ACTIVE OUTDOORS - 2010 will go down as the year Spokane finally got some national recognition as an outdoor town, even though it was a bit naïve and understated. Generally falling just under the national radar, Spokane was been exposed as one of the nation's…
WILDLIFE -- Bighorn sheep took a big hit in the Yakima region as well as in Western Montana in 2010, and no one can say the carnage is over. Pneumonia killed many of the bighorns outright while wildlife managers shot and killed even more to…
FISHERIES -- Sockeye salmon were big news in 2010. Around 34 million sockeye salmon returned to British Columbia's Fraser River this year – the most since 1913 – compared with last year’s 1.7 million – the lowest in more than 50 years. The Columbia River…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- From land and in the air, wildlife biologists from Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have been surveying wolf packs and tabulating data from the year to come up with wolf status reports for 2010. At least 1,706 wolves in 242 confirmed packs were…
TRAPPING -- The Panhandle Region's River otter harvest quota of 15 was reached at 10 a.m. Tuesday, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said. The otter season for the entire region closes at 10 a.m. on Friday, according to the rules requiring the closure…
Former Spokane residents Torsten Kjellstrand and his son, Bjorn, reach to their Swedish roots to demonstrate a few basic skate-skiing techniques to try on the groomed cross-country ski trails.
HUNTING -- A slight decrease in Panhandle Region moose permits is proposed for 2011, but hunters will could get the spice of two new mountain goat hunts. These and other 2011 Idaho trophy big-game hunting proposals have been released for public comment through Jan. 14.…
HUNTING -- This photo was just received with no elaboration from concerned big-game hunters and Santa fans in the far north. Stay tuned.
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- While Eagle Watch Week is underway at Lake Coeur d'Alene's Wolf Lodge Bay, Oregon has begun Whale Watch Week on the state's Pacific coastline. Gray whales have started their winter migration from their feeding areas off Alaska to their calving and breeding…
PUBLIC LANDS — This initial brief report, which just moved on the Associated Press wire, may be of particular interest in Washington, where BLM has consolidated its land holdings into several large acreages popular with sportsmen on the East Side of the state. Here's all…
WILDLIFE COPS -- Patrolling for illegal snowmobilers in caribou country, tracking down the source of sick farm-raised Idaho elk dumped in Washington, dealing with moose in yards and haystacks -- all in a week's work for Washington Fish and Wildlife Department enforcement officers on the…
FISHING -- As I research the top outdoor stories of 2010, the series of record kokanee caught this year from Oregon's Wallowa Lake comes readily to the surface. Can anyone in the Inland Northwest top the story of Ron Campbell of La Grande, Ore., who…
NORDIC SKIING -- In addition to the normal offerings of one-day cross-country skiing and snowshoeing clinics, a new cross-country skiing progressive series course for novice skiers is being offered at Mount Spokane by Spokane Parks and Recreation. In three separate sessions, participants learned proper beginner…
SHELLFISHING -- Clam diggers can ring in 2011 with a three-day razor clam dig on Washington’s coastal beaches over the New Year’s holiday. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife approved the series of evening digs this week after marine toxin tests showed that the…
SKIING -- All that new terrain on White Pass’ Paradise Basin expansion apparently is not enough for some ski area guests. In the first 10 days Paradise Basin was been open this season, 14 people got lost outside the boundary, according to the Yakima Herald.…
WINTER SPORTS -- Be careful out there. Avalanche conditions for the entire Idaho Panhandle National Forest Advisory Area are rated as moderate on all aspects greater than 30 degrees above 5,000 feet, Forest Service experts reported today. Natural avalanches are unlikely, human triggered avalanches are…
WATCHABLE WILDLIFE -- The 2011 Othello Sandhill Crane Festival has been canceled. Organizers told The Columbia Basin Herald there weren't enough volunteers for the event, which usually has been held in March for the past 13 years. The festival celebrated the arrival of the migrating…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- “I can hardly believe it myself, but the total today was 254, well over the record!” said Carrie Hugo, U.S. Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist on Thursday after completing her weekly survey of bald eagles at Wolf Lodge Bay. In the…
PUBLIC LANDS -- A last-ditch attempt to get a package of wilderness measures and public lands bills through Congress died this week on a single vote cast by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). "These bills were bi-partisan, non-controversial, and critical for all regions of the country,"…
HUNTING -- I went out chasing pheasants through the countryside this week with a buddy who has a Labrador retriever -- about 100 pounds of brute force. Pheasants, Angus bulls and taut barbed-wire fences all fear this dog. Maybe you can pick him out of…
BIRDING -- Most people visiting Mount Spokane this month are focused on frolicking in the snow, whether it's on skis, snowshoes, inner tubes or snowmobiles. But there's a lot more life in the winter mountain forest than most visitors realize -- unless you head up…
WILDLIFE -- It hasn't been detected yet in the West, but a flesh-eating fungus known as white-nose syndrome is devastating bat populations in the eastern half of the United States. In the past four years, more than one million bats from at least seven species…
FISHING -- Starting Jan. 1, anglers will be allowed to use barbed hooks for fishing for Salmon and steelhead on the Columbia River, from the mouth to McNary Dam. Washington is putting the rule into effect to avoid confusion with Oregon's rule. But let's be…
PADDLING -- The three world-class kayakers were in the middle of Lukuga River in Congo on Dec. 7. The remote stretch was about 100 feet wide, and the two Americans were paddling so close to South African guide Hendri Coetzee their blades would touch if…
NATIONAL PARKS -- An alliance of veteran superintendents from Glacier and Waterton Lakes national parks has written a letter encouraging swift government action on a public lands bill to protect the parks. The joint public letter, signed by six former Glacier superintendents and two former…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
| Dec. 2010 | Nov. 2010 |
