A major land conservation effort has added 2,135 acres of sagebrush steppe and Columbia River shoreline to Washington’s Big Bend Wildlife Area in Douglas County. Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC) recently transferred Big Bend Ranch—a property featuring 1.5 miles of river frontage—to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) for permanent protection and public access. Located 14 miles northwest of Grand Coulee, the ranch’s basalt cliffs, rolling hills and wetland spring habitat support a variety of wildlife, including the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, one of Washington’s most imperiled bird species. The property also fronts Rufus Woods Lake, a 51-mile reservoir between Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams that retains flowing current and supports kokanee and rainbow trout. 

“Conserving these places is critical for upland game birds and other wildlife, and it gives people more opportunity to experience what remains of the Columbia Plateau’s sagebrush-steppe,” said Jessica Inwood, Washington project manager for WRC. With the addition of Big Bend Ranch, the Big Bend Wildlife Area now totals about 24,000 acres of protected public land. The expansion opens new opportunities for hunting, hiking, mountain biking and wildlife viewing on one of the Upper Columbia’s most scenic and ecologically significant stretches. 

The post Big Bend Wildlife Area Expands Along Columbia River  appeared first on Out There Venture.

If you are dreaming of sunnier, warmer days outside, the Spokane Great Outdoors Expo is a shot of summer when we need it most in the dead of winter. It’s a lively gathering with experts in the local outdoors community, RVs and outdoor gear on display and for sale, presentations and demonstrations on a variety of outdoor topics, prize drawings, and enough engaging kids’ activities to keep families occupied for hours. Visit Spokaneoutdoorexpo.com for the full schedule and details.  

TONS OF FUN FOR KIDS & PARENTS 

The Spokane Great Outdoors Expo is a savior if your family has been spending their winter days indoors, with enough kids’ activities, entertainment and indoor bike riding to turn another winter weekend at home into an adventure! Parents will find plenty to love, including RVs and outdoor gear, outfitters and gear shops, travel destinations and a full bar. 

Extreme Halfpipe Skateboarding Demos  

Watch rippin’ skateboarders pull off sick stunts on and off the half pipe! Demonstrations happen both days indoors at the Expo courtesy of Hopper Skateboards, Yousta, and sponsor Layne Stoops State Farm, your local Spokane insurance agency. 

Kids’ Adventure Passport Activity 

Kids and parents can explore the Great Outdoors Expo, visiting multiple booths to complete learning activities, art projects and other creative and fun challenges. Kids collect stamps in a passport booklet at each station that can be exchanged for a bag of prizes for kids and parents when they finish. 

Magic Shows by Magician Matthew Vanzee 

Kids and adults will be dazzled by these shows all weekend long by talented local magician Matthew Vanzee. Last year, his shows drew a standing-room-only crowd as he performed tricks that inspired wonder, gasps and laughter. Don’t miss this show! 

Live Wild Animal Presentations 

Get up close and personal with live snakes, other reptiles, insects, and raptors including hawks and owls and learn about these amazing animals (presentations both days). 

• Reptiles Presentation: Learn about the fascinating world of reptiles by getting up close with some live reptiles in a hands-on learning experience. Gain a deeper appreciation for these often-misunderstood creatures.  

• Hawk and Owl Presentation: Discover the world of birds of prey and see some live raptors up close while learning about the hunting skills, behaviors, and unique characteristics of these impressive birds as well as the role they play in maintaining ecological balance in the wild.  

Kids’ Indoor Bike Riding Area  

Kids of all ages can try out different bikes, from Strider balance bikes for the littles to BMX bikes for “kids” of all ages including adults in an indoor riding area (all weekend long). 

Archery for Kids and Youth 

Learn about archery with local experts and get the chance to experience the art of the bow and arrow in a safe, educational environment—all indoors.  

Marshmallow Roasting 

Roast free marshmallows at our indoor “Expo Campground” around a faux campfire, complete with live music, camp chairs and games. 

