Briefly

Public meetings scheduled to discuss Idaho chinook fishing season

Idaho Fish and Game officials plan to hold public meetings next month to gather comments on the spring chinook fishing season.

Pizza will be served at the evening meetings and fisheries managers will give a recap of last year’s spring and summer chinook fishing seasons and offer information about the expected strength of this year’s run. The agency hasn’t yet released a spring/summer chinook preseason forecast, but Regional Fisheries Manager Joe DuPont said this year’s run is expected to be an improvement over the 2021 return.

The state typically attempts to offer fishing seasons that target hatchery chinook in the Clearwater River and its tributaries, the Snake River in Hells Canyon, and the Lower Salmon, Little Salmon and South Fork Salmon rivers.

The meetings also will include an update on ocean conditions and efforts to reduce chinook predation by sea lions below Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

Meetings will be held Feb. 15 at the Riggins Community Center in Riggins, Idaho Fish and Game Office in Lewiston on Feb. 16, Clearwater Hatchery near Orofino on Feb. 17. All of the meetings start at 5:30 p.m.

Ringtail found at sugar beet factory near Twin Falls

TWIN FALLS — Idaho Fish and Game officials recently trapped a ringtail, a relative of racoons, at a sugar beet factory near Twin Falls.

It is only the fifth time a member of the species has been documented in Idaho.

“While a lot of people refer to them as cats, they’re actually not a cat at all,” said Fish and Game wildlife biologist Lyn Snoddy at Jerome. “They are more closely related to raccoons and coatis than they are to cats, even though they look like a cat and move like a cat.”

Fish and Game officials placed an ear tag on the animal and took a genetic sample from it before releasing it in a more suitable habitat. Idaho doesn’t have known, established populations of ringtails, but the animals are found in the Southwest, including Nevada and Utah.

“They are habitat generalists because they eat a lot more than just small rodents,” Snoddy said. “They will eat fruit and insects and amphibians if they can find them.”

The agency is asking southern Idaho residents to report sightings of ringtails and to photograph them if possible.

Previous documented sightings of ringtails in the Gem State include the 2015 trapping of a male near Oakley, the trapping of a female near Twin Falls in 2014, the 2012 trapping of ringtail near Malta and a carcass found in 2003 near the City of Rocks.

A video story produced by Fish and Game about the ringtail is available at bit.ly/3ICYGwI.

Washington Fish and Wildlife invites comment on 10-year plan

OLYMPIA — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public comment on a draft 10-year recreation strategy for the 1 million acres of land it manages.

Agency Director Kelly Susewind said department officials hope to hear from hunters and anglers, and others such as hikers, birders, wildlife photographers, mountain bikers, cross-country skiers and target shooters.

“Outdoor recreation is a significant contributor to the state’s economy and supports the health of our residents,” Susewind said in a news release. “This new strategy reflects the Department’s commitments to welcoming all Washingtonians and visitors to public lands while protecting wildlife, habitat, cultural and tribal resources.”

Priorities in the plan include making the land easier to access, curtailing illegal activity and increasing the agency’s capacity to plan for and manage recreation.

The agency will hold two online meetings via Zoom to discuss the draft strategy. The first will be held from 3:30-5 p.m. Feb. 10 and the second will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon Feb. 24.

Details on how to join the meetings by phone or online are available at bit.ly/3rWNvrW.

The plan may be reviewed and comments may be submitted by visiting bit.ly/3r3ET3J. The comment deadline is 5 p.m. Feb. 28.

Washington officials ask for public comment on hunting plans

OLYMPIA — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public comments on proposed recommendations for the 2022-23 hunting seasons.

Comments will be accepted Wednesday through March 19.

The proposals and comment forms will be posted on the Department’s website at bit.ly/3u7lG2S.

According to a news release from the agency, most of the proposals address minor changes to big game special permit levels and hunting area descriptions since the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission approved the state’s latest three-year hunting package in 2021.

More substantial proposals, including changes to the importation of animals to prevent chronic wasting disease and some proposals that had been withdrawn during the 2021-23 hunting regulation-setting package also are under consideration during this process.

The commission, which sets policy for the department, will also accept public comments on the proposed recommendations at its March meeting. The commission is scheduled to make a decision on the proposed rules at its April 7-8 meeting.

Youth shotgun shooting session planned for Saturday near Lapwai

LAPWAI — The Lewis-Clark Wildlife Club will host a Youth Hunter Education Challenge Program shotgun shooting session Saturday at the club’s shooting range near here.

The trap range and the classroom will be used by the youth group in the morning. The six-bench and 18-bench rifle and handgun ranges will remain open to the public all day.

More information about the youth program is available by contacting Dave Kapula at spakula52@gmail.com.

Increase in water flows from Dworshak Dam planned for next week

AHSAHKA — Officials from the Army Corps of Engineers will ramp up water releases from Dworshak Dam and Reservoir here in an effort to prepare for spring snowmelt.

The agency is attempting to reach flood-control targets by the end of the month and expects flows leaving the dam to remain between 6,100 and 7,700 cubic feet per second through Monday.

Between Wednesday and Friday, the agency plans to conduct tests associated with turbine maintenance at the dam that could lead to flows that fluctuate between 6,100 and 8,500 cubic feet per second, and downstream river elevations could change by as much as 2 feet. Most of the testing is expected to occur Thursday. When testing is complete, flows will return to about 6,100 cfs.

Former Lewiston resident Chaney inducted into sports shooting hall of fame

Arlen Chaney, a former Lewiston resident and President of Blount Inc. Sporting Equipment Division at Lewiston was recently inducted into the National Shooting Sports Foundation Hall of Fame.

Chaney served on the NSSF Board of Governors and was its chairman from 1983-94. According to a news release from the fondation, Chaney recognized the industry needed funding to promote hunting and shooting, and to implement campaigns aimed at countering attacks on shooting sports. He served the committee that created the now-popular Shot Show, a trade show for the shooting sports, hunting and outdoors industries. He nurtured the foundation’s “hunters pay for conservation” program that was distributed to more than 100,000 schools, and played a leading role in bringing shooting sports to ESPN television.

For 30 years Chaney worked for the Blount Sporting Equipment Division that included CCI, Speer, RCBS, Outers and Weaver. He retired in 1992 and he and his wife, Sonia (who is now deceased), moved to Sun Valley.

On the Web

Online meetings on Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s 10-year plan are 3:30-5 p.m. Feb. 10 and 10:30 a.m. to noon Feb. 24.

Details on joining the meetings, by phone or online are available at bit.ly/3rWNvrW.

The plan may be reviewed and comments may be submitted by visiting bit.ly/3r3ET3J. The comment deadline is 5 p.m. Feb. 28.

On the Web

Proposed 2022-23 hunting season changes in Washington and public comment forms can be found at bit.ly/3u7lG2S. The comment period opens Wednesday and runs through March 19.