BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — For the second time this winter, someone broke into a holding pen for Yellowstone National Park bison, allowing the escape of 73 animals captured to prevent the spread of a wildlife disease.

Park officials said the Stephens Creek pen was opened Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

Most of the 73 wild bison that escaped stayed nearby and eventually returned to the pen. Fifty-two bison escaped in a similar incident last month.

Bison captured as they leave the park during winter migrations are slaughtered or held in quarantine for possible relocation later.

Park Superintendent Dan Wenk said whoever broke into the pen was threatening the success of the quarantine program and ensuring more bison will be sent to slaughter.

Why do people fish?

All you need is a quick look around to see there are as many reasons to fish as there are anglers. People fish as an excuse to go to unique settings (think largemouth bass fishing in Mexico), to be successful in challenging situations (think Railroad Ranch on the Henry’s Fork in Idaho) or to catch one’s first fish (think new angler going to First Dam on the Logan River).

One aspect of all these trips, however, is that catching a big fish can make the outing more enjoyable. So the follow-up question is what makes a fish big?

The most important driver of fish size is species. The largest cutthroat trout caught by an angler was 41 pounds. This is an order of magnitude smaller than the biggest rod-and-reel-caught white sturgeon that weighed in at 468 pounds. In our area, we need to temper expectations as the two species most likely to exceed 15 pounds are lake trout and carp.

A consistent relationship among all fish species is they get much heavier as they get longer. That is because length is measured along a single dimension, while weight is measured in three dimensions: length, height and width. As a result the weight of a trout can double as their length increases from 20 to 25 inches.

Most big freshwater fish are found in lakes. This is because fish in still waters aren’t required to fight a current so can grow fat. Lakes in this region are often very productive as the nutrients that run off the land promote the growth of vegetation, macroinvertebrates and forage fish.

How big a fish is in a river can be is often determined by how they move. The best example of this is anadromy. That word describes the migratory pattern where juvenile fish migrate from freshwater to saltwater, and then years later as adults, migrate back from the ocean to spawn in freshwater. While salmon are the best example this strategy, sturgeon, shad and lampreys are all anadromous fish.

Fish movements in river can be adfluvial. This term describes a fish that spends most of its life in a lake but moves to rivers to spawn. An example is wild cutthroat trout in streams that grew up in Bear Lake. In contrast, fluvial fish live out most their lives in big rivers but spawn in smaller rivers. The Bear River has larger cutthroat trout (16 to 20 inches) that follow this pattern. This movement among rivers has become a difficult strategy as water diversions often block trout movement into smaller streams.

So how does an angler determine a fish is big? Unless you fish bass tournaments, largeness is defined by length, not weight.

A quantitative approach for evaluating fish size is to compare a captured fish length to the length of the world record fish. Using this system, a quality fish is defined as 40 percent of the world-record length, a preferred fish is 50 percent of the world-record length, a memorable fish is 65 percent and a trophy is 80 percent of the world-record length.

Applying this to rainbow trout means a quality fish is 16 inches long, a preferred fish is 20 inches long, a memorable fish is 25 inches long and a trophy fish is 30 inches long. Using this scale to judge the rainbow trout I have caught (excluding steelhead) would mean I have never caught a trophy rainbow trout, but that I have caught a dozen or so memorable fish in my life — and, yes, I can remember each of these fish.

This same scale applied to largemouth bass results in a quality fish being 12 inches long, 15 inches is the preferred length, 20 inches is a memorable fish and 24 inches is a trophy.

The value of understanding what anglers consider to be large is regulations can then be tailored to produce fish of that dimension. In Utah, the most common size exception to the general trout regulation is a slot limit where no fish between 15 and 22 inches can be kept. In Idaho, that regulation is no fish less than 20 inches can be kept. These regulations clearly define a management objective — produce more preferred and memorable size trout.

In using different regulations it is possible to produce fish of different sizes at different locations. That allows me to take my kids places where they catch a bunch of 12-inch trout while still maintaining some streams and lakes where I might stumble into a trophy fish.