Learn How to Use a Crosscut Saw 

Ever wonder what it’s like to be on the end of a cross-cut saw clearing trail? Give it a try with members of the Idaho Trails Association and learn about ways you can help keep Idaho’s wilderness trails clear and accessible while meeting other like-minded volunteers. 

Indoor Expo Campground 

Enjoy our indoor campground as you dream about next summer’s adventures! Kick back in a camp chair, roast a marshmallow, play yard games, enjoy an adult beverage, check out RVs from R’nR RV and listen to live American string music. The indoor “Campground” is also where we hold hourly drawings for thousands of dollars in outdoor gear and other prizes. 

JOIN NEGATIVE SPLIT’S 5K “SWAG RUN”  

What’s the Swag Run, you ask? If you’re even a casual runner, this is your chance to get outside on a 5K run with other smiling faces and get a morning workout on the scenic trails and pathways around Riverfront Park and the Spokane River. The cool thing about Negative Split’s Swag Run is that participants get to take home leftover swag from past races. The race starts and finishes at the Great Outdoors Expo at the Spokane Convention Center Saturday morning (Feb. 21). Runners also score a free ticket to the Great Outdoors Expo at the finish line! Sign up at Nsplit.com. 

FREE ENTRY INTO THE SPOKANE GOLF SHOW 

Your Expo ticket doubles as entry to the Spokane Golf Show going on in the same space at the convention center.  

PRESENTATIONS ON OUTDOORSY TOPICS  

Learn about wildlife, trails and natural history at presentations by local experts happening all weekend long. Past presentations have covered topics including staying safe in the outdoors around bears and other predators, wilderness survival, local trails and natural areas, navigating the different types of e-bikes and where you can ride them, identifying native birds and more. Check the full schedule at Spokaneoutdoorexpo.com. 

SCORE A FREE BONUS ADVENTURE DEAL WITH YOUR TICKET  

Choose from one of several free bonus adventure deals with your Spokane Great Outdoors Expo ticket purchase while they last. All bonus deals are redeemable only at the 2026 Spokane Great Outdoors Expo with your ticket stub. In past years, bonus deals included discounts on indoor climbing, ziplining, Stonerose Fossil Site digging, Route of the Hiawatha kids’ shuttle, skydiving and more! 

OVER 70 OUTDOOR EXPERTS ALL IN ONE PLACE 

Talk to real human experts on all things outdoor recreation related at the Great Outdoors Expo, from nonprofit conservation groups, public lands managers and outdoor clubs to RV dealers and overlanding companies, travel destinations, outdoor gear retailers, outfitters and guides and more. 

Whether you’re planning next summer’s adventures, looking for family fun in the middle of winter or just wanting to connect with Spokane’s outdoors community, the Great Outdoors Expo is the place to be. Mark your calendar for Feb. 21–22 and get ready to explore the outdoors—indoors. Visit Spokaneoutdoorexpo.com for more info and tickets.  

The post EXPLORE THE GREAT OUTDOORS INSIDE AT THE SPOKANE GREAT OUTDOORS EXPO   appeared first on Out There Venture.

Along the Centennial Trail in Riverside State Park. Photo: Derrick Knowles

Bowl and Pitcher, Riverside State Park (Spokane)

If you want a classic that feels like an actual “hike” without leaving town, start here. The Bowl and Pitcher loop is a short but scenic 2.1-mile route with river views, basalt outcroppings and the iconic footbridge over the Spokane River. A Discover Pass is required for parking. Tip for shoulder-season winter: if the trail is icy in the shade near the river, traction can make the walk immensely more safe and enjoyable. Learn more about trails around Riverside State Park here.

Dishman Hills Natural Area (Spokane Valley)

When the high country is socked in, the Dishman Hills can deliver quick forest strolls ponderosa pine forest and viewpoints that feel surprisingly wild for being on the edge of the city. Routes to destinations like Enchanted Ravine are short (2-miles round trip) and popular. Note that this natural area prioritizes wildlife and native plant preservation, and dogs must remain on a leash. This is one of the best places to catch a winter sunset on a clear day from a high point—just bring a headlamp for the hike back to your car.

