Every other year I spend one week in Olympia reviewing grant applications as a member of the statewide Non-highway and Off-road Vehicle Activities (NOVA) program through the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO). It’s an intense week of recreation grant presentations on a strict 20-minute schedule all day for five days. Our team reviews and […]
Hike of the Month: Chesaw Wildlife Area Read More »
Rivers are complex systems, and conservation efforts can be as complex as river systems themselves. Collaborative efforts involving multiple stakeholders have the best chance to be successful. Here are two regional conservation efforts where multiple stakeholders are working together to improve our waterways. Invasive Predators Invasive northern pike have been making inroads into the Columbia
Collaborative River Conservation in the Inland NW Read More »
The snow has disappeared from the surrounding peaks, and buttercups and glacier lilies have been showing their yellow faces. I love wildflowers, and the successive waves of bloom are so brief. This means spring hiking is on my mind well before I put my skis away for the season. I often have trails listed on
Loomis, WA: Spring Hiking in the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area Read More »
Help raise funds for wildlife biology student scholarships by hiking the Dave Brittell Memorial Trail on the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area in Okanogan County on National Trails Day, June 2. This fourth annual hike is in memory of a great lover of hiking, trails and wildlife. Dave Brittell was a wildlife biologist and Washington Department of
National Trails Day: Help Wildlife by Hiking (June 2) Read More »
The first time I remember interacting with bats was as a young child in New Jersey. I was watching these dark whirling critters dive and circle in the sky as I waited for 4th of July fireworks. Out of the dark a man walked up and explained that these were bats and if you throw
Little Spokane River Bat Condo is a Local Conservation Success Read More »
A secluded peninsula jutting out along the Spokane River, McLellan Conservation Area offers early season accessibility and relatively easy hiking. Early April wildflowers will likely include buttercup, prairie star, and grasswidow, all gradually giving way to arrowleaf balsamroot and phlox by the end of the month. With its forested core and riparian habitat along
Hiking Spokane’s McLellan Conservation Area Read More »
Why are the things that leave us shaking and wide-eyed with fear or adrenaline the very things that define us and that we often love with a vengeance? Oddly, this describes my relationship with greater sage-grouse. My first experience with that chicken-like resident of sage brush country left my husband and I curled in the
A Bird and a Baby: Confessions of a Sage Grouse Conservationist Read More »
Eating sushi or sipping craft cocktails at a city café isn’t the typical start to a wildlife watching hike, but downtown Spokane is unique in that regard. Both the Spokane River and Latah Creek serve as wildlife corridors for a surprising list of species. Miles of lightly developed, forested park and residential land extend the
Critters in the City: Downtown Spokane’s Urban Wildlife Hikes Read More »
The Conservation Futures Program will hold a meeting Thursday, June 16, from 4:30-7 p.m. at the Centerplace Regional Event Center at 2426 N. Discovery Place in the Spokane Valley. The meeting, which will be open to the public, will be an opportunity to provide input to committee members who will then prioritize a ranked list of properties
Conservation Futures Public Nominations Meeting Read More »
Trail / conservation projects Current Trail Projects in the Inland Northwest Spokane Country Regional Trails Plan: What Is It? Here is an excerpt from the plan… Purpose of the Plan The purpose of the Spokane County Regional Trail Plan is to guide development and maintenance of a county-wide network of trails to serve the needs
Trail/Conservation Projects Read More »
