Runoff event ruins fishing

THE SHOW MUST GO ON: Despite the harsh weather, wild turkeys are getting spring urges. Many flocks have recently left wintering ranges and have dispersed to spring breeding areas — mostly to upper elevations. Perhaps more so than any other game bird, pre-season scouting for wild turkeys can greatly improve hunter success. April 15 is the opening of the general turkey season in Oregon. JIM WARD photo

Focus on game-rich areas that cats travel

BILLINGS, Mont.  — A   federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit from conservation groups that want to block wolf hunting and trapping that have killed more than 500 of the predators across the Northern Rockies in recent months.

The ruling from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Congress had the right to intervene when it stripped protections from wolves last spring.

Lauren Sauers and Kaleb Ricker each were awarded scholarships at the annual banquet of the Union County chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation. Sauers is a senior at Elgin High School and Ricker is a senior at La Grande High School. They received scholarships of between $400 and $600. DICK MASON / The Observer

The Union County Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation set a fundraising record at its annual banquet Saturday. 

The chapter’s banquet also gave dozens of youngsters many reasons to smile. 

A young burrowing owl receives a geo-locator backpack, which will monitor the bird’s movements for two years. To date, 341 owlets have been banded at the depot. Fifty-three have received the locaters. JAMES REBHOLZ photo

Some people have tunnel vision.  Of course, that can really limit one’s point-of-view, unless you’re talking about burrowing owls.

Burrowing owls are a dove-sized raptor. They prefer arid, sagebrush-scrub and grassland areas and, as their name implies, live in burrows. They don’t make the burrows themselves, but move into abandoned badger and ground squirrel holes. 

Forest Service biologist shares insight about wolverines in Eagle Cap Wilderness

A wolverine reaches up to eat part of a deer carcass at a trail camera station in the Eagle Cap Wilderness last winter. Wolverines may have been living in Wallowa County for years but had not been detected until recently.

The connection is both intriguing and illuminating. 

Wolverines and mountain goats appear to be linked. The connection is drawing increased interest from   Northeast Oregon residents since it recently has been established that  wolverines are living in Wallowa County.

Hunters pursue cougars, coyotes

Steelhead fishing improving

CANADA GEESE are among the hundreds of ducks and geese turning Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area into an international airport. ODFW photo

Geese, ducks invade marsh

Anita Metlen, left, and Tina Seavert ride through Pyles Canyon, on the proposed Grande Tour Scenic Bikeway, in October, 2010. DICK MASON / The Observer

State likely to give green light to proposed scenic cycling route