When planning a winter hike, avoid muddy trails or trails transitioning between freezing and thawing when hikers can damage trails. Try hiking when trails are frozen or dry or choose trails with trails that drain better. Plan your Dishman Hills adventure here.

Saltese Uplands in late winter. Photo: Derrick Knowles

Saltese Uplands (Liberty Lake area)

Saltese is a strong winter pick when you want open views and a more “wide-sky” feel. The conservation area has more than 7 miles of trail exploring canyons and ridge tops, with views that can stretch toward Liberty Lake and Mount Spokane on clear days. Because it’s more exposed, it can dry out faster than shaded forest trails—but it can also be breezy, so layer up. Learn more about this Spokane County Conservation Futures area and trails here.

Slavin Conservation Area (southwest of Spokane)

For a mellow, low-elevation ramble with wetlands and a pine forest that attract many types of birds and waterfowl, Slavin is a great option. The Slavin Conservation Area is an expansive, rolling landscape with many trail options to create loops of varied length. It’s a nice option when you need to get out of the house in the winter and move your body in a beautiful place without committing to steep climbs and challenging trails. Find more info and a map here.

Post Falls Community Forest and Q’emiln Park (Post Falls)

Right across the Spokane River from Post Falls, this trail network offers lots of choose-your-own loops with river access, basalt rock features and a real “get out of town” feel without a long drive. This park and community forest is also a popular rock-climbing destination but come winter, hikers will generally have the trails to themselves. Find directions here.

Tubbs Hill (downtown Coeur d’Alene)

For a winter hike that pairs perfectly with coffee downtown, Tubbs Hill is hard to beat. It’s a 165-acre natural area owned and maintained by the City of Coeur d’Alene, with multiple access points and a trail around the perimeter. Enjoy views of downtown and Lake Coeur d’Alene on a loop around the hill or create your own extended hike incorporating other trails and loops. You can find a map of the trail system here.

Check out more winter hike recommendations around the region here or read up on the recommended essentials for winter hiking.

The post The Best Winter Hikes Near Spokane and Coeur d’Alene appeared first on Out There Venture.

Cover photo courtesy of Jean Arthur

Sunrise promises a sparkling midsummer morning at 6,644 feet elevation at the summit of Going-to-the-Sun Road at Logan Pass. A dozen vehicles snug into parking spots on an August morning as hikers lace boots for early starts on Glacier National Park’s famous Highline Trail. My family plans to hike another popular trail from the parking lot at Logan Pass, the Hidden Lake Trail to Hidden Lake Overlook, a 2.7-mile climb among wildflowers, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, ermine and the occasional grizzly bear. 

We know from experience that the parking lot—all 236 spots—fills by 8 a.m. on July and August mornings. Until about 7 p.m., drivers will troll the parking lot to find a spot, testing patience and pleasantries. Occasionally arguments break out and rangers must intervene.  

The bustle begs the question: Are we loving our national parks to death? Between resource depletion, crushing roadway overuse, damaging pollution, and resource defilement due to garbage, trampling and theft, park lovers are demanding changes. 

Rangers and park staff can barely keep pace. Since the beginning of 2025, permanent park staff positions decreased by 24% for all parks according to the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association. In Grand Teton National Park, the Trump administration’s budget cuts eliminated 16 of the park’s 17 supervisory positions. 

Glacier, which is America’s 10^th national park and spans 1.2 million acres in northwest Montana, has experienced explosive visitor numbers in the past decade, as have other public lands, challenging the resources, park staff and visitor restraint. 

I have frequented Glacier National Park for five decades. My group and I hit the park early to try to beat the new summer crowds. Tailgate coffee, locally grown fruit and prebaked muffins entice our sleepy crew out of warm vehicles to our truck where my husband cranks up the camp stove and makes a couple of bistro’s worth of coffee. To my family, this morning is reminiscent of two decades ago when there was available parking, room to hike without crowding and lots of wildlife.  

