The Year Outdoors 1995 Was Year Of Extremes, Both Natural And Man-Made

The outdoors was amuck with extremes in 1995.

From the ravages of uncommon weather to the ultra-right-wing assault on the environment, outdoorsmen had to adapt and respond.

In May, long after skiers had hung up their boards, tractors had to be called out to clear paths through the stubborn snowpack of Mount Spokane for the national off-road bicycle championships.

But a dearth of snow was the problem in December. For the first time in memory, barely enough snow had accumulated for cross-country skiing. The alpine slopes still had not opened by Christmas.

“This is the first time I’ve ever finished my Christmas shopping early,” said frustrated nordic skier Steve Cole on Dec. 10.

Spring floods delayed opening of portions of Glacier National Park. Flooding returned in November, bloating streams and triggering numerous landslides in North Idaho watersheds prized for their native cutthroat trout. Winds approaching hurricane force blasted the Inland Northwest in December, a tip that backpackers and horsemen will have tough going over blowdowns on mountain trails next spring.

The wet spring was the bane of nesting success for pheasants, chukars and other upland birds. But rains were a boon for ducks by filling potholes that have been dry for more than five years from Lincoln County to the prairies of North Dakota. Years of conservation effort and a second year of plentiful rains brought record populations of some ducks to the North American prairies. The overall breeding duck population was 35.9 million ducks, up more than 10 percent from 1994 and the highest since 1980. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service responded by allowing states to lengthen hunting seasons and boost the daily bag limit of mallards to six - up from four in 1994.

The waters of Dworshak Reservoir boiled with a record number of kokanee, more than twice as many adult fish than any year has produced since the fishery emerged in 1980.

The kokanee were small, but 25-fish limits were common. Unfortunately, deep drawdowns to boost endangered salmon migrations continue to plague the recreation industry along the reservoir.

The need for salmon conservation remained urgent. Wild chinook and coho salmon runs in Puget Sound and the Columbia River continued to falter. Many coastal areas and the Strait of Juan de Fuca remained closed to sport salmon fishing.

Even Canada’s salmon fisheries showed the strain. August headlines in British Columbia newspapers included “Bell Tolls for Sports Fishing” and “Fishers Face $75 Million Catastrophe.” Inland fisheries had their own woes.

Lewiston, Idaho, civic leaders canceled their annual steelhead derby to protect a dismal return to the Clearwater River.

Idaho officials voted to prohibit anglers from keeping bull trout at Lake Pend Oreille, the last water in the state where the dwindling species could be legally caught and killed.

Montana launched a statewide effort to assess the epidemic of whirling disease and its impacts on rainbow trout.

This year, the disease has been found in numerous watersheds, including the Clark Fork River. But so far they are not showing the disastrous symptoms that decimated rainbows on the Madison.

A December outbreak of a pneumonialike disease among bighorn sheep in Asotin County prompted wildlife officials to organize a helicopter rescue mission, the first of its kind in the region.

Net-gunners captured 72 diseased sheep, which were transported to Idaho for treatment. At least 34 bighorns already had died in the field from the fast-spreading disease. By Christmas, at least three of the captured bighorns had died and biologists confirmed that the disease had spread to some bighorns across the Grande Ronde River in Oregon.

Illegal introductions of fish species continued to plague Western fisheries, particularly in Montana.

A panel of biologists estimated the illegal stocking of lake trout into Wyoming’s Yellowstone Lake, which occurred several years ago, could reduce the native cutthroat population more than 50 percent in 20 years. That would affect not only fishermen, but also Yellowstone National Park creatures such as grizzlies, eagles, pelicans and otters.

Ranchers scowled and endangered species nay-sayers mocked the release of 29 gray wolves to Yellowstone and central Idaho.

The cost of reintroducing the wolves to their traditional range has been estimated at $6 million over eight years. However, if the first season with wolves at Yellowstone Park is an indication, the gains in tourism to the region could be double that amount, officials said.

More than 175 state wildlife agencies and conservation groups pushed for a 5 percent federal tax on outdoor recreation equipment to benefit efforts such as wolf restoration as well as wild plants and animals not hunted for sport or protected by the Endangered Species Act. Debate continues in Congress.

Indeed, debate continues on numerous proposals of great importance to fish, wildlife and outdoor recreation.

While Americans plod through the painful cuts necessary to balance the nation’s budget, some ultra-rightwing Republicans leveled an outright assault on environmental regulations designed to protect fish and wildlife.

After being elected in the GOP tidal wave of November 1994, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, became the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which he quickly renamed the House Committee on Resources.

He didn’t like the word “natural.”

Young said he would limit the influence of lobbyists for conservation groups while opening doors to established Capitol Hill lobbyists for extractive resources industries.

The Republican, who has waved knives and oosiks at political opponents on Capitol Hill, tagged a provision to an appropriations bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling.

Most of the anti-environmental sentiment surfed into Washington on a wave of corporate cash.

Senators who supported drilling in ANWR received an average of $77,929 from pro-drilling political action groups, while those voting to prohibit drilling received an average of $18,356, according to a study by the Environmental Working Group.

Washington Sen. Slade Gorton drew up his reform of the Endangered Species Act behind closed doors with timber industry representatives. Reauthorization is still under debate.

Fifth District Republican Rep. George Nethercutt was using appropriation bills to prohibit scientific assessments of fisheries that might affect development in the Columbia River drainage.

At year’s end, Nethercutt also was supporting a Farm Bill provision (Section 604) that would prohibit the Forest Service from amending management plans and activities if necessary to maintain viable populations of fish and wildlife.

From sea to shining sea, right-wingers were writing legislation at state and federal levels with sweeping restrictions on agencies charged with enforcing environmental laws.

A federal law exempted timber companies from environmental regulations in order to expedite harvesting of burned timber.

However, Washington voters rejected an industry-backed attempt to paralyze environmental regulation through Referendum 48, the socalled “property rights” initiative.

Politics vs. professionalism was at the core of Referendum 45. Washington voters approved the measure, restoring the state Fish and Wildlife Commission’s authority to make fish and wildlife management policy.

Bickering over the national budget forced temporary government shutdowns that prompted the first-ever closing of Grand Canyon National Park in the peak of its fall tourist season.

Other notable outdoor stories for 1995 include:

* Russ Cooley of Redmond said he spent nearly $2,000 in legal fees, traveled 1,500 miles to beat a $133 ticket for taking his 2-year-old son fishing. The Fish and Wildlife Department officer said the child was incapable of handling the large rod; therefore Cooley was cited for breaking the rule against using more than one rod at a time.

* A young grizzly found dead just after the spring black bear hunting season northwest of Bonners Ferry was the 13th grizzly known to have died in the Selkirk Mountains since 1983. Ten of the grizzlies - federally protected as endangered species - have been killed by poachers or hunters.

* By selling scattered parcels, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management acquired a more concentrated 10,700 acres of public land in Lincoln County. The “Twin Lakes” property was purchased from Ritzville-area rancher Bill Harder and family for $2.6 million.

* At least 25 moose were known to be killed by poachers in Idaho Panhandle during fall.

* Washington approved a “weighted” permit lottery system that gives unsuccessful applicants better odds for drawing big game permits.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Color Photos Graphic: Whirling disease affecting trout