Out & About: Program, book examine Elwha River restoration
OUTBACK – The author of “ Elwha: A River Reborn“ will be in Spokane on Tuesday for a free presentation on the people, places, fish and history behind the world’s largest dam removal effort.
Lynda Mapes, a Seattle Times reporter, will speak at 7 p.m. in the Community Building, 35 W. Main Ave.
The program is sponsored by Save Our Wild Salmon and the Spokane Falls Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
Mapes joined Times photographer Steve Ringman to document what’s led to this monumental $325 million environmental restoration project.
Two antiquated dams are being removed to allow the Elwha to run freely for 45 miles from its headwaters in Olympic National Park to the Stait of Juan de Fuca. The effort is opening more than 70 miles of spawning habitat to steelhead and all five species of Pacific salmon
Scientists, tribes, elected officials, local communities, agency officials and anglers are putting stock in the power of nature to turn back the clock on an Olympic Peninsula river once known for hosting runs of 100-pound chinook.
Cougars prowling Valley
OUTSEE – Cougar sightings have been reported in homeowners’ yards in the past two weeks, including a development near Newman Lake.
A photo sent to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department showed a cougar at a residence in the 22000 block of East Morris Road in Spokane Valley on Thursday morning.
State Fish and Wildlife officials say they evaluate rare cougar sightings for possible action, but the cats usually move on before they can respond.
Hikers: Watch where you ‘go’
OUTWHIZ – To avoid confrontations with aggressive mountain goats in Washington, hikers are advised to relieve themselves away from trails or camps.
Officials responding to incidents in Olympic National Park and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness say goats can be attracted to trails because they crave salt, found in urine.
Hikers are urged to use toilets and not urinate close to trails or campsites.
Three years ago a Port Angeles man was fatally gored by a mountain goat on a trail in Olympic National Park.
Kid-hiking clinic at REI
OUTDO – Preregister for a free Hiking with Kids clinic, 7 p.m., July 25, at REI. Sign up on the Web at www.rei.com/spokane.