Hiawatha Trail opening delayed
The season opening for the Route of the Hiawatha rail trail near Lookout Pass has been delayed until mid-June because of tunnel repairs.
The 15-mile hiking and biking route is among the most scenic stretches of rail-trail in the country, crossing the Montana-Idaho border in the Bitterroot Mountains and featuring seven trestles and 10 tunnels, including the 1.7-mile St. Paul Pass Tunnel.
Last year the trail opened May 21. This year, workers are fixing the tunnel to prevent rock from falling onto the trail, according to the St. Joe Ranger District.
The trail is expected to open around June 17. Trail fees are charged and lights are needed for the tunnels. Helmets are required for cyclists.
Rental bikes, equipment and maps are available at Lookout Pass Ski Area.
Info: www.skilookout.com, (208) 744-1301 or www.ridethehiawatha.com.
Rich Landers
HUNTING
Instructor misfires
A hunter safety instructor may face disciplinary action for accidentally discharging a shotgun shell into the ceiling of the library during a class in Livingston, Mont.
Instructor John Lundberg was teaching a class to about 50 students last month. He was demonstrating how, in the excitement of the hunt, someone can accidentally load the wrong ammunition into a firearm.
Lundberg then loaded a 20-gauge double-barrel shotgun with a 28-gauge shell, and the shell accidentally discharged. The shotgun pellets fired into the ceiling of the community room at the library, the agency said.
No one was hurt.
Lundberg said the accident demonstrated to the class how quickly a mistake can turn dangerous.
The accidental discharge of the shell is “something that will stay with those students for a long time,” he said. “I know I will never forget it.”
Melissa Frost, a FWP spokeswoman, said live ammunition isn’t allowed in state-sponsored hunter education classrooms, and the agency isn’t sure why Lundberg was using a live round.
Lundberg said he was “very sorry” for what happened. “I should not have had that live round,” in the class.
Associated Press
Recreation areas
Beartooth reopens
The Beartooth Highway connecting Red Lodge, Cooke City and the northeast entrance to Yellowstone Park in southern Montana is celebrating a grand reopening this weekend after a $14 million construction project to fix massive damage caused last spring by five landslides.
Much of the work was done and the road was reopened on Oct. 7, but the highway was soon closed by snow, which plugs the high-mountain route for all but four-and-a-half months a year.
The scenic highway is among the longest stretches of roadway running through alpine tundra in the world. Bordering the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness as it heads toward Yellowstone Park, the route is a magnet for iron-thighed cyclists as well as skiers, backpackers, anglers and sightseers drawn to the Beartooth Plateau.
The late Charles Kuralt, the CBS journalist known for his long-running television show “On the Road,” called the Beartooth Highway, “the most beautiful road in America.”
The Beartooth Highway is an engineering phenomenon born from construction that started in 1931. The highway officially opened on June 14, 1936. The total cost at that time: $2.5 million.
Staff and wire reports
CONSERVATION
Fishing threats discussed
Sam Mace of Save our Wild Salmon will discuss issues on restoring salmon and protecting fishing opportunities in the Inland Northwest on Thursday, 7 p.m., at the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council Center, 6116 N. Market.
Salmon and steelhead runs are on the decline in the region and federal agencies are looking at more fishing restrictions in the Columbia River Basin, Mace says.
The public also is invited to come as early as 5:30 p.m. for a happy hour with smoked salmon and a meeting with the Inland Northwest Salmon and Steelhead Committee of the Hunting & Fishing Conservation Coalition.
Info: 435-1270.
Rich Landers
WILDLIFE
Fearless critters killed near Sound
State wildlife officers have had to kill several unusually aggressive black bears and coyotes in the Puget Sound area in recent weeks.
Washington Fish and Wildlife Department officials said the animals apparently became bold and posed a danger to humans after they’d eaten handouts or unsecured garbage.
Problem bears sometimes are trapped and relocated, but that’s not necessarily a great alternative, said Capt. Bill Hebner, department enforcement spokesman. “Only about 50 percent of releases are successful,” he said, noting that even when transported long distances, these bears often try to return. Repeat offenders are usually killed, either by wildlife agents or by vehicles on roadways during the journey.
“People need to remember that a fed bear is a dead bear,” said Rocky Spencer, department biologist. “No matter what the intention, feeding doesn’t help the animal – it can indirectly cause its death.”
Rich Landers