POCATELLO — The Portneuf River Back Country Horsemen chapter has scheduled a meeting for 5:30 p.m. April 12 at Elmer’s restaurant, when they’ll plan upcoming projects and events.

The meeting will feature a no-host dinner, and the group has also booked a speaker, Dr. Seth Lundquist, a veterinarian with Alpine Animal Hospital, who will discuss proper care for horses.

A business meeting will follow the speaker, during which members will plan projects, events and trail rides. Back Country Horsemen is a national organization that works to ensure public lands remain open to recreational stock use, primarily through trail maintenance and improvement projects.

Last year, the organization did work on a new connector trail serving the western hills near Pocatello, called Campbell Creek Trail.

The group is also seeking new members. Membership is $25 per person, and the group hosts monthly trail rides throughout summer.

For more information, call Nancy Fox at 307-248-0610, or email her at nancyfox321@gmail.com, or call Steve Hurley at 208-221-4626, or email him at steve@hurleystar.com.

POCATELLO — Pocatello officials say they are applying for grants that would help them improve the Cusick Creek trailhead and provide more access to the Portneuf River.

“We’ve seen the use of trails at places like Cusick Creek increase substantially and events like the Poky Portneuf Paddle showed us that residents want the Portneuf River to be floatable,” Hannah Sanger, Pocatello’s Science and Environment administrator, said in a news release. “These grants would help make sure that our trailheads and river access points are meeting the community’s needs and limiting erosion that makes its way into the Portneuf River.”

City officials say they are applying for a pair of grants through the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation. The first would help them make trailhead and erosion control improvements at the Cusick Creek trailhead.

“Proposed enhancements include enlarging the parking area and re-grading the surface to limit erosion, improving fencing, and adding interpretive signage about the historic water reservoir structures in the area,” according to the news release.

The second grant would allow them to create kayak and canoe access points on the Portneuf River near Sacajawea Park and the Abraszewski trailhead, officials said. If they receive the funding, they would be able to start the projects in late 2020 or 2021.

City officials are seeking public input for the grant applications. Those who would like to comment or get involved in the efforts can contact Sanger at (208) 234-6518 or hsanger@pocatello.us.

Idaho Fish and Game officials are mystified why two cow elk were properly partly processed after being killed but then dumped about one mile north of Georgetown in Southeast Idaho.

A sportsman in the area recently discovered and reported the wasted meat to Fish and Game on Oct. 28.

Senior Conservation Officer Raliegh Scott of Fish and Game said the situation is hard to understand.

“The puzzling thing about this case is that the elk were properly taken care of prior to being dumped,” he said. “Each elk was skinned, cut into quarters, and appeared to be, at one time, properly tagged.”

Scott said he discovered fluorescent zip ties still attached to the hindquarters of both elk. That’s a possible indication that big game tags were formerly attached to both animals prior to being discarded.

“This area is known for sportsmen who take great pride in caring for meat so to see waste at this level is troubling,” he said.

Fish and Game is asking anyone with information about these two elk, or vehicles or people seen in the area from Oct. 25 through Oct. 27, to call or text Scott at 207-270-9923.

Those with information can also contact the Citizens Against Poaching hotline at 1-800-632-5999 or go to idfg.idaho.gov/poacher and fill out an online report.

People who provide information may remain anonymous. And those with information leading to an arrest are eligible for rewards, according to Fish and Game.

Pomerelle Mountain Resort near Malta received 13 inches of snow sure the weather system that passed through Idaho this week.To celebrate, the resort will have its Winter Welcome Weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. There will…

CHUBBUCK — Officials at the Oregon Trail Range on 2 1/2 Mile Road are alerting members to be on the lookout for anybody causing intentional damage to the gun range.

An email sent out this week by the Gate City Sport Shooting Association said the left hand post in the 25-yard bay was shot three times by a range member with a high-powered, large-bore firearm.

The email said the damage was intentionally inflicted and asked range members to report anybody who is deliberately damaging property at the range.

If anybody sees damage being inflicted, officials with the gun range are advising them to write down the vehicle license plate number and the make and model of the vehicle, or take a picture of the license plate with a cellphone. Members should also document and take a photo of the damage.

If members know the person inflicting the damage, they should note the name, the damages and the date and time.

Members can report any damages by sending an email to GateCitySSA@gmail.com or by contacting a board of director.

POCATELLO — Pocatello has had its share of moose encounters over the past few weeks.

Earlier this month, a loose moose was captured and relocated after running around Memorial Park. Last Saturday, a moose wandered into the Samuel Street and Nora Avenue area near Constitution Park. This animal was also tranquilized and relocated. 

Then on Tuesday, two yearling moose were spotted at Rainey Park. Conservation officers with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game successfully tranquilized and relocated one of the moose, while the other one ran off back into the wild.

According to Jennifer Jackson, regional conservation educator with Idaho Fish and Game, around this time of year, cow moose have been giving birth to new calves, which means the yearlings are left to their own devices. Because of this, wildlife officials often see issues in May and June with young moose wandering into local cities. 

