Field reports: State’s top bighorn featured on TV

HUNTING – The 2010 scouting effort and hunt to bag Washington’s No. 1 California bighorn sheep is scheduled to be featured today on the Sportsman Channel’s SOLO Hunters program. (Check local listings.)

The episode follows Arron Roth and his wife, Angie, as they log 23 scouting trips in Eastern Washington and finally harvest a Chelan County ram that scored 190 6/8 Boone and Crockett points.

Rich Landers

Colville Forest names two district rangers

NATIONAL FORESTS – The Colville National Forest recently named two new district rangers to manage portions of the 1.1 million acre forest. The appointees, who will start work on Sept. 12, are:

• Gayne Sears, a 25-year career Forest Service employee and former animal packer and wilderness ranger, has been assigned to the Newport and Sullivan Ranger Districts based out of Newport.

Sears will be coming to Washington from Utah, where she is enrolled in the Masters of Natural Resources graduate degree program at Utah State University.

• Robert Sanchez, a 10-year career Forest Service employee and University of Idaho alumnus, has been assigned to the Republic Ranger District based out of Republic.

Sanchez, who’s worked on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, will be coming to Republic in September from the Mendocino National Forest, based in Willows, Calif., where he is the forest hydrologist.

Rich Landers

Juniper Dunes access may be too expensive

PUBLIC LANDS – Franklin County officials say a shortage of federal funding might prevent them from building the first 2 miles of Peterson Road past private land in its effort to provide legal public access to the Juniper Dunes Wilderness Area.

Engineers’ estimates place the project at up to $155,500 more than the $716,500 from the federal Bureau of Land Management, which manages the wilderness.

Despite the cost difference, the road project still is moving along. Franklin County commissioners have set a public hearing Wednesday to declare Peterson Road a county road, subject to construction and right-of-way agreements.

That’s the next step needed to complete the project to provide legal public access to Juniper Dunes.

Associated Press

Work blocks access to Elsie Lake grounds

OUTGOING – Construction is blocking the best access to Elsie Lake Campground, a popular high lake in the Coeur d’Alene River Ranger District.

Forest Roads 264 and 2354 were closed last week. Work will continue to November.

Option: Polaris Peak Road 330 is open, but recommended only for high clearance vehicles.