WINTER SPORTS -- Snowshoeing past and present will be the topic of the free program Tuesday at the Panhandle Nordic Ski & Snowshoe Club meeting. It starts at 7 p.m. at the Coeur d'Alene River Ranger District office, 2500 E. Sherman in Fernan Village. Park…
WINTER SPORTS -- Working on an upcoming story on snowshoeing, I've compiled these tips to help you get started if you're thinking about heading up to Mount Spokane this weekend for the Women's Souper Bowl activities -- or maybe you're just heading out on your…
BIRDWATCHING -- The ever-vigilant eyes of area birdwatchers are finding more to see every day. Here's this week's report from Charles Swift in Moscow: I had a smallish mixed flock of Bohemian and cedar waxwings on campus this morning. There might be more Bohemians around…
FISHING- Even without the boat displays, anglers can justify going to the Spokane National Boat Show just to sit in on the varied list of fishing seminars. The show is on today and running through Feb. 5 at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center. Bass,…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- If you have a love for birds, make time in your Valentines Day for the Coeur d'Alene Audubon Society's Midwinter Banquet, Feb. 14, at the Greenbriar Inn, 315 Wallace Ave., in Coeur d’Alene. Cost: $35. Reservations due by Feb. 7 to Coeur…
RIVER RUNNING -- Applications to get coveted permits for floating the Selway, Snake, Middle Fork of the Salmon, or wild main Salmon rivers for this coming season must be submitted online by Monday. The shift by the Forest Service to online applications includes a few…
FISHING -- Friends who trolled from a boat for trout at Lake Roosevelt Wednesday worked 8 hours and bagged only nine trout total for three of them. Nice fish to be sure, but that's an unusually lean day at the lake's top trout fishery this…
OLYMPIA -- With the governor's sobering budget proposal offering no state funding for Washington's state parks, adminstrators are looking under every rock for money -- and they're also looking at every car. A Seattle Times story, "Could Vehicle Fees Keep State Parks Open," examines the…
HUNTING -- Washington hunters must file their season's hunting activity report by Monday for each black bear, deer, elk, or turkey tag they purchased in 2010. Whether successful or not, hunters are are required to file the reports by phone or online or face a…
FLY FISHING -- Silver Bow Fly Shop is offering the last chance before spring to take a beginner fly-tying class. Learn to tie 6 reliable fly patterns with techniques that can be applied to many more. When: Feb. 7-8 Where: Silver Bow Fly Shop Instructor:…
FISHING – It’s a harbinger of spring, or perhaps a harbinger of spring chinook salmon fishing. An 18-pound lower river stock spring chinook was picked up in the lower Columbia commercial sturgeon fishery on Wednesday. The fish, checked by Oregon fisheries officials, is the first…
IDAHO RIVERS -- Applications to get coveted permits for floating the Selway, Snake, Middle Fork of the Salmon, or wild main Salmon rivers for this coming season must be submitted online by Jan. 31. The new shift by the Forest Service to online applications includes…
NATIONAL FORESTS -- Susan Shaw, a Forest Service manager of planning, lands and minerals in Tennessee, has been named the new district ranger for the Clearwater National Forest's Palouse Ranger District headquartered in Potlatch, Idaho. Shaw has worked for the agency in several locations as…
WILDLIFE WATCHING -- A herd of more than 60 elk, mostly mature bulls, was photographed recently in Utah by a Uinta County Sheriff as he waited for the herd to cross the road ahead of him about 12 miles out of Evanston. Hunting season is…
WILDLIFE -- A helicopter's speedy pursuit and net capture of pronghorns in Nevada is captured on amateur video and posted on YouTube. If you think helicopter net gunning is child's play, you need to watch this. Click here for one video showing the intensity of…
NATIONAL PARKS -- Winter at Olyimpic National Park conjures up images of pounding surf on wilderness beaches. But many people don't realize the Western Washington park also offers stunning winter alpine beauty served by the plowed road to Hurricane Ridge. Bring your skis or snowshoes…
RIVERS -- Whether you're a paddler or a steelhead angler, you've probably heard of British Columbia's Skeena River. It's an iconic natural resource that's threatened, according to a documentary that will be playing in Spokane on Friday. "Awakening at the Skeena," a film by Andrew…
RIVERS – At a meeting today, officials from the City of Spokane Valley pledged to improve the boater access to the Spokane River at the site of the new Barker Road bridge. “The work will begin in March,” said Terry Miller of the Spokane Canoe…
PRO FISHING -- A Rathdrum man is the only angler from the West to qualify for the 2011 Bassmaster Classic – the Super Bowl of professional bass fishing – Feb. 18-20 at Bayou Segnette State Park in Louisiana. Brandon Palaniuk, 23, a member of the…
ICE FISHING -- This story out of the Muskegon (Mich.) News sort of dashed any romance I had about settling down in one of the traditional ice-fishing shacks that are so popular on the eastern half of the U.S. Turns out you have to be…
HUNTING SAFETY -- A 35-year-old eastern Idaho man who lost his right lung and most of the use of his right arm after being mistakenly shot during hunting season last fall is in the news for stating publically that he’s frustrated the shooter is facing…
OLYMPIA -- If the threat of getting snuffed out doesn't detract you from going for off-limits pow, maybe a stiff fine will do the trick. Skiers who venture into dangerous areas that are closed to the public could be fined up to $1,000 under a…
FISHING -- Frank Whitney holds up one of the reasons anglers might want to pursue kokanee at Lake Roosevelt Whitney caught this beefy 23-incher -- weighing 4 pounds, 3 ounces -- while fishing over the weekend out of Keller. His friend, Eldon Wagner, wasn't quite…
BOATING -- Get more bang for your buck by multitasking at the Spokane National Boat Show, which opens Friday and runs through Feb. 6 at Spokane Interstate Fair and Expo Center. The eight-hour America’s Boating Course, which satisfies Washington’s mandatory boater education requirements, will be…
OLYMPIA -- A bill has been introduced in the Washington Legislature that would, among other things, give loons and trumpeter swans some clout against a poacher's bank acount. When a Newport-area man senselessly killed a common loon at Yocum Lake a few years ago, Washington…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.