Eli Francovich

Polish authorities won't investigate former state Rep. Matt Shea on charges of human trafficking.

John Wehrer, who was joined on the adventure by Madeleine Rush, recounts the climb and what it took to get the shot:

On a verdant morning last week, the kind that reminds many of us why we live in the Pacific Northwest, I crossed a sturdy log bridge on Mount Spokane’s Trail 131.

A 9-year-old girl who was attacked by a cougar in May in northeast Washington is out of the hospital and facing her fears. The girl, Lily, was playing hide and seek near Fruitland, Wash. when a cougar pounced on her sending her to the hospital where she received more than 400 stiches. 

Spring rain and flooding has closed or damaged a number of roads on the 1.1 million acre Colville National Forest. Recreationists should check to make sure their intended destination is accessible.

Nathaniel Hagood had just finished leading  a kayaking tour of Yellowstone Lake when he got the text. 

A dead grizzly bear was found on a Whatcom County beach last week, according to a report from the Bellingham Herald.

Public access to the Little Spokane River is closed following flooding at the St. George's put-in, according to Washington State Parks and Recreation.

An unusually cold and wet spring, one in which 4.97 inches of rain fell between April 1 and June 15, may be a boon for deer and elk. But for ground-nesting birds, including the imperiled sage grouse, the weather is a mixed bag said Michael Atamian, the district biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Gearing up to hike Scotchman Peak, the classic 8-mile hike in North Idaho?

All entrances to Yellowstone National Park are closed following historic flooding. 

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will attempt to kill up to two wolves in the Togo pack area following repeated attacks on cattle.

Human-animal encounters – of the violent kind – have been in the news. Most notably, and closest to home, a 9-year-old girl was attacked by a cougar less than two hours from Spokane. Farther afield, a woman was  gored by a bison in Yellowstone National Park. A man, also in Montana, was killed by a grizzly in March.

Washington wildlife managers are increasing how often they will be testing for a deadly neurological disease found in deer and elk. 

Wolves killed a calf on private industrial timberland this week and the attack, which is the latest in a series this month, could prompt the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to kill some wolves from the Togo pack.

All fish cleaning stations in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area are indefinitely closed.

A recent skiing excursion to the North Idaho Selkirks emphasized and important fact: Winter is still very much the name of the game in the high country. 

When a cougar attacked a 9-year-old girl who was playing hide-and-seek near Fruitland, Wash. last week, it reignited long-simmering concerns about what some believe is an overabundant cougar population in northeast Washington.

A former Spokane resident summited Mount Everest earlier this month as part of the first ever all-Black climbing team. 

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has launched a poaching investigation after two Stevens County deputies stumbled upon four dead wolves in Northeast Washington while on snowmobile patrol near the Canadian border on Feb. 8.

In 2015, producers from the History Channel's "Alone" reality TV show messaged Karie Lee Knoke, a woman who lives "beyond off the grid" near Sandpoint Idaho.The producers had heard about Lee from other contestations on the reality TV show that drops men and women into some of the harshest environments on earth with just the basics of survival. So they reached out on Facebook messenger asking if Lee would apply for Season 3. Unfortunately, what makes for a good contestant on "Alone" isn't necessarily conducive to prompt social media responses.

Tami Sanborn took this photo of a tree swallow in Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge on May 10.

Travis Wendt of Lewiston landed Idaho’s latest state-record fish on May 10.

Chris Warren and another Spokane-area man, Jeremy Smith, were among more than 20,000 foreign fighters from 52 countries who traveled to Ukraine to fight following the Russian invasion in late February.