Field Reports

BICYCLING

Hiawatha closes Oct. 3

The Route of the Hiawatha bike trail will remain open daily through Oct. 3, according to a report from Lookout Pass Ski Area.

Daily shuttle service has ended but shuttles continue to be offered on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Info: www.skilookout.com or www.ridethehiawatha.com.

Rich Landers

FISHING

Walleye ban upheld

Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission has refused to introduce walleye into closed lakes west of the Continental Divide.

Kalispell-area fishermen had proposed introducing sterilized walleyes into lakes that had no inlet or outlet.

The commission was swayed by state officials who said walleye stocks could not be guaranteed to be 100 percent sterile.

“I have no desire to jeopardize any existing fishery in western Montana,” Commissioner Mike Murphy of Wolf Creek said. Supporters, many of them fishermen, argued for more diversity in western Montana fisheries and cited potential economic benefits of walleye fishing and the potential to control unwanted species with the fish.

Dick Zimmer, who operates a fishing tackle business in Pablo, said, “Regardless of what you do, it’s going to happen. There are too many people from the Midwest who’d like to see walleye.”

Dale Burk, of the Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association, said introducing walleye west of the divide would be “insane.”

“Montana has the finest trout fishery in the United States of America,” he said. “We believe the introduction of this predatory fish would be a serious threat to the fisheries of western Montana.”

Associated Press

BICYLCING

Oregon cyclist dies

A Cycle Oregon participant from West Linn died after losing control of her bicycle recently on a twisting mountain road in Southern Oregon.

Karen Holmes, 60, was several miles into a long descent of Holcomb Peak, on her way to a lunch stop at Williams.

One cyclist, who had stopped to check his brakes, said he looked up to see Holmes “totally out of control” just before she missed a sharp turn and plunged over the bank in the charity event that use different routes each year.

A 43-year-old Eugene man plunged over a 40-foot embankment in 1995.

Associated Press