Posted by Rich

May 15, 2012 6:10 p.m. - Updated: 6:11 p.m.

SALMON FISHING — Two sections of the Yakima River will open this week to fishing for hatchery-reared spring chinook salmon, under regulations announced late this afternoon by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Wednesday, May 16, the lower Yakima River will open to fishing for hatchery spring chinook from the Interstate 182 Bridge in Richland to the Grant Avenue Bridge in Prosser.

Saturday, May 19, the salmon fishery will expand to the upper Yakima River from the Interstate 82 Bridge at Union Gap to the railroad bridge below Roza Dam.

John Easterbrooks, regional WDFW fish program manager, said the lower river is expected to remain open through June 30, while fishing in the upper section will likely continue through July 31.

“The springers are running late this year, but they’re finally moving into the Yakima River,” said Easterbrooks, noting that fishery managers are predicting a return of approximately 5,000 adult hatchery chinook to the Yakima River.

Read on for details.

Posted by Rich

May 15, 2012 5:01 p.m. - Updated: 5:01 p.m.

REFUGES — Most visitors to Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge in 2010 and 2011 were impressed with its recreational opportunities, education and services, according to a government survey released today.

About 90 percent of respondents gave consistent high marks to their refuge experience.

The survey, commissioned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and designed, conducted, and analyzed by researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey, evaluated responses from more than 200 adult visitors surveyed at the refuge between July 2010 and November 2011. Turnbull was one of 53 national wildlife refuges surveyed.

President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida's Pelican Island as the first wildlife refuge in 1903. Today the 556 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System protect thousands of fish and wildlife while more than 400 of the refuges also are open to the public.

• Many refuges are known as popular sites for recreation such as hunting and fishing, paddling and hiking, environmental education programs and wildlife observation.
• More than 45 million people visited national wildlife refuges in 2011.

Where Turnbull visitors live: Seventy nine percent of Turnbull survey respondents live within 50 miles of the refuge but most nonlocal visitors said that visiting Turnbull Refuge was a primary purpose or sole destination of their trip. 

The top three activities respondents participated in included wildlife observation (82%), bird watching (71%) and driving the auto tour route (67%).

Turnbull created: Prompted by local activists, sportsmen, and naturalists, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established Turnbull in 1937 as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife.

Located south of Cheney, the 16,000-acre Refuge supports an extensive complex of wetlands, Ponderosa pine forests, Palouse steppe, and riparian habitats.  These habitats create exceptional species diversity, providing homes for hundreds of migratory birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, plants, and other life.

“Turnbull’s unique Channeled Scabland landscape formed by volcanic activity and glacial floods created diverse wildlife habitats that also attracts visitors from around the country,” said Turnbull Refuge Manager Dan Matiatos. 

The survey found 94 percent of respondents were satisfied with the refuge’s job of conserving fish, wildlife and their habitats.

Posted by Rich

May 15, 2012 10:28 a.m. - Updated: 3:03 p.m.

FISHING — Coeur d’Alene attorney Denny Davis will share photos and stories from his trip to Russia starting at 7 p.m. May 16 at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave.

Davis’ free program, “Moscow and Fishing in the Russian Far East,” is one in a series of Novel Destinations programs sponsored by the Library Foundation as an opportunity for area residents to share photos from unique places around the world.

Posted by Rich

May 14, 2012 1:27 p.m.

RIVERS — North Idaho river rafters have been watching a log that's jammed into a chute at Eilene Dam on the Moyie River northeast of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

It poses an unavoidable hazard for rafters trying to complete the river float.

“Its still there, and it still poses a very serious hazard,” Todd Hoffman said in a post today on the North Idaho Whitewater Boating Facebook page. “A group of us went in and looked at it yesterday. We came to the unanimous conclusion that the log is not coming out any time soon. Unless we have a high flow event that manages to knock it loose, its probably going to be there for the foreseeable future.”

Posted by Rich

May 14, 2012 11:59 a.m. - Updated: 7:36 p.m.

DANGEROUS WILDLIFE — The Clarkston Walmart had a special on rattlesnake bites Saturday.

A man says he reached down to pick up a stick lying in the gardening aisle of a Wal-Mart in Clarkston, Wash., only to discover that it was a rattlesnake that then bit his hand.

On the lighter side, some people are asking if the snake blended in because it was made in China?

Read the AP report here. 

Rattlesnakes very rarely are agressive except when disturbed.  Most rattlenake bites occur when someone accidently puts a hand down near a snake, as in scrambling on rocks, or, more often, when someone intentionally tries to handle a snake.