We lock up leftovers and head up the paved trail that climbs to a boardwalk, then dirt, and then a snow-covered route with just a few other humans. Brilliant pink heather hugs the ground. The higher we climb, the more glacier lilies—yellow sprites of the high country—shiver in the breeze. A sizable herd of bighorn sheep skitter across rocks then settle for naps with their lambs.  

With so few boots on turf this morning, it’s hard to imagine the significant increase in visitation that Glacier has endured. In 2024, more than 3.2 million people entered Glacier, its third-highest visitation year ever and an increase of 300,000 visitors from 2023.  

Glacier’s 40 percent increase in visitation from 2012 to 2024 is not an anomaly. According to Zion National Park Superintendent, Jeff Bradybaugh, in a letter to Congress, “There are 423 park units in the National Park System encompassing over 85 million acres across our nation, but visitation trends among the individual parks greatly vary. In 2020, overall visitation dropped to a 40-year low due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.” And then spiked. 

In his statement titled, “Lessons from the Field: Overcrowding in National Parks,” Bradybaugh notes that a third of the national parks saw record visitation during the pandemic as people sought outdoor spaces. In 2021, visitation across all NPS units reached 297 million recreation visits, a year when Utah’s Zion National Park alone saw 5 million visitors for the first time in its history and double the number from 2010. Some mitigation efforts are working. Several parks now use timed entry and ticket systems, including Glacier, which piloted vehicle reservation systems for summer months. Because my crew and I visit Glacier often, we know to use Recreation.gov to purchase a park pass and a Going-to-the-Sun Road ticket.  

On our glorious August morning, the road remained quiet at predawn; we only encountered a pair of motorcyclists who cruised the Sun Road to Logan Pass. But by the time we hiked up to the Hidden Lake Overlook, snapped a few photos and walked back, the parking lot was full and the trail overworked.  

“Pack your patience and plan ahead,” reads Glacier National Park’s webpage, “Tips for Dealing with Crowds.” We’ve also packed out other people’s candy wrappers, broken sunglasses and bad attitudes—a visitor aggressively urged us to rush so they could have our parking spot. We left feeling squeezed and a bit Grinchy about sharing our favorite park.  

For national park gateway communities, the tourism boils down to dollars. According to economists at the University of Montana in Missoula, annual nonresident spending in the state totaled $5.82 billion, a two-year average for annual spending. The Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research found that the region surrounding Glacier saw $2 billion in revenue, while the region surrounding Yellowstone averaged $1.3 billion. Yellowstone’s borders also include Idaho and Wyoming. The two Montana regions collectively saw 57% of nonresident travel spending.  

Oregon park visitor Barbara Nelson and her husband encountered long waits when they entered the park’s west gate at West Glacier this summer, even though they had booked tickets for the road and activities in advance. This was not their first park visit, and they’ve witnessed growing wait times at entrance stations, parking lots, trail heads and concession restaurants. 

“We got stopped in the hot sun and felt crowded,” Nelson recalls. “That morning, we started about 9 or 10 a.m. from West Glacier. A busy, August day. Getting behind those red buses is annoying. We got stopped at [the] top of [the] pass and there was still snow. So we had a snowball fight as we were waiting in traffic.” 

The Red Busses offer interpretive tours on Going-to-the-Sun Road. Free shuttles between Apgar near the west entrance and St. Mary at the east entrance alleviate some vehicle traffic, but hour-long standstills still occur, and not always where snowball fights can ensue. There are just many people who want the Glacier experience—including my crew. The park is on pace for another record-breaking summer as of early August 2025, with early counts showing a sizeable increase of more than 12 percent over 2024.  

Overtourism is defined as the phenomenon whereby certain places of interest are visited by excessive numbers of tourists, causing undesirable effects for the places visited. The global nonprofit Responsible Tourism offers a platform for change, helping travelers and communities take responsibility for making tourism more sustainable.  

