Michael Wright

SANDPOINT – Idaho is home to some of the country’s most spectacular wilderness areas.

SALMO PRIEST WILDERNESS – Sullivan Creek Road begins east of Metaline Falls and follows its eponymous creek for miles. When the road turns north, the climbing starts. It winds high into the Selkirk Mountains and dead ends on a ridge close to Salmo Mountain. Then there are no more roads.

The season of long walks with a shotgun is upon us.

Wildlife feeding is now formally off limits in parts of Spokane County under a new rule announced Thursday as part of the state’s fight against chronic wasting disease.

Another wolfpack is under the gun after a series of attacks on livestock.

CABINET MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS – A little less than a half-mile up the trail to Leigh Lake, just about when the incline begins to get annoying, there’s a light blue sign screwed to a tree.

When the Wilderness Act was signed into law in 1964, the thought was that it would preserve a distinct form of recreation – the sort of long trips that had hikers or hunters disappearing into the woods for days at a time.

The lab that handles chronic wasting disease testing for Washington is preparing for a busy fall.