Authorities are still searching for a Utah teenager who went missing while swimming in the Teton River near Newdale, while multiple drownings have been reported in other areas of the state.

Search and rescue crews from multiple counties have been looking for 14-year-old Justin Keith Grass, of Sandy, Utah. Grass was swimming with two friends near the old Teton Dam on Sunday afternoon when he disappeared.

According to crews at the scene, the three boys were attempting to cross the river. Grass was reportedly caught in a strong current and couldn’t get to shore.

Search and rescue crews will continue the search on Wednesday.

There have been multiple drownings reported across the state over the past week.

A 13-year-old boy drowned Friday after he was pinned underneath an ATV in a canal near Burley.

Cassia County sheriff deputies were sent to 450 E. 250 S. at 5:30 p.m. in response to a 911 call saying the sister of the boy found him in the ditch underneath a 4-wheeler, according to a Cassia County sheriff’s report.

Cassia County Undersheriff George Warrell said the boy, Jared Stanley Zollinger, died after he lost control of the vehicle on a canal road and landed in a ditch that was half-full of water.

“He was eastbound on the canal bank and he lost control at a curve and overturned it in the ditch. He was pinned underneath it,” Warrell said.

The boy’s father, an emergency medical technician, was at the scene performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on him when officers arrived, according to the report.

The boy had left his residence about 4:20 p.m. When he did not return in about 15 to 20 minutes, family members started looking for him.

The boy’s sister had been out driving eastbound and found the crash.

Warrell said the boy had been wearing a helmet.

In a separate incident near Kuna, a 21-month-old boy died after he was found in a canal earlier this week.

According to the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, Spencer Arnold, of Woods Cross, Utah, was reported missing early Monday morning and a search commenced to find him

The child was soon found in the Mora Canal near the house. Investigators say the toddler was playing in a fenced yard with other children but somehow got out of the yard and fell into the canal.

Emergency responders pulled him out of the water and took him to a Nampa hospital by ambulance. The child was later pronounced dead.

The sheriff’s office is investigating the incident as a drowning.

Lisa Dayley Smith with the Rexburg Standard Journal and Laurie Welch with the Times-News contributed to this article.

SWAN VALLEY — Three people were rescued last Friday after their boat capsized on the Snake River.

The incident took place approximately 6 miles upstream from the Conant Boat Dock.

Deputies with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene at approximately 1:20 p.m. Friday, where they found that the reporting party was able to pull all three occupants of the capsized boat out of the water.

Authorities said none of the three occupants, two adult males and a male juvenile, were injured, but they needed to be warned up because of the river’s cold temperatures. The juvenile was the only one who was wearing a life jacket.

After the incident, the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office issued a news release adising boaters to be prepared for an emergency and to always wear a life jacket.

Due to cold temperatures and high water levels in the Snake River, police said multiple hazards exist, including floating debris and hypothermia.

“Even with warmer temperatures outside, the cold water this time of year can quickly put a person into a hypothermia emergency and severely hamper the ability to self-rescue or assist in rescuing others,” the news release.

POCATELLO — Wildlife officials are investigating after a deer was found dead with a leash wrapped around its neck.

The yearling buck was found on Wednesday in the back yard of a Gibson Jack residence south of Pocatello.

Officials with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said it is not uncommon to find dead wildlife on people’s properties. However, Wednesday’s incident was unique because officials said the leash had been intentionally strapped around the deer’s neck, “either in an attempt to make it a pet or to otherwise harass the animal.”

“The deer experienced a long, slow death,” said Anna Owsiak, regional habitat manager for Fish and Game, in a news release. “The condition of the animal was poor — it was obviously malnourished and its velvety antlers had been chewed off at some point. This deer has had to do its best to keep up with its herd, move through the brush, escape dogs and other predators, and try to feed — with a strap impeding its every move.”

When the deer was found, one of its back legs was in the loop of the leash’s hand grip. Officials believe that each time the deer had to take a step, its head and neck were pulled to the ground in a painful fashion.

“Ultimately, the animal died, a harsh consequence of someone’s actions,” a Fish and Game news release said.

Fish and Game received numerous calls about the deer in March, but attempts to help the animal were unsuccessful.

“We tried at least four times to dart the deer, Owsiak said. “But we were thwarted by circumstances such as the deer’s location, windy weather, other deer standing to close to the intended target, or other factors.”

Fish and Game continued to look for the yearling, even asking some residents along Bannock Highway and Mink Creek Road to assist in the search. The deer was later found dead on Wednesday.

“How this deer was lassoed and by whom remains a mystery,” a Fish and Game news release said.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Fish and Game’s regional office in Pocatello at 208-232-4703 or Citizens Against Poaching at 1-800-632-5999. Callers can remain anonymous.

“It’s against the law to keep wildlife as pets or to harass a deer in such a manner as this one was,” said Jennifer Jackson, regional conservation educator, in a news release. “Even if the intent was not to keep the animal as a pet, the end result is the same — last year’s spotted fawn is this spring’s saddest story. I can’t imagine the stress this yearling went through before it finally succumbed to its situation. It’s heartbreaking.”