Looking for something wild to do during the next couple of months? How about attending one of the upcoming sportsmen’s banquets?

Sportsmen’s organizations from around the region typically schedule their banquets and fundraisers this time of year. It is the perfect time to get together as fellow outdoors and wildlife enthusiasts and do something wild for wildlife.

Banquets are so much more than just an opportunity to eat good food and have fun with the family. They also function as fundraisers to generate money for wildlife conservation, community contributions, and youth programs — right here in southeastern Idaho.

If you would like to help these groups continue with their tireless efforts, consider buying an annual membership or volunteering your time to help with a project. You can also make a contribution by attending a sportsmen’s banquet or fundraiser — and bring the whole family. From great food, to raffles for wonderful prizes, to auctions for fabulous items and games for the kids — there is something for everyone.

Not sure when or where your favorite group’s banquet is? Check out the information below for upcoming events in Southeast Idaho, or search the internet for the information. Most sportsmen’s organizations have a website with chapter contact information.

Some wonderful groups have already held their banquets this year, and my sincere apologies for not getting the word out in time for their fundraisers. However, you don’t have to go to a banquet or fundraiser to make a difference to wildlife. Local groups like Ducks Unlimited, Safari Club International, Blackfoot River Bowmen, Southeast Idaho Flyfishers and others are always looking for new members and donations to further their conservation efforts.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Southeast Idaho Chapter

When: Saturday; doors open at 5 p.m., and dinner is served at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Shoshone-Bannock Hotel & Event Center, 777 Bannock Trail, Exit 80 off Interstate 15 in Fort Hall

Ticket and banquet information: Contact Karen at 208-242-9065 or visit www.rmef.org/Idaho/SoutheastIdaho.aspx. Tickets can be purchased online.

Mule Deer Foundation, Malad Chapter

When: March 3; doors open at 6 p.m.

Where: Malad High School, 181 Jenkins Ave., Malad City

Ticket and banquet information: Call Shane Wood at 208-317-6255

Mule Deer Foundation, Southeast Idaho Chapter

When: March 10; doors open at 5 p.m., and dinner is served at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Courtesy Ford, 1600 Yellowstone Ave. in Pocatello

Ticket and banquet location information: Call Gabe Allen at 208-241-4241

National Wild Turkey Federation, Southeast Idaho Chapter

When: March 10; doors open at 5 p.m.

Where: Red Lion Hotel, 1555 Pocatello Creek Road in Pocatello

Ticket and banquet information: Contact Joe Foster 208-339-0948 or lclm198@gmail.com or visit https://events.nwtf.org/120070-2018. Tickets can be purchased online.

Pheasants Forever, Franklin County Chapter

When: March 17; doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Where: Robinson Building at the Franklin County Fairgrounds

Ticket and banquet information: Contact Kody Purser at 208-760-7096 or chp0820@pfofficers.org

Pheasants Forever, Southeast Chapter

Banquet or membership information: Contact John Lambregts at 208-552-9675 or chp0145@pfofficers.org

Jennifer Jackson is the Regional Conservation Educator for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Southeast Region.

Recently, I was down in Texas conducting seminars at the Dallas Safari Club Convention and Expo. On Monday and Tuesday, I duck hunted in East Texas with Charles Allen, the owner of Knives of Alaska and Diamond Blades. Then I was going to be crow hunting in North Texas on Friday and Saturday.

I had Wednesday free so I called my brother, and he lined us up a striper fishing trip on Lake Texoma with Striper Express owned by Bill Carey, who has guided on the lake for decades. His son Chris was going to guide us.

The day was predicted to be cold and windy, but rain was predicted for the rest of the week. Normally the guides have you meet them at daylight but Chris said he’d been catching them midmorning so we met him at the boat house at 10 a.m.

Chris is a young gung-ho guide, which is what you want. Some days anyone can catch fish, but on a high percentage of the days you have to pull all stops and hit it hard. That’s fishing.

Chris told us a few of the lures that had been working for him and asked us which ones we wanted to start with. I’m a big believer in everyone using something different lures at first to find out what they’re hitting on.

