BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Electric-powered bikes with a top speed of 20 mph will be allowed on Boise streets, sidewalks, bike lanes and the 25 miles of Greenbelt paths in the city.

The Boise City Council on Tuesday approved the change to a city ordinance.

Officials say electric bikes won’t be allowed on Ridge to Rivers trails in the Boise Foothills. However, officials say electric bikes will be allowed on some city-owned Ridge to Rivers trails to accommodate individuals with a mobility disability.

The Boise Parks and Recreation Department and Boise Police Department starting in the spring will do a six-month review of electric-bike use in the city, then report to the city council.

City officials say pedestrians on the Greenbelt have the right of way at all times.

JACKSON, Wyoming (AP) — Despite a lack of snow, wildlife managers have already started putting out feed for elk in parts of northwest Wyoming.

The Jackson Hole News and Guide reports the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is distributing hay in areas to draw elk away from private lands.

Game and Fish Regional Supervisor John Lund, who oversees the Pinedale area, says the idea is to keep the elk from eating feed intended for cattle on private ranches.

Mid-December is usually when snow in the high country gets deep enough that operations begin on Game and Fish’s 22 feedgrounds.

The average onset of feeding on the National Elk Refuge, where elk get alfalfa instead of hay, is the end of January.

BOZEMAN, Montana (AP) — Yellowstone National Park officials say multiple bighorn rams have caught a viral disease that causes unsightly mouth sores.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports the park’s videographer snapped images in November of rams with the sores.

Officials confirmed the videographer’s pictures Monday, saying the rams have sore mouth disease, a condition widespread among wild bighorn sheep in the Rocky Mountains. It is also common in domestic sheep and goats.

Officials say animals usually recover, but death can occur in severe outbreaks, particularly among lambs that can’t feed because of the mouth sores.

The disease can be transmitted to people if a person directly touches an infected sheep.

Yellowstone biologists are monitoring the infected animals.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The reward for information regarding the killing of two wolves in northeastern Washington state has grown to $20,000.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Cascadia Wildlands on Monday said they had doubled a previously announced reward by Conservation Northwest for information leading to conviction in the killing of the wolves.

Over the weekend, officials for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that two wolves that were being monitored had been found shot to death.

The animals were members of the Smackout and Dirty Shirt packs.

Wolves are a protected species across the state of Washington. Poachers can face fines and jail time.

Wolves were wiped out in Washington early in the 1900s, but started returning to the state earlier this century.

LAUREL, Montana (AP) — Wildlife officials approved a special hunt to learn more about the prevalence of chronic wasting disease in Montana.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission voted Thursday to allow the hunt that will begin Friday. Licenses go on sale Monday.

Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks official Greg Lemon says the hunt follows the first finding of chronic wasting disease in wild deer in Montana this fall.

Lemon says every animal that is killed must be sampled during this hunt. He says hunters have 72 hours to submit the animal for sampling.

Whole carcasses, heads and spinal columns won’t be allowed outside the designated area in order to prevent potential spread of chronic wasting disease.

The hunt area spans more than 1,200 square miles south of Laurel in south-central Montana.

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Authorities say a 60-year-old northern Idaho man is recovering after being shot in the buttocks with a .50-caliber muzzleloader rifle by his hunting partner who mistook him for an elk.

The Latah County Sheriff’s Office tells the Moscow-Pullman Daily News that the Moscow man was shot Monday near Deary by a 72-year-old Potlatch man.

Officials say the injured man was transported to a hospital and was in stable condition Tuesday.

Names haven’t been released.

(AP) — Idaho snow bunnies will have plenty of reason to give thanks with six regional ski resorts either already open for the season or planning to open around Thanksgiving weekend.

According to the Idaho Ski Areas Association, Sun Valley’s Bald and Dollar mountains are scheduled to open Thursday.

Meanwhile, Sandpoint’s Schweitzer Mountain will reopen Friday after opening Nov. 17 — the earliest in 20 years. Nearby, Kellogg’s Silver Mountain and Mullan’s Lookout Pass are also open for weekends.

Just outside of Idaho, Grand Targhee in Wyoming and Lost Trail in Montana have been open since the beginning of the month.

The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center has recently issued a La Niña advisory, which is expected to help increase the chances of mountains getting more snow this season.

