Becky Kramer

Sullivan Lake, a high-traffic camping and boating spot in northeastern Washington's Selkirk Mountains, owes part of its popularity to two small dams. Built nearly a century ago, the dams once powered the Inland Portland Cement Co.'s operations in nearby Metaline Falls. Though their electric generation ended decades ago, the two dams still play an important role in recreation. Without the reservoirs they create, Sullivan Lake's summer pool would drop by nearly 25 feet, stranding public boat docks and leaving swimming beaches high and dry.

Coeur d'Alene's last sawmill will process its final log in May, a casualty of the nation's mortgage lending crisis and rising values for waterfront property. Stimson Lumber Co. gave its 60 hourly employees at the DeArmond mill a two-month notice Tuesday. Workers weren't surprised.

When Greg Carr arrived at Gorongosa National Park four years ago, the scars from Mozambique's 30-year civil war were still glaring. The Army had slaughtered 20,000 Cape buffalo to feed its soldiers, leaving just a remnant of the vast herds that once roamed the ecologically rich corner of Africa. Only crumbling guesthouses hinted that the 1,525-square-mile park was once a tourist destination for wealthy globetrotters.

PLUMMER, Idaho – Trains on the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad once whisked through Sorrento Tunnel No. 41 in a timbered hillside south of town. Now, the half-mile length of rail history is up for sale.

Two artists spent four days at Lake Coeur d'Alene's Cougar Bay Preserve this winter, exploring the frozen marsh on snowshoes and creating temporary sculptures from natural items gleaned from the landscape. "Living Within Limits: A Collaboration with Nature" was the brainchild of Rachel Dolezal, who wanted to test the idea of making art without commercial supplies.

Sandpoint first charmed Colin McLemore when he was a Washington State University student who frequently packed up his snowboard for weekend trips to Schweitzer Mountain Resort. The allure of the resort town on Lake Pend Oreille – known for its four-season recreation, thriving arts community and a quirky culture of loggers and liberals – stayed with McLemore for the next decade.

"Hawk ahead," Roland Craft said suddenly, pulling over onto the shoulder of Lancaster Road. The three people in the Subaru whipped out their binoculars, training them on the bird perched on a power pole overlooking the Rathdrum Prairie.

Most of us have too much snow. Not Mike Ong, who is accepting donations of compact snow by the truckload to build a tubing hill at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.

A three-alarm fire destroyed at least three Sherman Avenue storefronts and several apartments Sunday and a former Chinese restaurant was severely damaged as firefighters worked into the night to keep the fire from spreading. The fire at the nearly 100-year-old building on the 1200 block of East Sherman was one of the biggest fires in Coeur d'Alene in recent history, according to Coeur d'Alene Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Lauper. Crews were expected to be at the scene all night Sunday and into this morning.