Field Reports
NATIONAL FOREST
Lookout buffs to meet
A new Forest Service directive that threatens to raze unused forest fire lookouts will be a hot topic of conversation at the Western Region Conference of the Forest Fire Lookout Association Sept. 23-24 at Camp Morrison in McCall, Idaho.
The conference features trips to historic lookouts in the area and presentations on maintenance and restoration efforts by both private citizen groups and public lands agencies.
The conference is open to the public. Info: www.firelookout.org.
Rich Landers
MOUNT SPOKANE
Ski trails need attention
Volunteers who took a whack at clearing the cross country ski trails at Mount Spokane State Park on Saturday say they could use more volunteer help for the next scheduled trail maintenance work day on Sept. 25.
Workers should bring pruners and other clearing tools if they have them. Also bring water and a lunch. Meet 9 a.m. at Selkirk Lodge.
Info: Sam Schlieder, 926-7783.
Rich Landers
NATIVE AMERICANS
Walrus cam shuttered
A pair of Web cameras providing Internet images of walruses basking on Round Island, Alaska, was shut off last week at the request of native leaders, who did not want viewers to see the animals shot and butchered during the traditional fall hunt.
The cameras transmit to a popular Web site where viewers normally can watch live video of Pacific walruses snoozing on a rocky beach. The site has tallied tens of thousands of hits since it went online more than a month ago, and viewer overload often caused it to crash.
But Alaska Natives fear widespread viewing of Internet images of walruses being killed with rifles on the half-mile beach could threaten the traditional subsistence hunt.
Alaska Natives have the right to conduct the traditional walrus hunt in privacy, said Helen Chythlook, executive director of the Bristol Bay Native Association’s Qayassiq Walrus Commission.
“When you go deer hunting you don’t want a camera shining on you,” Chythlook said.
Native hunters are permitted to take up to 20 walruses during the hunt, which ends Oct. 20. The animals are difficult to count as they slip in and out of the water, but they are not considered endangered, threatened or depleted by federal standards, Meehan said.
The Web cam site is www.alaskasealife.org/New/ research/roundisland.php
Associated Press
BIG GAME
Elk hit by lightning
Lightning is believed to have killed 12 elk southwest of Lander, Wyo., in Shoshone National Forest in late August.
Following a tip from a forest visitor, Wyoming Game and Fish staffers went into the upper Squaw Creek area and found 10 elk in a stand of smaller timber and two more within 50 yards of that group.
The three yearling cows, six adult cows and three calves were likely killed by a single bolt.
Associated Press
WILDLIFE HABITAT
Fence protects aspen
A boy scout and a group of elk hunters did a good deed for wildlife recently.
An aspen grove in high-quality wildlife habitat in the Colville National Forest recently was protected from livestock grazing by a fence built by 10 volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation under the direction of a scout from Troop 921 in Colville.
As part of his requirements to reach the rank of Eagle Scout, Joey Hunt organized the project and received funding from the RMEF to take on a chunk of the Pend Oreille Valley Aspen Restoration Project.
Aspens are important habitat for a wide range of birds and animals, including elk. The half-mile of aesthetically pleasing log zig-zag fence in Bartlett Meadows south of Floweree Trail will keep free-range cattle out of the grove so it can continue regenerating itself, RMEF members said.
Rich Landers
Priest Lake
Trail cleanup
Priest Lake State Park will host its annual National Public Lands Day event 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday Volunteers are encouraged to participate in a trail cleanup at the park. A free barbeque lunch will be provided to volunteers at 12:30 p.m. The park entrance fee is waived for volunteers and their families for the day. Volunteers should wear closed-sole shoes, long pants, gloves and long-sleeve shirts. For more information call (208) 443-2200.