The photo above was taken the same day in Montana by wildlife photographer Jaime Johnson.

The warm weather is letting the snakes be active.

Posted by Rich

May 14, 2012 11:22 a.m. - Updated: 12:13 p.m.

WILDLIFE — About the time four grizzly bears were documented by remote trail cams in northern Stevens County last week, other grizzlies were getting into big trouble just over the border in in British Columbia.

Conservation officers in the West Kootenay destroyed three grizzly bears in less than a week after the bears devoured eight sheep grazing on a ranch near Edgewood, B.C., north of Castlegar.

The three bears were coming out of hibernation and got a taste for sheep, the conservation officers said.

A fourth was relocated after chasing an ostrich, which died. But since the grizzly didn't feed on the bird, the bear was trapped and taken to the Granby Wilderness area near Grand Forks, B.C.

Read on for details about the B.C bears in this May 10 story by CBC News.

The video above shows one of the Stevens County bears.

Posted by Rich

May 14, 2012 10:12 a.m.

ENDANGERED SPECIES — Two plants found exclusively on or adjacent to Washington’s Hanford National Monument warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today. 

Both species, the Umtanum Desert buckwheat and the White Bluffs bladderpod, are found primarily on federal lands, occupying cliffs overlooking the Columbia River.

The Service is proposing to list the Umtanum desert buckwheat and the White Bluffs bladderpod as threatened.  A species listed as threatened is considered likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

The agency is also proposing to designate critical habitat for each plant: approximately 344 acres for Umtanum Desert buckwheat and approximately 2,861 acres for White Bluffs bladderpod. All of the land proposed for critical habitat for the Umtanum Desert buckwheat is federally-owned. Of the 2,861acres proposed as critical habitat for the bladderpod 2,400 are federally-owned. The remainder of the proposed critical habitat is a mix of state (42 acres) and private lands (419 acres).

More photos are available here.

Read on for details.

Posted by Rich

May 14, 2012 9:36 a.m. - Updated: 10:07 a.m.

TOURNAMENT FISHING — Mark Kendall, teamed with Doug Wood, caught the 34-inch tiger musky (above) to top the 11 anglers Saturday in the Silver Lake Mountain Muskies Tiger Musky Tournament in Spokane County.

The second place team of Herb Zielke and Don Grove wwere just a half an inch shy with one musky measuring 33.5 inches

Those were the only two tigers the 11 anglers caught during the day-long tournament, reports Douglas Wood, president of the local Mountain Muskies chapter of Muskies, Inc.

Both of the fish were released.

“Many more were seen, but not caught,” Wood said.

Posted by Rich

May 14, 2012 8:37 a.m.

OUTDO – A group of anglers is trying to get all Spokane River anglers speaking the same legal language about the fishing restrictions designed to protect the struggling native redband trout.

The group has worked with the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department to tanslate important rules into Russian for signs to be posted along the river.

The issue is about fish conservation, but the fundraising event to raise money for the signs is all about art and painting.

The Tipsy Muse event, set for Saturday (May 19), 1 p.m.-4 p.m. at Arbor Crest Winery, features participants getting  chance to work on a painting alongside a professional artist.  The participants get to keep their painting and everybody enjoys sipping wine and bidding on fly fishing trips, casino packages and other items.

For years, concerns have simmered about illegal fishing among Eastern European-Russian immigants, said Tyler Comeau, an Eastern Washington University student. Comeau has been working on the project with the Spokane Falls Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

Fish and Wildlife police confirm that language barriers often are given as excuses for poaching activity on the river.

Cost: $45 (includes tasting fee) or $10 for spectators (non painting, but also includes tasting fee)

Limited tickets are available online only:

Posted by Rich

May 14, 2012 7:21 a.m.

PADDLING — The annual Flatwater Canoeing Clinic conducted by the Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club is set for May 20 at Medical Lake.

The clinic, for solo and tandem canoeists, covers strokes, equipment, safety and rescue, hypothermia, transporting canoes, launching and canoe trim and paddler position.

Cost: $55 per person, plus club membership.

Sign up: Diane Adams, coordinator for all club clinics, 448-9214, email dianecadams@asisna.com

Flatwater Clinic is a pre-requisite for the Moving Water Canoeing Clinic set for July 7-8.

A three-day Sea Kayaking Clinic will be offered July 19, 21 and 22.

Whitewater Kayaking Clinic is June 2-3.