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — Grand Teton National Park in northwest Wyoming will increase fees for various permits, including backcountry camping, weddings and motor boats.

Park spokesman Andrew White said the fee adjustment is part of the park’s annual review of programs.

“It’s not a response to any sort of budget issue,” White said. “We’re just making sure we’re recovering the cost associated with these programs.”

On Jan. 1, the fee for a backcountry permit will rise from $25 to $35. Add $10 for advanced registration and the total will be $45.

In 2014, when Teton Park initiated a $25 fee for a backcountry permit, there was no “adverse effect on the number of people camping in the backcountry,” White said.

More than 40,000 people spent a night in the park’s backcountry this year, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reported .

Wedding permits will increase from $100 to $125, special event permits will rise from $175 to $200, and non-motorized boat permits will increase by $2 to $12. The cost to operate each program differs, White said.

Backcountry permit fees cover the cost of free bear-canister use, an educational video, trail use and site maintenance. But the big driver of the cost is the use of the Recreation.gov website.

The website is used by the park to manage reservations. It’s operated by a private contractor, White said, and it recently changed hands. The fees the park pays increased after that.

“That fee increased rather significantly this year,” White said, “from $2 to $10 a permit.”

Permits for special events and weddings require extra site monitoring and cleanup, White said.

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Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — A Wyoming Game and Fish Department public meeting on how to manage grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem drew comments and ideas from hunting guides who perceive there are too many grizzly bears and environmentalists insistent that Jackson Hole should remain a hunting-free sanctuary.

About 100 people attended the meeting Wednesday night when they were asked their thoughts on population monitoring, research, conflict management, information and education and grizzly bear hunting.

The comments and ideas voiced included prohibiting grizzly bear hunting until the Yellowstone region’s bears are connected with the grizzly bear population in northwest Montana; requiring wildlife managers to tell the public where tracked grizzlies are in real time when the bears venture into well-used areas; and requiring that meat from a hunted grizzly bear can’t be wasted, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reported.

“I would recommend that the regulations say you can’t shoot a bear within a mile of a road,” said Maury Jones, a local ranch manager.

Such a buffer, Jones said, could ensure that wildlife watchers enjoy their viewing experiences without worrying about seeing a grizzly bear die.

Dan Thompson, the state’s large carnivore supervisor, said hunting grizzly bears would be “biologically sustainable” because there are an estimated 695 bears in the Yellowstone region of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently determined that the Yellowstone grizzly population no longer needed federal protection and turned management of the species over to the three states.

Conflicts between humans and grizzly bears are increasing as the bear population expands. State game managers consider hunting as one of the tools needed to help control the situation. Other tools include capturing and relocating bears.

Conservation groups generally oppose hunting of grizzly bears and several are suing to restore the federal protections, contending the bears are still threatened by a warming climate that limits their traditional food sources such as whitebark pine nuts and by increasing conflicts with humans.

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Utah officials are exploring the possibility of allowing all-terrain vehicles to be used in Antelope Island State Park, a common entry point for visitors to the Great Salt Lake.

Utah Department of Natural Resources officials have asked the park’s director to conduct an assessment of ATV use on its trails, The Standard-Examiner reported Wednesday.

Department Executive Director Mike Styler says he expects the results of that assessment by the spring.

“We’re just trying to provide more opportunities for more people so they can have more experiences. We’re getting pressure at all the parks to provide more opportunities,” he said.

Styler’s team rode through the park and found many trails weren’t appropriate for ATV use, but others appeared be rocky enough to be ridden without causing erosion problems.

The Board of Utah State Parks and Recreation would need to approve the action and open a public comment period before the vehicles would be allowed in the park.

The use of ATVs would only be allowed through guided tours and limited to certain trails, Styler said.

Park advocates say they would oppose such an action because of the potential environmental harm the vehicles could cause.

“We think it would do irreparable harm to the island environment and the experience people have out there,” said Spence Kinard of Friends of Antelope Island.

Meanwhile, local ATV enthusiast and columnist Lynn Blamires said he’d be in favor of a few special ATV-riding events, but he doesn’t think the park should have an open ATV trail system.

Utah has 40 state parks, and about 10 of them offer ATV riding as an amenity. One, the Jordan River OHV Park, is dedicated to ATV riders.