For those who like to tromp around in the outdoors to find their Christmas tree, public land managers have a deal for you.

Permits to cut Christmas trees on national forest or Bureau of Land Management land in East Idaho will cost $15. Only one tree is allowed per family.

Permits on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest can be obtained at ranger district offices or at several vendors in East Idaho. They are available now.

In Pocatello, you can get a permit at the Westside Ranger District at 4350 S. Cliffs Drive or at C-A-L Ranch, 4115 Yellowstone Ave. A full list of vendors can be found at tinyurl.com/pr-tree-cutting.

“We sell between 8,000 and 9,000 Christmas tree tags per year,” said Sarah Wheeler, a spokesman for the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. “Last year we sold 8,791.”

Households that purchase a Christmas tree permit are encouraged to harvest their trees as soon as possible due to weather conditions, Wheeler said in a news release. “Mountain snowstorms and subsequent road conditions can limit access to cutting areas.”

Both the BLM and Forest Service remind tree cutters that all motorized travel restrictions are still in effect and will be enforced. Both groups offer helpful maps on where to go and where not to go to find a Christmas tree.

“Montpelier and Palisades Ranger Districts are the most popular areas for Christmas tree cutting,” Wheeler said.

“Be safe and prepared,” the BLM advises in its tree permit information. “Check road and weather conditions before heading out. Make sure you have everything you need for an outdoor venture including warm clothes, food, water and safety equipment. Let someone know where you’ll be going and when you plan to return. If you get stranded, call for help, and stay with your group and vehicle until help arrives.”

The Caribou-Targhee National Forest is offering one free Christmas tree cutting permit to fourth-graders who have an Every Kid Outdoors pass. The permits must be picked up by fourth-graders at Forest Service offices and are not available from vendors.

“The fourth-grader must be present at the time the permit is issued and must be picked up prior to cutting your tree,” the forest service said.

Wheeler said, last year, 54 fourth-graders took advantage of the Every Kid Outdoors pass to get a free Christmas tree cutting permit. She said the Caribou-Targhee office typically issued about 1,000 Every Kid Outdoors passes.

Every Kid Outdoors passes can be found at everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm. With the pass, fourth-graders and their families can have free entry to more than 2,000 federally managed lands and waters for an entire year starting Sept. 1.

The dismal steelhead return on the Clearwater River has prompted the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s commission to close the season.

On Friday, the commission voted to close the season when the number of returning adult hatchery fish was less than the number needed for broodstock, leaving no surplus for anglers.

The closure goes into effect at midnight Sunday and covers the river to the confluence of the Middle Fork and South Fork and along the North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork tributaries, Fish and Game said in a news release. Also, the section of the Snake River downstream from the Couse Creek boat ramp to the Idaho-Washington state line will be closed to protect Clearwater-bound steelhead.

“Consistent with existing rules that prohibit targeting steelhead or salmon where there is no open season, anglers will not be allowed to fish for steelhead in the Clearwater River drainage after the fishery is closed, even catch-and-release,” the news release said.

A steelhead fishing season continues on the Salmon and Snake river basins.

Biologists estimate about 1,158 hatchery steelhead destined for the Clearwater River have passed Bonneville Dam through Sept. 18. The fish are tracked by tiny, electronic tags embedded in the body.

On average, 50 percent of the fish pass the Bonneville Dam headed for the Clearwater River by Sept. 18.

“Based on average run timing, we estimate that this will result in approximately 2,300 fish crossing Bonneville Dam by the end of the season,” said Lance Hebdon, anadromous fishery manager for Fish and Game. “The result for Idaho anglers is that only 1,700 hatchery steelhead destined for the Clearwater River will make it to Lower Granite Dam by the end of the season.”

Hebdon said the Clearwater River hatcheries will need 100 percent of the returning fish to meet its broodstock needs.