Locals grasp at reasons for overtourism: short-term rentals alluring and available which push out long-term renters, post-pandemic need for healthy outdoor travel, alluring Instagram images sans mega throbs of tourists, and the Yellowstone Effect, in which people watch Kevin Costner’s television drama “Yellowstone” and visit Montana, Wyoming and Idaho believing a fictional tale of the American West—and wanting a piece of it.  

The “Yellowstone Effect” brought 2.1 million visitors to Montana in 2021, according to the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Fans spent $730 million, yet caused some locals to channel Beth Dutton and mean-mug away visitors—it didn’t work. 

The Tourons of Yellowstone Instagram page, dedicated to documenting bad behavior and egregious offenses, stir up locals’ ire too. The Tourons videos often involve humans (and sometimes their pets) getting too close to wildlife in parks or illegally traipsing near Yellowstone’s extremely hot and fragile hot spring features—and sometimes not surviving. 

Thoughtless visitors trample delicate flora, leave trash and feces, and cause congestion and environmental degradation also felt in housing and infrastructure. Instagrammers sometimes position themselves in precariously dangerous spots for the glory, monetizing the public places. My family witnessed a woman who waded through a swift stream below a waterfall for her ego-driven photo taken by an accomplice. Other visitors, who had to wait 20 minutes for an Instagrammer-free view, did not wish her well.  

The organization Responsible Tourism writes on their website that tourism has breached a tipping point: Hosts and guests are often dissatisfied. “The challenge is to make all destinations sustainable and to avoid spreading the problem. For local government and protected area managers, the key question is: Will the destination use tourism or be used by it?” 

Gateway communities are trying to help visitors find their inner angels. In Jackson, Wyoming, the tourism board adopted a “selfie control” campaign after many tourists got too close to wildlife. Jackson’s “Take care of what takes your breath away” includes signage, advertising and smiling reminders from locals. Bozeman, Montana’s “Becoming Outside Kind” campaign encourages trail etiquette by educating new and longtime residents about how to behave outside. Whitefish, Montana created the “Be a Friend of The Fish” campaign to promote visitor stewardship.  

As Responsible Tourism notes, a global backlash to overtourism and bad behavior has resulted in violence. Protestors in Barcelona, Spain attacked tourists with water guns and called for visitor-accommodation restrictions. Protests against mass tourism and gentrification in Mexico City turned violent, damaging storefronts. Venice banned cruise ships from the city center and instituted a tourist tax. Some cities and attractions now limit the number of visitors, such as Bruges, Belgium, which capped the number of cruise ship arrivals and instead encouraged daytrippers. Solutions remain elusive. 

Summer 2025 saw particularly challenging crowding in Glacier, in part because the much-loved Many Glacier Valley, with its lodge, lakes, campgrounds and trails, underwent extensive utilities reconstruction. Limited parking forced limited access.  

The reward for patience, however, includes spectacular views, cool evenings with remarkable sunsets, and incomparable trails. My crew will wait to camp and hike during the slower season, late September, to avoid the crowds and try to be good stewards of our favorite park. 

Jean Arthur hikes and bikes and boats on public lands and waterways with family, friends and dogs. This fall, she’s picking huckleberries after the early frost sweetens up the hucks and the hues of the backcountry.  

The post Loving a Place to Death: How Overcrowding is Transforming Glacier National Park appeared first on Out There Venture.

Part memoir, part strategy guide for citizens who care about the future of our forests and wildlife, the book offers provocative lessons that are timely not only for conservation campaigns, but for our national political moment, extolling the virtues of collaborative tactics and shared values over polarization. The book offers an insider’s look into the life of an accomplished activist leader challenging his own movement to better serve both nature and our ailing democracy. Pick up a copy at your local bookstore, including Auntie’s in Spokane, or online. (OTO) 

The post Book Review: “Conservation Confidential” By Mitch Friedman  appeared first on Out There Venture.

It’s easy for us to pick sides and rest on the laurels of our conviction. And if that doesn’t make us feel good enough about ourselves, we can join the ranks of the one-uppers: vegans who don’t eat honey, homeschool parents who teach their kids Latin, and misanthropic conservationists. 