I started out with some of my big Mister Twister plastics. Because of the wind, we all slapped on a big Road Runner and then tipped them off with different colored plastics. He had a bottle of Chartreuse paint that we dipped the tails in.

Because of the high winds, we used some heavy Road Runners so we could get to the bottom because that’s where the fish were hanging out. A Road Runner is basically a fancy jig. They have a spinner on them to further attract fish and a bucktail. You then slap a plastic on them. I don’t remember now but I think we were using 4- to 6-inch tails.

Chris instructed us that the fish were on the bottom and biting super soft. He said to cast out and count to 10 before we started retrieving. That size jig was dropping about 3 feet per second. He said it wouldn’t hurt twice per retrieve to hit the release momentarily to ensure that we stayed on bottom.

It was cold, and as the day progressed it got windier and windier. That makes it tough for a captain to hold the boat in a good fishing position for everyone. As usual, I forget the exact sequence of events, but we started getting into them pretty fast. Wow, I love catching stripers. I always forget how great fighters that they are. When they hit, it’s like an 18-wheeler drove by and snagged your line. They fight hard until they’re netted.

Chris was right: You had to reel super slow or you just didn’t get a hit. I don’t think that you could retrieve too slow. If you felt a bump, set the hook. Of course fishing like this on bottom, you sometimes hung a piece of Texas, which is a nice way of saying you snagged the bottom.

You’re allowed to keep two fish over 20 inches and five under 20. We had a tough time catching any small fish. We only caught three, the rest were over 20. As the day closed, Chris informed us that we’d netted right at 41 fish. What a great day we had.

I was glad I’d packed extra clothes because when the wind whipped up it’d gotten extra cool. Plus, it’s always colder on the water. In fact, let’s take a second and go over that.

In the days before refrigeration in the theaters in London, they put a block of ice on the stage and ran a fan over it to help cool the theater. When you’re on the downwind side of a lake, the same thing is happening to you. So always carry extra clothes and a wind breaker when going out on a fishing trip.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

SPRINGDALE, Utah (AP) — Zion National Park in Utah is closing access to 13 popular rock-climbing cliffs as part of an annual effort to protect sensitive nesting sites for peregrine falcons.

The National Park Service announced this week that climbing routes will close March 1 to let wildlife biologists monitor nesting activity of the formerly endangered raptors.

Affected routes include Angels Landing, Cable Mountain, North Twin Brother, Mountain of the Sun and Tunnel Wall.

Officials plan to reopen sites that don’t have nests by late April or early May.

Nest sites will be monitored until the chicks leave, typically in late July.

Zion is a sanctuary for the American peregrine falcon, a predatory bird that neared extinction in the 1970s but was removed from the endangered species list in 1999, after 20 years of recovery efforts.

POCATELLO — Sam Laoboonmi, owner of Sam’s Gun Shop in Pocatello, recently met the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and had a conversation with him about why his father ran for president.

On Jan. 23, Laoboonmi was at the SHOT Show — an annual trade show for shooting, hunting and the firearms industries held in Las Vegas — when he decided to visit the people at the Freedom Arms booth because he knew them well.

He said that he had grown tired by this point, but developed newfound energy once he saw Secret Service agents protecting Donald Trump Jr.

“Suddenly I see lots of Secret Service come around and then I saw Mr. Trump Jr. come to the booth,” Laoboonmi said.

Trump Jr. had come to the Freedom Arms booth specifically to purchase their firearms. Laoboonmi couldn’t speak to what kind of guns or how many Trump Jr. had bought.

Laoboonmi then had the opportunity to have a conversation with Trump Jr. and talked to him about the president and why he ran for office.

Laoboonmi’s main inquiry to Trump Jr. was what his father’s motivations were for running for president because, in his opinion, it doesn’t seem like it would be a good job to have.

“I asked him about how come your dad has lots of money and ran for president, because it’s not a good job,” Laoboonmi said. “You know, he has lots of money and can buy anything he wants to in this world.”