“Early in the fall, many of the steelhead in the Clearwater river basin are actually fish destined for the Salmon and Grande Ronde rivers, which have pulled into the Clearwater until water temperatures in the Snake River start to cool off,” Hebdon said. “The main component of the Clearwater River steelhead run starts arriving in the middle of October.”

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission approved the pared-down 2019 sage grouse hunting season.

The commission in late August approved a seven-day season in portions of Owyhee, Twin, Oneida and Cassia counties with a one-bird daily limit. In central Idaho, the season will be two days with a one-bird daily limit. Eastern Idaho and western and northern Idaho are closed to hunting sage grouse.

The season for the southwestern counties will run from Sept. 21 to 27 and the season for central Idaho will be Sept. 21 to 22.

Fish and Game wildlife biologist Ann Moser who is responsible for Idaho’s sage grouse program said statewide, “we’re down 25 percent from last year. When I say down, fish and game monitors sage grouse populations by counting male attendants at leks.”

Moser said a number of factors have been contributing to the decline of sage grouse numbers over the past decade. She said nest success and brood survival has been poor due to poor weather, drought, invasive cheatgrass, wildfires removing habitat, loss of habitat because of development and changing farming practices.

The reopening of the recently renovated Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel in Yellowstone National Park will be celebrated with a ribbon-cutting, speeches and tours next week.

Festivities begin at 10 a.m. Aug. 30 with remarks from the park’s superintendent, project manager and Xanterra Travel Collection general manager.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., tours will be conducted starting in the hotel lobby.

A park ranger will lead a one-hour “Calling in the Cavalry Walk” around adjacent Fort Yellowstone starting from the hotel lobby at 11:30 a.m.

The Park Service spent $30 million on the renovation project to the 1938 hotel.

“Yellowstone and Xanterra Travel Collection in Yellowstone partnered to preserve and maintain the historic look and feel of this important art moderne structure that was originally designed by architect Robert Reamer,” according to the Park Service. “The hotel, cottages, and companion dining room is the epicenter of commercial visitor services at Mammoth, and is adjacent to Fort Yellowstone, the park’s headquarters.”

The renovation kept the building’s original style but added new private bathrooms to guest rooms, new windows, conference rooms, structural and seismic stabilization, upgraded electrical systems and disability access.

“Considered one of the first ‘grand’ hotels in any national park, the Mammoth Hotel was an important structure in the history of park visitation,” the park said.

Grand Teton National Park has announced the opening dates for campgrounds, roads and other facilities.

The Gros Ventre and Jenny Lake campgrounds are open now. Other campgrounds are slated to open this weekend — Signal Mountain and Colter Bay campgrounds — and others will open toward the end of the month or the beginning of June.

Lodging will open with the Signal Mountain Lodge starting May 10. Other lodges — Jackson Lake Lodge, Colter Bay Cabins, Triangle X Ranch, Jenny Lake Lodge and Headwaters Lodge at Flagg Ranch — open later in May and the first of June.

The Grand Teton Climbers’ Ranch (which offers simple cabins for climbers) will open June 8.

The Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center opened April 1. The Colter Bay Visitor Center will open May 10. Other visitor centers in the park, such as the Jenny Lake Visitor Center will open the first week of June.

The Jenny Lake Ranger Station will open for business June 1.

The Teton Park and Moose-Wilson roads opened to motorized traffic May 1. Other roads, such as the Signal Mountain Summit Road, Grassy Lake Road and Two Ocean Road, are not plowed and still have some drifted snow. These roads are expected to open by mid-June depending on the weather.

For additional information about activities and services within Grand Teton National Park or the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, visit the park’s website at nps.gov/grandteton, stop by open visitor centers or call 307-739-3300.

The park entrance fee is $35 per vehicle, $30 per motorcycle or $20 per person. An annual park pass is $70. A two-park pass for both Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks is no longer available. The Interagency Annual and Lifetime Senior passes, valid for entrance at most federal recreation sites including national parks, is $80.