake Coeur d’Alene teemed with life. A Daphnia galeata, one of the zooplankton in the lake, scooted across the water, sweeping algae into its mouth. The creature is no bigger than a grain of sand, but it functions as a high-calorie snack for westslope cutthroat trout.

The drought-parched Spokane River is getting about 14 percent of its water from sewage treatment plants this summer. Industrial and municipal treatment plants discharge about 60 million gallons of treated water daily into the river. The discharges start near the river’s headwaters in Lake Coeur d’Alene and continue downstream to the city of Spokane’s treatment plant.

Drought conditions are creating conflicts at Priest Lake. The mountain lake is one of North Idaho’s top resort destinations, drawing people from all over the region for fishing, boating and camping. But this year, there’s not enough water to keep Priest Lake at full pool for recreation, while still allowing a healthy outflow to support downstream fish habitat in Priest River.

NAKUSP, British Columba – Crystal and Janet Spicer grew up in a white-frame farmhouse on 60 fertile acres along the Columbia River in Canada. Their dad was a local legend for the asparagus and other row crops he produced from the rich, loamy soil. After surviving the aerial gunfights of World War II, Christopher Spicer – a veteran of Britian’s Royal Air Force – immigrated to British Columbia in search of a quiet life on a farm. At Nakusp, he found land he liked, along with a woman who shared his love for growing things. They settled down to raise twin girls. But bigger forces were at work, which would disrupt the Spicers and hundreds of other Canadian families living along the river.

As a drought measure, John Osborn has cut his daily shower to two minutes. He’s installed low-flush toilets in his home and replaced his lawn with low-water landscaping.

Don MacDonald scrubbed down the windshield of his plane as it refueled at the Coeur d’Alene Interagency Wildland Fire Center last week, rinsing off bugs and smoke residue. Shortly afterward, the “Fire Boss” Air Tractor was back in the air.

Wear a wet suit or skip it? That was the dilemma facing swimmers at the Steve Omi Memorial Swim at Sanders Beach on Saturday morning. With surface water temperatures reaching into the high 70s, Lake Coeur d’Alene was nearly as warm as a heated pool.

The effects of a historic drought weren’t obvious at Q’emiln Park in Post Falls this week, with the Spokane River lapping at the sandy beach and kids shrieking and splashing in the swimming area. But a few hundred yards downstream, a starker picture of river conditions emerged.

The effects of a historic drought weren’t obvious at Q’emiln Park in Post Falls this week, with the Spokane River lapping at the sandy beach and kids shrieking and splashing in the swimming area.

Pattie Kappen was 17 when she smoked her first cigarette. She was trying to catch the attention of a cute, dark-haired boy at Havermale Alternative High School, who hung out in the smoking area. As a pickup move, smoking was a huge success: The boy became Kappen’s husband. But that initial cigarette escalated into a two-pack-a-day habit.