After Trump Jr. had mulled the question over, Laoboonmi says, “He replied to me, he’s a fighter, he loves this country, he wants to see this country move in the right direction.”

Laoboonmi was impressed with his response.

“I told him he’s done a great job, I love him, and if there’s anything I can do to help him do the job I will, but I’m a small tiny nobody,” he said.

According to Laoboonmi, Trump Jr. responded, “No, we need people like you.”

Laoboonmi then asked if there was any possibility that Trump Jr. would someday run for president.

“Then we talked about after the eight-year term would you like to run for president and he said, ‘No, too much headache for me,’” Laoboonmi recounted.

Laoboonmi then had the opportunity to get his picture taken with Trump Jr.

“I was really surprised when I saw him, he really likes guns,” Laoboonmi said. “You know, he’s a good hunter. Like I said, he’s one of the best guys I’ve ever met.”

POCATELLO — Sam Laoboonmi, owner of Sam’s Gun Shop in Pocatello, recently met the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and had a conversation with him about why his father ran for president.

On Jan. 23, Laoboonmi was at the SHOT Show — an annual trade show for shooting, hunting and the firearms industries held in Las Vegas — when he decided to visit the people at the Freedom Arms booth because he knew them well.

He said that he had grown tired by this point, but developed newfound energy once he saw Secret Service agents protecting Donald Trump Jr.

“Suddenly I see lots of Secret Service come around and then I saw Mr. Trump Jr. come to the booth,” Laoboonmi said.

Trump Jr. had come to the Freedom Arms booth specifically to purchase their firearms. Laoboonmi couldn’t speak to what kind of guns or how many Trump Jr. had bought.

Laoboonmi then had the opportunity to have a conversation with Trump Jr. and talked to him about the president and why he ran for office.

Laoboonmi’s main inquiry to Trump Jr. was what his father’s motivations were for running for president because, in his opinion, it doesn’t seem like it would be a good job to have.

“I asked him about how come your dad has lots of money and ran for president, because it’s not a good job,” Laoboonmi said. “You know, he has lots of money and can buy anything he wants to in this world.”

After Trump Jr. had mulled the question over, Laoboonmi says, “He replied to me, he’s a fighter, he loves this country, he wants to see this country move in the right direction.”

Laoboonmi was impressed with his response.

“I told him he’s done a great job, I love him, and if there’s anything I can do to help him do the job I will, but I’m a small tiny nobody,” he said.

According to Laoboonmi, Trump Jr. responded, “No, we need people like you.”

Laoboonmi then asked if there was any possibility that Trump Jr. would someday run for president.

“Then we talked about after the eight-year term would you like to run for president and he said, ‘No, too much headache for me,’” Laoboonmi recounted.

Laoboonmi then had the opportunity to get his picture taken with Trump Jr.

“I was really surprised when I saw him, he really likes guns,” Laoboonmi said. “You know, he’s a good hunter. Like I said, he’s one of the best guys I’ve ever met.”

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A proposal advocating for the collection of a fee at Yellowstone National Park to fund wildlife conservation efforts in the states surrounding the park is advancing through the Wyoming Legislature.

The nonbinding resolution, which passed the state House Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural Resources Committee on a 9-0 vote Wednesday. It also approved expanding the concept to Grand Teton National Park, which is just south of Yellowstone in northwest Wyoming.

It now goes to the full Wyoming House for debate.

Proponents say the idea will generate money for Wyoming, Montana and Idaho to deal with wildlife management issues, such as mitigating collisions between wildlife and vehicles and the spread of wildlife diseases.

Its primary sponsor, Rep. Albert Sommers, said about 4 million people visit Yellowstone every year.

“Sure, you want to see Old Faithful and you want to see the mudpots,”said Sommers, R-Pinedale. But visitors also want to see a grizzly, wolf, bison or elk roaming around. “People want to see that, and I think they’d be willing to support it.”

Since states cannot impose fees in national parks, the resolution seeks to start a conversation between the three states and the U.S. Interior Department and the National Park Service about the parks imposing a fee or sharing current fees with the states.

