Agency Seeks Comments On Seasons

The Idaho Fish and Game Department will take comments on proposed seasons for elk, deer, bear and cougar at open house meetings throughout the Panhandle.

No changes involving big game have been recommended for North Idaho hunting seasons in 1997, said Jim Hayden, regional wildlife manager in Coeur d’Alene. But changes could be possible in 1998.

However, the agency is considering a four-week extension of the cougar season in the Selkirk Mountains next fall. This would be designed to protect endangered mountain caribou from cougars following the banning of hound hunting for cougars in Washington.

Department staffers will be on hand to answer questions and take comments from 4 p.m.-8 p.m. as follows:

Sandpoint, Saturday at Bonner County Fairgrounds.

St. Maries, Tuesday, at Eagles Hall.

Coeur d’Alene, Feb. 6 at Kootenai County Fairgrounds.

Osburn, Feb. 8 at Silver Hills Middle School.

Ski panel in Spokane

The Washington Sno-Park Advisory Committee that tends to matters involving cross-country skiing will meet Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. at The Resort at Mount Spokane.

The committee works with the Washington Parks and Recreation Commission, which oversees 103 SnoPark areas across the state. The Sno-Parks are plowed parking areas near snowmobile and cross-country ski trails. The parking areas provide access to 160 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails and 2,4000 miles of groomed snowmobile trails.

“Having the meeting at Mount Spokane will give the committee members a chance to see the variety of people that come to use a good groomed trail system,” said Bob Holcomb, the committee’s Spokane representative.

The Resort at Mount Spokane is on Mount Spokane Park Drive just before the state park’s office.

Elk on the move

Elk are ambling out of Yellowstone National Park and into Montana by the thousands in search of winter forage, the heaviest migration in years, and more than 1,000 have been killed by hunters.

But even with this hefty harvest, wildlife managers are worried because there already are more elk on Montana’s winter ranges than last year, and they came out much earlier, said Tom Lemke, a wildlife biologist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Lemke said the count in mid-January in one key area was nearly 7,800 elk. Last year the count was less than 2,000.

Hunters reduced the herd size by just over 1,000 animals in the first three of seven weekend specialpermit hunts. Only 1,400 were killed in all of last winter’s hunts.

“If we continue at the current pace, we’ll set a late-season harvest record in the neighborhood of 2,400,” Lemke said.

Even with the big harvest, however, the elk could be in trouble if harsh weather persists and drives more of them out of the park.

, DataTimes