Mitch Friedman was some kind or another of that in his youth, following the then-popular trend of monkeywrenching and civil disobedience as guerrilla conservation tactics, and generally rousing rabble toward industries that were perceived threats to nature, particularly to old-growth forests. He’s got an arrest rap sheet that reads like a Greatest Hits list. 

I’m glad we have these people—those who chain themselves to trees, live in them, sit on the roads and try with all their gentle might to slow the seemingly inevitable destruction of our planet. Only it doesn’t seem to be working as a singular tactic. 

That shared observation is what I found refreshing in Friedman’s new book “Conservation Confidential: A Wild Path to More Effective Activism.” Friedman takes a long, hard look at conservation efforts past and stares into the necessities for the future.

 

After pissing off enough police to reconsider his methods, Friedman became one of the West’s most effective conservationists through what was then the unlikely and underused approach of collaboration. This requires other lost forms of art, such as empathy and listening, to gain perspective. When it comes to land management and the preservation of wildlife habitat in the face of progress, our only option is to make room for each other.  

As Friedman discusses in his book, balancing the needs of ranch owners with the habits of roaming wolves requires deep listening and problem solving, and sometimes the culling of a wolf. When we exist in a space of all-or-nothing, we cannot come to a solution, only blame. Allowing wolves to roam and cattle to range means the occasional lost cattle or lost wolf. So how do we collaborate to minimize both and live in some realm of … let’s not call it harmony … but sustainability? (I hear someone in the back whispering, “tofu.”) 

It’s not just the wolves. It’s who uses our trails and how they are used. I’m a fan of seeing an e-bike make nature more accessible to a recently-replaced knee. Are they appropriate everywhere? If we want private landowners to place land in conservation, how do we uphold their personal values and needs to support that? If we want logging to stop mowing down old-growth and essential ecology, where should our timber mills source the wood products we all use? If we want to keep driving our cars at highway speeds around the clock, how do we protect animals (and drivers) from the harm of collision—not to mention interruption to essential wildlife travel paths? 

The breakneck pace of development in the western world has come with a blind sense of abundance that has scarred landscapes and dramatically reduced native wildlife populations. We can do better, are obliged to do better, but we cannot do it by taking sides. Rather, we must do it by listening to all sides. And this must include the voices of the trees, the rivers, the flora and fauna of our precious planet.  

Ammi Midstokke has allocated her garden as a spider-habitat and established a spider corridor from her kitchen to the outdoors. Some spiders even make it there alive. 

The post Mitch Friedman’s Conservation Confidential: Finding Empathy and Collaboration in Modern Conservation appeared first on Out There Venture.

Some trails in the Iller Creek and Glenrose units allow traditional pedal mountain bikes. According to current Spokane County policy, both pedal-assist e-bikes and throttle e-bikes, which don’t require pedaling and are effectively electric motorcycles that can travel at a higher rate of speed, are currently prohibited on non-motorized Spokane County Conservation Area trails. Other areas, including the Dishman Hills Natural Area, which features miles of scenic hiking trails and prime urban-interface wildlife habitat, prohibit all types of bicycles and motorized vehicles on all trails.  

Motorized vehicles and e-bikes are currently prohibited for several reasons, according to the Dishman Hills Conservancy, including fire danger, high speeds that can surprise people and wildlife, and the risk of trail damage. The nonprofit conservation organization also cites trespassing as a concern, which not only violates private property rights but also risks damaging relationships with neighbors—potentially limiting future land conservation efforts. Trail users are encouraged to respect posted regulations, practice good etiquette and report violations to Crime Check or Spokane County Parks.

The post Motorized Mischief Reported in the Dishman Hills  appeared first on Out There Venture.

On a quiet morning, a child walks hand in hand with her grandfather along a trail in the Dishman Hills. The air is alive with birdsong, the scent of pine and the crunch of the trail beneath their boots. They pause as a doe steps into the clearing, ears flicking, before vanishing silently into the trees. The little girl squeezes his hand, wide-eyed with wonder. Moments like these don’t just happen. They are protected. 

