Field reports: Columbia dam crack to be fixed this year

BOATING – It won’t be in time for summer salmon fishing, but the cracked Wanapum Dam should be repaired and its reservoir on the Columbia River near Vantage, Washington, refilled by the end of the year.

Grant County Public Utility District says it has started drilling holes that will be used to anchor the dam in bedrock.

A 65-foot-long crack was discovered in the dam in February and the reservoir behind the dam has been drawn down dramatically.

River access open at Stateline site

BOATING – A launch site for drift boats, kayaks and rafts has been remodeled and reopened at the state line downstream from the I-90 Bridge.

The Stateline access site includes parking and native landscaping planted by the Spokane Conservation District and volunteer groups on 800 feet of shoreline, said Andy Dunau of Spokane River Forum.

The forum has details about this site and others on the Spokane River Water Trail website, spokaneriver.net/watertrail.

Stagger Inn camp open daytime only

CAMPING – The Forest Service has reopened Stagger Inn, the Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars and Granite Falls hiking trails northwest of Priest Lake, but visitors will be allowed in the area only during daytime. Camping will not be allowed this season.

The sites were closed last summer to remove hazardous trees after a camper in a tent was killed by a tree that came crashing down in a severe windstorm.

Hazardous trees have been removed, but forest officials say they want to monitor some trees during this summer.

Info: Priest Lake Ranger District, (208) 443-6839.

Water level prime at Dworshak Reservoir

BOATING – Dworshak Reservoir is near full pool, and near perfect levels for campers to reach the many boat-in minicamps along the lake.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to maintain full pool at Dworshak through July 8, subject to downstream needs.

Once the levels start going down, boaters have longer walks up the rocky beaches to the campsites.

Dent Acres campground sites can be reserved at (877) 444-6777 or recreation.gov.

Tri-Cities hikers rally for wild area

TRAILS – A fundraising campaign has been launched to preserve land near the Tri-Cities and expand hiking trails.

The campaign kicked off Thursday with a $500,000 donation from Hanford cleanup contractor CH2MHill.

Friends of Badger Mountain hopes to raise $1.5 million to buy 205 acres on Candy Mountain to create a 20-mile trail across four ridges from south of Richland to the Yakima river.

Montana parks hit 75

PARKS – Montana is celebrating the 75th anniversary of a state parks system that got its start in the mid-1930s when Congress transferred the Lewis & Clark Caverns to the state.

The system has grown to include 55 parks. It drew 2.1 million visits last year, a 5 percent increase over 2012.