Field Reports: Bear boxes installed on state land in northeast Washington | The Spokesman-Review

From staff reports

New bear boxes are in place at a couple of wildlife areas in northeast Washington.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced this week that it had installed food storage boxes at the Sherman Creek and LeClerc wildlife areas.

The large metal boxes with bearproof handles are meant to give campers a safe way to store their food and other attractants in bear habitat.

The lockers are common throughout grizzly bear country.

Storing food in the boxes can reduce the threat of bears disrupting campsites, becoming habituated to human foods or becoming a public safety threat.

Three of the boxes were installed at the Sherman Creek Wildlife Area on the north shore of Lake Roosevelt. Two were installed at LeClerc, which is on the east side of the Pend Oreille River and is sometimes used by the Selkirk grizzly population – the only known population of grizzlies to frequent the state.

WDFW said the boxes, approved by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, were funded through a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and WDFW’s diversity division.

Hunters who go one state over in search of their deer and elk each year will be able to purchase their tags next month.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game announced Friday that its nonresident deer and elk tags will be on sale Dec. 10.

That’s a change from previous years, when tags were offered on Dec. 1. Tara Reichert, Idaho Fish and Game’s license operations manager, said in a news release that because Dec. 1 falls on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, the agency thought Dec. 10 would be more convenient for its customers.

The agency plans to reach out to hunters who have provided email addresses in the past to notify them of the new sales date.

In the release, the agency advised hunters that big game seasons are going to be set next March, and that it’s possible some hunt offerings will change at that time.

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