Pamphlet Will Outline Hunts

Washington’s 1998 Big Game Hunting Seasons and Rules pamphlet is scheduled to be available at license dealers by Friday.

The pamphlet includes details on changes in special permit applications, which are due June 12 this year. The later-than-usual deadline allows hunters a month to apply for permits after the pamphlet becomes available.

The 1998 pamphlet also includes information on this year’s permit quotas and the number of permit applications received last year.

One notable revision splits Northeast Washington (game management units 101 to 142) into an elk tag area separate from the Blue Mountain elk tag area.

Also, all Western Washington elk hunting now is managed under a three-point minimum restriction except for damage areas.

Idaho hunters apply early

Hunters have the whole month of May to apply for Idaho’s fall controlled hunts for deer, elk and antelope. But they don’t have to wait until the last day to stand in line at their local vendor.

Applicants for controlled hunts may still use the mail-in procedure, but most will find it more convenient to drop by any of 430 private license vendors, where their application will be entered on the Point of Sale computer system. Hunters also can apply in person at Fish and Game offices.

Those who prefer to use a credit card may phone in their application at (800) 824-3729, a process that requires a $4.50 transaction fee. Application deadline is May 30.

Riverside State Park plan

The latest proposals for managing specific areas within Riverside State Park will be presented to the public Thursday, 7-9:30 p.m. in the Spokane Regional Health Department Building auditorium, 1101 W. College Ave.

Washington State Parks Department staffers will present their recommendations, some of which are likely to forbid horse or bicycle travel in certain areas.

This is the last public meeting before the proposals go before the state Parks and Recreation Commission. The commission is scheduled to vote on the plan in Spokane on June 12 at the Doubletree City Center Hotel.

Salmon, steelhead insight

The public is welcome to peek in as experts and advocates discuss the future of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River system during the Northwest Salmon and Steelheaders conference, Friday and Saturday at the Airport Ramada Inn.

Perhaps the most studied presentation will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, when Steve Pettit, Idaho Fish and Game Department salmon and steelhead recovery specialist, makes his presentation on fish of the Clearwater and Snake rivers.

Info: Dave James, 324-8047.

Hatchery open house

The Clark Fork and Cabinet Gorge hatcheries will hold open houses from 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Hatchery personnel will be on hand to give guided tours and answer questions about the fish being observed. For more information, call (208) 266-1431 (Cabinet Gorge) or (208) 266-1141 (Clark Fork).

Tigers for Newman Lake

About 500 half-pound tiger muskies are scheduled to be released in Newman Lake at noon Thursday.

Anglers have volunteered to help the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department disperse the fish throughout the lake. Tiger muskies are a sterile cross between a northern pike and a muskellunge. These fish were raised at the Moses Lake hatchery.

Tiger muskies have been stocked in the lake before, but so far, no one has reported catching one longer than the 36-inch minimum size.

Walleye tourney rejected

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission has rejected a request to allow a walleye fishing tournament on Canyon Ferry Reservoir near Helena this summer.

The 3-2 vote Friday came despite pleas from the Townsend Chamber of Commerce that the tournament would benefit the community and aid efforts to understand the walleye population in the reservoir. BIG SPENDERS Anglers in Idaho spent $6.4 million to fish during the rare season for hatchery chinook salmon in 1997. Using a typical multiplier employed by economists, the fishery generated an economic impact of $15.1 million, according to Fish and Game’s survey of the 1997 chinook fishery. Expenditures included money spent on food, lodging, transportation and fishing tackle. About 7,800 salmon anglers participated in fisheries conducted on the Clearwater, Little Salmon, South Fork Salmon, Boise and Payette rivers. The previous time enough fish had moved upstream to hold a season was 1992-93. A limited season is possible this year, but no decision has been made, department officials say.