Outdoors 1995 In Review

Milestones

John Roskelley, world-class mountaineer, trades peaks for politics; becomes first active sportsman in memory to win seat on Spokane County Commission.

Aspen, Colo., becomes first ski area in nation to charge more than $50 for regular season lift ticket.

Gray wolves make their first appearance in the Northern Rockies in 60 years as 29 wolves captured by biologists in Canada are released into Yellowstone and central Idaho ecosystems.

Tyler Nimke of Harrison becomes first angler to submit a large-scale sucker for state record listings. Fish weighs 4 pounds, 11 ounces, caught in Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Squaw Bay.

Katie Scanlin of Boise becomes first angler to record Idaho record squawfish, a 1-pound, 6-ouncer from the Salmon River.

Bighorn sheep get boost from Montana Supreme Court ruling that requires environmental impact statements before domestic sheep can be grazed on public bighorn range. Bighorns are susceptible to diseases spread by domestic sheep. Scottish climber Alison Hargreaves becomes first woman to solo Mount Everest with using bottled oxygen.

Transition

Died: Scottish climber Alison Hargreaves, 33. Death comes three months after she became first woman soloist of Everest. She had reached summit of K2, world’s second highest peak, but disappears in avalanche during descent.

Died: Fred L. Peterson, 69, founder and publisher of The Outdoor Press in Spokane.

Died: Morey Haggin, 88, Spokane’s dean of conservation activism.

Died: George Fischer, 72, after spearheading completion of Spokane Rifle Club indoor range.

Died: Jezabelle, last of 18 black-footed ferrets - thought to be last in existance - captured in wild near Meeteetse, Wyo., for endangered species breeding program.

De-listed: Oregon officials removed Columbian white-tailed deer from state endangered species list.

Anniversaries

100th, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission.

25th, Earth Day.

20th, In-Fisherman Magazine.

10th, USDA Conservation Reserve Program.

For the record

Washington: Northern pike, 32 pounds 3 ounces, caught in Long Lake by Fred Ruetsch, Spokane. Coho salmon, 19.67 pounds, Sekiu. Albacore tuna, 40 pounds 2 ounces, Westport. Northern squawfish, 6.66 pounds, Snake River. Peamouth chub, .99 pounds, Hanford Reach of Columbia. Tiger muskie, 28.25 pounds, Mayfield Lake. Largescale sucker, 4.22 pounds, Columbia River.

Idaho: Smallmouth bass, 8 pounds 1/2 ounce, caught in Dworshak Reservoir by Dan Steigers, Juliaetta, Idaho. Tiger muskie, 17 pounds 4 ounces, caught in Hauser Lake by Dennis Hicks, Post Falls. Northern squawfish, 4 pounds 6 ounces, caught in Lake Pend Oreille by Lloyd Campbell, Sagle. Atlantic salmon, 13.25 pounds, Deadwood Reservoir. White crappie, 2 pounds 12 ounces, Brownlee Reservoir.

World record Tule elk taken in California by resident hunter Jack Sellers. Bull weighed 910 pounds, largest recorded by hunters.

Montana’s Big Sky Ski & Summer Resort installs tram to elevation of 11,150 feet, giving skiers 4,180 vertical feet of terrain, more than any U.S. resort.

Out & About

Night vision binoculars cast shadow over hunting, as sportsmen question whether every technological advance should be allowed in their sport.

Grand Canyon National Park rangers kill two dozen mule deer that had become hooked on visitors’ junk food. Meanwhile, in Oregon’s Wallowa State Park, at least three cases of deer attacks on humans were recorded, including one in which an elderly woman was gored by a buck as she fed apples to a group of deer.

Wheels begin turning for Odyssey 2000, a round-the-world bike tour to celebrate turn of century. Although still five years off, about 100 people preregister for tour. Cost: $36,000.

Conservation group based in Moscow, Idaho, petitions U.S. Forest Service to end stocking of trout in wilderness lakes.

Animal rights groups begin gathering signatures in Idaho and Washington for initiatives to ban baiting and hound hunting for bears and cougars.

Signs of the times

White Elephant stores of Spokane end traditional cash-only policy by accepting major credit cards.

For first time, campers on Priest Lake’s Bartoo and Kalispell islands must pay fee for camping. Moreover, those who camp in areas where there are no pit toilets are required to have “honey bucket.”

Wild Walls indoor climbing gym opens in old Spokane Armory building with massive 40-foot-high structure built of 16 tons of steel, making it one of largest in world.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos