Field Reports

SKIING

Annual ski swaps coming up

It’s become a fall tradition: Buy or sell used skiing and boarding equipment and clothing at several “swaps” in the Inland Northwest (sellers check-in gear before the sale dates and pay consignment fee):

“The Mount Spokane Ski Patrol Ski Swap — the 41st annual event — Oct. 22 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Oct. 23 from 9 a.m.-noon at the Spokane Interstate Fair and Expo Center. Bring items to be sold 3 p.m.-9 p.m. on Oct. 21. Info: www.mssp.org.

“Silver Mountain National Ski Patrol Winter Gear Swap, Nov. 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Kootenai County Fairgrounds. Bring items to be sold 3 p.m.-8 p.m. on Nov. 4. Info: www.silverpatrol.com.

“49 Degrees Ski Patrol Ski Swap, Nov. 12, from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at Northeast Washington Fairgrounds in Colville. Bring items to be sold Nov. 11 from 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. or Nov. 12 from 8 a.m.-9 a.m.

“Cross-country Ski Sale and Swap, Nov. 5 at Fitness Fanatics, 12425 E. Trent. Bring in items to be sold before 5 p.m. on Nov. 4. Info: 922-6080.

Rich Landers

MOUNT SPOKANE

Park summit road closed

Mount Spokane State Park closed the summit road for the season on Saturday. Until next spring, the only way for the public to reach the mountain’s top will be by foot or eventually by ski, snowshoe or chairlift.

Rich Landers

LOCAL TRAILS

Spokane County trails planned

The public can get a look at the ground level of an ambitious Spokane County non-motorized trail plan during an open house 7 p.m.-9 p.m. on Oct. 18 at REI, 1125 N. Monroe.

“The need for a countywide trails plan was identified in the County’s 2002 Parks, Open Space and Recreation Plan,” said David Bauermeister, spokesman for the Inland Northwest Trails Coalition. “A lack of resources prevented the Parks Department from undertaking the development of the plan until now.”

Partnerships including Spokane County Parks & Recreation Department, the National Park Service, Parks to Peaks and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington are paving the way toward more development of routes such as rail-trails that lead to Cheney and beyond.

“Last year, Inland Northwest Trails Coalition was awarded a National Park Service technical assistance grant to develop a regional trails plan,” Bauermeister said.

The group promotes protection and preservation of area trails, waterways, wildlife corridors and recreational destinations, he said.

Info: 459-4108

Rich Landers

WILDLIFE REFUGES

Habitat protection pays

Recreational use on national wildlife refuges generated almost $1.4 billion in total economic activity during the 2004 fiscal year, according to a report recently released by Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton.

Nationally, the economic activity related to the 545 national wildlife refuges is nearly four times the $391 million the refuge system received for operations and maintenance, she said. The refuges helped create nearly 24,000 private sector jobs that generate about $454 million in income and nearly $151 million in tax revenue and local and national levels.

Local examples among the 93 refuges surveyed include Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge, which generated $3,658,400 in total economic activity, according to “Banking on Nature 2004: The Economic Benefits to Local Communities of National Wildlife Refuge Visitation.”

Little Pend Oreille refuge, southeast of Colville, generated $3.82 for every dollar received for the refuge’s operations and maintenance budget last fiscal year, it said.

Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge near Bonners Ferry generated $2,185,300 including 43 new jobs for nearby communities, the report said.

A wide range of recreational activity is allowed on most refuges, including hiking, driving, birdwatching, photography and hunting.

Despite its distance from big population centers, the Kootenai refuge in 2004 had 21,523 visitors, about two-thirds of them from non-residents.

Rich Landers

NATIONAL FORESTS

Udall confronts infestation

A Democratic congressman with a reputation as an environmentalist said last week the West’s tree-killing bark beetle infestation is so bad that some logging rules should be streamlined to help combat the pest.

“The problem isn’t coming. The problem is on top of us,” Colorado Rep. Mark Udall said.

Udall met with about 150 elected officials, federal land managers, timber industry employees and western Colorado residents at Winter Park, one of the beetle’s hot spots.

He said he will introduce legislation to expand the federal Healthy Forest Act to give states and communities more leeway in attacking the insect infestations raging throughout the West.

The beetles burrow under bark and leave stands of rusty brown pines in swaths across some of the West’s most scenic vistas.

Associated Press