Bead Lake needs summer host
The Colville National forest is seeking a summer host for the Bead Lake boat launch site.
Hosts get an RV space with hookups from spring into fall plus a stipend Thursdays through Sundays, Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Contact: Nan Berger, Newport Ranger District, (509) 447-7311 or e-mail nberger@fs.fed.us.
Rich Landers
ICE AGE FLOODS
Geologists lead scablands field trip
Experts in the Ice Age Floods that carved much of Eastern Washington’s landscape will lead a May 6 field tour by bus.
See how water descended Staircase Rapids and Cow Creek Coulee into Washtucna Coulee and shot across the drainage divide into the Snake River valley, forever changing the course of the Palouse River and creating Palouse Falls.
Space limited. Preregister.
Contact: Registration form at www.iceagefloodsinstitute.org. Click on “calendar,” see May 6.
Rich Landers
HUNTING
State record moose measured
A Washington record bull moose mount was confirmed by official scorers at the Big Horn Outdoor Adventure Show in Spokane last month.
Mark Babiar of Leavenworth was hunting last fall in Stevens County when he bagged the bull, which scored 183 6/8 on the Boone and Crockett scale. The previous record was taken in 2004 and scored 176.
Rich LandersHUNTING
Culling ineffective in curbing CWD
Killing deer and elk to contain the spread of chronic wasting disease hasn’t worked, leading the Colorado Division of Wildlife to give up the oft criticized practice started in 2001 during the height of fears the disease would damage the state’s hunting industry.
Officials have killed 2,300 animals on both sides of the Continental Divide to contain initial outbreaks or reduce populations in hot spots for the disease.
Data shows the practice, known as “culling,” hasn’t had any significant effect on the disease in the wild. The animals killed by game officials were a small fraction of the 100,000 deer and elk killed by hunters in recent years.
Associated Press
HUNTING/SHOOTING
Guns a gas in Idaho
The number of gun dealers has declined in Idaho, but the state remains one of five in the nation with more licensed gun dealers than gas stations, says a report by the nonprofit Violence Policy Center, based in Washington, D.C.
The report, released this winter, says Idaho has 682 gun dealers and 663 gas stations. Other states in that category are Montana, Oregon, Alaska and Wyoming.
However, the number of gun dealers in Idaho is down from the 2,300 dealers the state had in 1994 who held Type 1 federal firearms licenses, the license required to sell guns.
“Without a doubt, it’s a case of quality versus quantity,” Ed Santos, owner of Center Target Sports in Post Falls, told the Coeur d’Alene Press.
“You have to realize that years ago obtaining an FFL (federal firearms license) was easy and now there’s more restrictions,” Santos said.
Nationally, the number of gun dealers has fallen 78 percent from 245,628 in 1994 to 54,902 in 2005, according to the report. The rising cost of insurance has been a factor.
Associated Press
ENDANGERED SPECIES
Biologists unite for Species Act
As a U.S. Senate committee prepares to take up revisions to the Endangered Species Act, nearly 6,000 biologists from around the country signed a letter last week urging senators to preserve scientific protections in the landmark law.
The House passed an Endangered Species Act rewrite last year that horrified many scientists and environmentalists. One environmental lobbyist said the bill amounted to a “death warrant for treasured American wildlife.”
They are lobbying the Senate now, in hopes its Environment and Public Works Committee will take a more moderate stance.
“Unfortunately, recent legislative proposals would critically weaken” the law’s scientific foundation, said the letter organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The 5,738 signers included six National Medal of Science recipients.
“For species conservation to continue, it is imperative both that the scientific principles embodied in the act are maintained, and that the act is strengthened, fully implemented, and adequately funded.”
Associated Press
MOUNT SPOKANE PARK
Sno-Park season, XC grooming end
Grooming on the Mount Spoakne State Park cross country ski trail ended last week.
“We still have snow, but skiers aren’t coming up,” Steve Christensen, park manager, said Tuesday.
The end of grooming spells the end of the Sno-Park vehicle pass requirement until the snow flies again next fall.
Rich Landers