Out & About

OUTCRY

Grizzly bumper crop

Vehicles were the grizzly bear’s worst enemy in northwestern Montana last year.

Of 25 documented human-caused grizzly mortalities in 2007 around the Glacier National Park and Blackfeet Reservation region, seven bears were killed in automobile collisions and five were hit by trains, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports.

The average overall annual human-caused mortality count has been 20 grizzlies.

The 2007 toll by vehicles was the highest on record.

OUTPEOPLE

Area standouts

Dick Slagle, 89, of Ferry County has been honored as a “wilderness hero” by the Wilderness Society for his efforts to protect the Kettle River Range.

John Newbury, 52, of Chewelah has received the Lew Jewett Memorial Life Award from the Federation of Fly Fishers for career contributions to the art, education and enjoyment of fly tying.

OUTSPLASH

Tieton raft trip a fall reprieve

While the whitewater rafting season is long gone on many rivers, the Tieton near Yakima is ready to rage with the annual September release of warm water – not the chilling snowmelt of spring – from Rimrock Reservoir.

The stream provides non-stop action in the state’s fastest moving, fastest dropping rafting river.

Spokane Parks and Recreation has a screaming deal to raft a 12- mile stretch of the Tieton on Sept. 13. Cost: $75, includes guides and rafting plus lunch. Transportation on your own. (The river offers great camping.)

Preregister: 625-6200; www.spokaneparks.org .

OUTDO

Endurance events

Add these two leg-numbing activities to the long list of regional endurance events scheduled for next weekend:

•Seven Summits Trail Race, Sept. 6 – Trail runners take over this popular mountain biking trail for a 26-kilometer lung-buster from Nancy Greene Summit to Red Resort near Rossland, British Columbia. Cost: $49.

Info: (877) 969-7669; www.sevensummitstrailrun.com .

•24 Hours for Hank, Sept. 6-7 – Road cyclists vie for prizes in a 24-hour solo or team relay road bike ride on a 19-mile loop near Sandpoint to raise money for the battle against cystinosis, a rare metabolic disease that affects approximately 500 people in the United States, including Hank Sturgis, 2, of Sandpoint.

Info: www.24hoursforhank.org .

OUTLOOK

Best fishing times

Lunar tables from the U.S. Naval Observatory. Be fishing at least one hour before and one hour after peak times. Applies to all time zones. (* best days.)

Through Sept. 7

Today: 1:45 p.m., 2:05 a.m.

Monday: 2:30 p.m., 2:50 a.m.

Tuesday: 3:15 p.m., 3:35 a.m.

Wednesday: 4 p.m., 4:20 a.m.

Thursday: 4:45 p.m., 5:10 a.m.

Friday: 5:35 p.m., 5:55 a.m.

Saturday: 6:20 p.m. 6:45 a.m.

* Next Sunday: 7:15 p.m., 7:40 a.m.