For the last 59 years, neighbors, volunteers, and donors have fought to keep these hills wild—against bulldozers, against sprawl, against rapid loss to development. Because once wild places are gone, they do not return. What remains is only memory. 

The Dishman Hills Conservancy exists so memories aren’t all we have left. We safeguard habitats where moose calves learn to run, where wildflowers bloom in spring, where children discover their first sense of awe in nature. Each acre we protect is a gift—for wildlife, for clean air and water, for everyone who longs for a moment of quiet beauty close to home. 

But the work is not finished. The future of the Hills depends on all of us. When you join Dishman Hills Conservancy, you become part of this legacy. You ensure that your children, and their children, will have a place to explore, to breathe deeply, and to remember that they are part of something bigger than themselves. Join us today—help protect Spokane’s wild heart, forever. More info: Dishmanhills.org. 

The post Protecting Spokane’s Wild Heart: The Dishman Hills  appeared first on Out There Venture.

At Idaho Forest Group (IFG), conservation isn’t a side initiative—it’s the foundation of our mission. Across every mill, forest, and partnership, we work to responsibly manage natural resources today while preserving them for tomorrow. From trailheads to tree lines, IFG plays a vital role in sustaining the lands, wildlife and waterways that make Idaho unique. 

Our commitment extends through leadership roles in more than 20 conservation-focused groups, collaboration on National Forest plans and direct partnerships with agencies like Idaho Fish & Game and the U.S. Forest Service. 

We back our principles with action: investing in eco-technology, maximizing log utilization, minimizing emissions, recycling water and restoring fire-resilient ecosystems. In 2024, we donated a conservation easement along Prichard Creek to restore an area damaged by historical mining practices and to permanently protect the nearly 2,000 acres of stream and upland habitat from development. 

Just as we care for the land, we care deeply for the people who live and work in our communities. Our teams actively volunteer, and we provide lumber and funding donations for a variety of community organizations. IFG supports rural jobs and provides educational opportunities focused on careers in the forest products industry and the importance of environmental stewardship. Through partnerships with groups like Kaniksu Land Trust and the Idaho Forest Products Commission, we link conservation with public access, outdoor education and community well-being. 

For over 40 years, IFG has worked to ensure Idaho’s forests remain healthy and productive. By uniting sustainable forestry with stewardship and community investment, we protect the landscapes—and the people—that define Idaho’s future. 

The post Safeguarding Idaho’s Lands, Wildlife, Waterways, and Trails: Idaho Forest Group’s Enduring Commitment  appeared first on Out There Venture.

Cover photo courtesy of Kanisku Land Trust

When I was a kid, I could wander for miles without seeing a “No Trespassing” sign. Neighbors didn’t mind me and my dog popping out of the woods, and I never thought about “public access.” It was the norm. 

Of course, not every landowner feels comfortable welcoming visitors. Some fear liability, and others prefer privacy. Idaho’s Recreational Use Statute helps ease those worries by protecting landowners who allow free public access, but, ultimately, it’s always a choice. When granted, public access on private land is a gift, one that comes with the simple expectation that guests respect rules like staying on trails, picking up after themselves and honoring boundaries. 

It’s also important to understand the difference between public land and public-access land. Public land is owned by the public and managed by government agencies. It is supported by taxes, fees or resource management. Public-access land, on the other hand, is private property where the owner voluntarily allows community use. 

Kaniksu Land Trust’s Pine Street Woods is a good example. Though privately owned by the nonprofit Kaniksu Land Trust (KLT), it was purchased through community support and is maintained for public enjoyment. Still, most of KLT’s conservation work involves protecting land through conservation easements—agreements that keep forests, farms and wildlife habitat intact, but that don’t usually allow public access. 

Whether offered formally or informally, public access is a rare and generous gift. By respecting and supporting these lands, we ensure their beauty and benefits remain for generations to come. 

The post When Public Access Is a Gift: Respecting Private Land for Community Use  appeared first on Out There Venture.