PUBLIC LANDS -- Cleanup continues at the Illia Dunes area along the Snake River downstream from Lower Granite Dam after last weekend's college-crowd of about 3,000 left the popular recreation site marred by trash. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the Snake River…
PREDATORS -- About 70 people attended a pro-wolf rally in Coeur d'Alene on Thursday, the day the state's wolf hunting season opened. The Coeur d'Alene Press has this news report on the rally, including the observation that a hunter who tried to support Idaho's current…
WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS -- The effort continues: Olympic Park Rangers close trail, teach goats to keep distance from hikers
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Washington wildlife managers have given a reprieve to four wolves targeted for killing in the state’s northeastern corner. But the wolves aren't taking a holiday. The Department of Fish and Wildlife said Thursday that it was giving the temporary reprieve to give…
OUTSTANDING – ROW Adventures, a Coeur d’Alene-based rafting and adventure travel company, was named No. 1 Tour Operator in the 2012 World’s Best Awards survey by Travel + Leisure magazine readers. Tour operators were rated on criteria such as staff, itineraries, activities, accommodations, food and…
FISHING -- Starting Saturday, fishing for chinook salmon will be allowed at the Lake Chelan Project Tailrace to target fish returning to a net pen release area. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department has announced the season will run Sept. 1-Oct. 15 from the railroad…
WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS -- The recent story of a bear protecting its cubs in the presense of humans calls for a review of basic procedures for walking in bear country: Bear spray is an effective deterrent to bear attacks. Bear spray is useless if not immediately…
PUBLIC LANDS -- Fire danger as well as still-burning wild fires will be a major factor for some campers and hunters heading for recreation areas in Idaho, Montana and Washington during Labor Day weekend. Smoking, campfires and use of chain saws are restricted on most…
WATERFOWLING -- Abel Cortina of Prosser won the premier solo event in the Washington State Duck Calling Championships last weekend, earning a berth in the prestigious World Duck Calling Championships held over Thanksgiving holidays in Stuttgart, Ark. John Plughoff of Yakima dominated goose-calling, winnng the…
PREDATORS -- Idaho's 2012-2013 wolf hunting season opens statewide on Thursday (Aug. 30). A season has been open since July 1 on private land in the Panhandle Zone, but no wolves have been reported harvested to date. Wolf advocates are countering the Thursday wolf season…
WILDLIFE -- More anglers are heading into the mountains and hunters soon will follow, putting more people out among wildlife, including bears. The Grizzly Bear Outreach Project offers basic tips to help hunters and anglers avoid attracting bears, which can be dangerous people if not…
FISHING -- Uh-oh. Not only have the steelhead been slow to come up the Columbia River and in to the Snake -- many of the fish we thought would be coming won't be coming at all. Fish managers from Washington and Oregon have downgraded their…
PUBLIC LANDS -- A popular recreation area along the Snake River southwest of Pullman will not be open for Labor Day because it was trashed last weekend by hard-partying visitors. Apparently school's in session at WSU. The Corps of Engineers closed the Illia Dunes after…
TRAILS -- After a good turnout last week, author Jack Nisbet and forester Guy Gifford will be leading another walk this week on Spokane’s South Hill bluff trails to explain the value of volunteer efforts and a $50,000 grant to improve the health and fire…
FISHING -- According to last year and the averages from recent years, anglers can soon expect a spike of steelhead to start pouring over Lower Granite Dam and up the Snake River into Idaho. I mean any day. Get ready. But the action wasn't heavy…
FISHERIES -- A temporary picket-style salmon weir recently has been installed on the Okanogan River about 15 miles upstream from its confluence with the Columbia River near Brewster, the Colville Tribe reports. The structure spans the Okanogan river, but leaves room along the west bank…
WILDLIFE -- A summer heat wave and poor huckleberry crop is causing trouble for bears in the region by forcing the bruins to lower elevations where they run into conflicts with people. Heads up: A grizzly has been seen near Priest Lake. Keep a clean…
BIG GAME -- Antlers raw from freshly shed velvet, this whitetail buck's clock is ticking toward the rut. The image was made last week by Montana outdoor photographer Jaime Johnson.
LAKES -- A North Idaho water quality watchdog group hopes the courts will force the Idaho State Department of Agriculture to include biological elements in efforts to eradicate Eurasian milfoil. The Bonner County Daily Bee reports the Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper filed a petition for…
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT -- Idahoans care deeply about fish and wildlife, and whether they engage in it or not they strongly support hunting and fishing, according to a recent poll commissioned by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. That's one of the points made at…
BICYCLING -- Daniel D. Abbott, 62, of Spokane died while participating in a mountain bike race northeast of Helena on Saturday. According to Lewis and Clark County Coroner Mickey Nelson, Abbott collapsed Saturday afternoon while participating in the York 38 Special bike ride. He was…
SALMON FISHING -- Although the the season still could be closed on short notice, it appears as though Lake Wenatchee will be open to sockeye fishing through Labor Day, thanks to a record-busting run to the upper Columbia River. About 50,000 sockeye have turned into…
SHOOTING -- Here's a classy event, a good time and a chance to hone shotgunning skills on the fascinating sporting clays course at Double Barrel Ranch south of Mica Peak. What: 5th Annual Sporting Clays for Boy Scouts, with competitoin, food, prizes. When: Sept. 14.…
FISHING -- The Lewiston Greenbelt area has been the hotspot the past two weeks for anglers cashing in on the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery on the Snake and Columbia rivers. Harvest reports for Aug. 13-19 show 1,350 pikeminnows turned in to the Greenbelt check…
ENDANGERED SPECIES -- State officers were unsuccessful this week as they attempted to trap and possibly kill up to four wolves in northern Stevens County -- but they found the carcass of a gray wolf that had died of some other means. The carcass reportedly…
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.
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