The Wyoming resolution does not specify the amount of the fee or how it would be assessed.

Sommers said those details would need to be worked out with the federal government.

Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk said Wednesday that he and other park staff have not been contacted about the proposal. He noted that Yellowstone remits about $10 million a year in taxes it collects inside the park to the state of Wyoming.

“The economic impact of Yellowstone and the surrounding communities is, I think, over $600 million a year,” he said.

Sommers said wildlife migrates in and out of Yellowstone and Grand Teton, creating conflicts in areas outside the parks.

He said Wyoming has spent millions building special fences and highway overpasses and underpasses to help protect wildlife near Grand Teton from collisions with vehicles.

In Montana, private ranchers outside Yellowstone are concerned about bison that leave the park during the harsh winters, spreading disease to their cattle. Bison that leave the park are caught and some are slaughtered to prevent disease from spreading.

“It’s important that we find ways to fund those efforts, particularly where there’s conflict or mitigation needs to occur and where human impacts are,” Sommers said.

Representatives of various conservation organizations, including the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and The Nature Conservancy, voiced support for the idea.

“We think it’s a creative way to start a conversation about new ways of funding wildlife management issues,” said Siva Sundaresan, Wyoming conservation coordinator with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said.

However, some have expressed concern about added costs to enter Yellowstone.

The National Park Service has proposed imposing steep increases in entrance fees at 17 of its most popular parks, including Yellowstone to help pay for needed maintenance and infrastructure projects.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A proposal advocating for the collection of a fee at Yellowstone National Park to fund wildlife conservation efforts in the states surrounding the park is advancing through the Wyoming Legislature.

The nonbinding resolution, which passed the state House Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural Resources Committee on a 9-0 vote Wednesday. It also approved expanding the concept to Grand Teton National Park, which is just south of Yellowstone in northwest Wyoming.

It now goes to the full Wyoming House for debate.

Proponents say the idea will generate money for Wyoming, Montana and Idaho to deal with wildlife management issues, such as mitigating collisions between wildlife and vehicles and the spread of wildlife diseases.

Its primary sponsor, Rep. Albert Sommers, said about 4 million people visit Yellowstone every year.

“Sure, you want to see Old Faithful and you want to see the mudpots,”said Sommers, R-Pinedale. But visitors also want to see a grizzly, wolf, bison or elk roaming around. “People want to see that, and I think they’d be willing to support it.”

Since states cannot impose fees in national parks, the resolution seeks to start a conversation between the three states and the U.S. Interior Department and the National Park Service about the parks imposing a fee or sharing current fees with the states.

The Wyoming resolution does not specify the amount of the fee or how it would be assessed.

Sommers said those details would need to be worked out with the federal government.

Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk said Wednesday that he and other park staff have not been contacted about the proposal. He noted that Yellowstone remits about $10 million a year in taxes it collects inside the park to the state of Wyoming.

“The economic impact of Yellowstone and the surrounding communities is, I think, over $600 million a year,” he said.

Sommers said wildlife migrates in and out of Yellowstone and Grand Teton, creating conflicts in areas outside the parks.

He said Wyoming has spent millions building special fences and highway overpasses and underpasses to help protect wildlife near Grand Teton from collisions with vehicles.

In Montana, private ranchers outside Yellowstone are concerned about bison that leave the park during the harsh winters, spreading disease to their cattle. Bison that leave the park are caught and some are slaughtered to prevent disease from spreading.

“It’s important that we find ways to fund those efforts, particularly where there’s conflict or mitigation needs to occur and where human impacts are,” Sommers said.

Representatives of various conservation organizations, including the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and The Nature Conservancy, voiced support for the idea.

“We think it’s a creative way to start a conversation about new ways of funding wildlife management issues,” said Siva Sundaresan, Wyoming conservation coordinator with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said.

However, some have expressed concern about added costs to enter Yellowstone.

The National Park Service has proposed imposing steep increases in entrance fees at 17 of its most popular parks, including Yellowstone to help pay for needed maintenance and infrastructure projects.