A 32-year-old Oregon man who authorities have dubbed the “Great Outdoors Bandit” has pleaded guilty to robbing multiple banks and credit unions across Idaho and Utah.

Josue Daniel Alfaro, of Portland, Oregon, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to five counts of bank robbery and one count of attempted bank robbery.

According to the plea agreement, Alfaro admitted to robbing, and attempting to rob, the following banks for the following amounts:

• Dec. 21, 2016: U.S. Bank at 10500 West Overland Road in Boise for $3,174.
• Dec. 21, 2016: Idaho Central Credit Union at 1615 South Celebration Avenue in Meridian for $2,100.
• March 24, 2017: Alpine Credit Union at 351 East 800 South in Orem, Utah, for $12,736.
• Aug. 7, 2017: Bank of the West at 9140 West Emerald St. in Boise. (Attempted robbery, no loss of money)
• Aug. 7, 2017: Pioneer Federal Credit Union at 850 East Fairview Ave. in Meridian for $9,637.
• Aug. 7, 2017: Clarity Federal Credit Union at 555 South Meridian Road in Meridian for $100.

According to the FBI, authorities nicknamed Alfaro as the “Great Outdoors Bandit” because of the outdoorsy attire he wore during each robbery.

In each of the robberies, Alfaro obscured his face with a baseball cap and black sunglasses. He provided the tellers with notes demanding money. Prosecutors said one note threatened that he would shoot a teller if he didn’t get the money.

Alfaro was arrested on Aug. 13 at Los Angeles International Airport while attempting to board an international flight to Brussels, Belgium. In his carry-on bag, authorities said Alfaro possessed $2,826 in cash that he obtained from the bank robberies.

Sentencing is set for March 13, 2018, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise.

For each count, Alfaro faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and not more than 5 years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Boise Police Department and the Meridian Police Department.

Montana will conduct a second special deer hunt — this one along the Canadian border — as wildlife officials scramble to gauge the prevalence of a newly-found disease that’s fatal to deer, elk and moose.

State wildlife commissioners approved the hunt Thursday. Officials said they expect to issue about 335 licenses for hunters to harvest 135 mule deer in the Chester area.

Killed animals will be tested for chronic wasting disease.

The neurological disease first showed up in southcentral Montana this fall and near Chester on Dec. 4

In neighboring Wyoming, it’s caused a 21 percent annual decline in mule deer populations. Researchers say it could drive the species to localized extinction.

Another special hunt is already under way in Carbon Count just north of the Wyoming border, where officials set a quota of 200 white-tailed deer and 200 mule deer.

INKOM — Pebble Creek Ski Area in Inkom will open its beginner-level Aspen area to skiers and snowboarders on Dec. 26.

However, resort officials have not set a date for when the upper mountain will be open, saying more snowfall is needed.

Starting Dec. 26, the Aspen area and its ski lift will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There have been extensive improvements to the beginner-level Aspen area since last winter. Everything in the Aspen area has been widened so skiers and snowboarders have more elbow room. More lights for nighttime skiing have been added and another run has been built.

Plus, first-time group lessons and private lessons will be held every day between Dec. 26 and 31. For more information on ski lessons, visit pebblecreekskiarea.com or call 208-775-4452.

Initially, the Inkom ski resort hoped to open for the season on Dec. 16, but the lack of snow postponed opening day.

Pebble Creek isn’t the only regional ski area that has fell victim to unfavorable weather patterns in recent weeks.

Pomerelle Mountain Resort in south-central Idaho, which opens on Thanksgiving weekend in most years, is still waiting for more snow to fall before skiers and snowboarders can take to the mountain. However, Pomerelle’s beginner-level Magic Carpet area was open for lessons last weekend.

Sun Valley and Grand Targhee are already open, while Kelly Canyon Ski Area in Ririe opened its doors on Wednesday.

To the normal person, winter is a dark, dreary season, but not to us outdoorsmen.

Not only are all the hunting seasons going on around the country, but ice fishing is coming, too. But we’re not going to talk about our outdoor activities today. Strangely enough, we’re going to talk about indoor activities.

January kicks off the show season. Things are a little slow in January, February and March, or at least as slow as they get for us outdoorsmen, so it’s the only time that shows can be slipped in.

There is no way in one short article that I can list all of the shows across the country. Plus, I don’t know them all. But here’s some that I’m excited about.

The Dallas Safari Club Convention and Expo is the first big show of the year, and it is being held from Jan. 4 to 7. If you’re attending, stop by and introduce yourself. I’ll be conducting “Glassing for Big Game” and “Knife Sharpening/Choosing the Proper Knife seminars” on the Jan. 6.

Then from Jan. 11 to 13, the ATA Trade Show will be in Indianapolis. It’s the largest archery show in the country, the Archery equivalent of the SHOT Show. I am signed up to go to it, but I may be held up in Texas duck, crow and varmint hunting.

Then the mother of all shows, The SHOT Show, is Jan. 22 to 26 in Las Vegas. All the outdoor manufacturers, outdoor celebrities, writers and anything related to the outdoors will be attending in full force. It is so massive I don’t even know how to describe it.

People from all over the world attend and nearly every gun, knife, call, camo, outdoor clothing and backpack manufacturer will have a booth there covering more than 630,000 square feet. All the new 2018 products will be rolled out then.

There is literally no way that you could hit every booth. My calendar is filled up from daylight to dark and I’ll have a list of 30 to 50 other companies I’ll try to squeeze in somehow. Writers will be invited to breakfasts, lunches and dinners. I think the companies are smart to put on these events. You have to eat, so if they host a meal they have your undivided attention to give their presentation.

One big attraction is on Monday before the show actually starts. They have Media Day at the Range. You get to shoot all of the new ammo, guns, crossbows and Crosman/Benjamin airguns. How do you not like that? They changed the format a couple years ago. Now the media is by invite only in the morning and the manufacturers/buyers take over in the afternoon. Even though it hurt the media, I think this was a smart move. It allows the people actually buying the product to test it out.

Then on Tuesday the doors open, and there’s panic in the disco! I’m hitting all the booths I can to work deals, meet my sponsors and meet new people. Like I say, I have to hit it hard from daylight to dark. We’re so tired by the end of the day that Katy wants to just grab a Big Mac and go to bed.

Then the next big show is the Safari Club International Convention in Las Vegas from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3. There will be guides from all over the world, and if you’re wanting to book a safari, this is the place to go.

There will also be a lot of higher-end outdoor manufacturers. You can see some unbelievably beautiful guns, hold a $157,000 shotgun and see a lot of handmade knives. You will see unbelievable mounts. Whole scenes are set up.

If you attend, stop by and see me. Ron Spomer and I will be conducting seminars on Friday and Saturday. There will be a full schedule of seminars to choose from and like the DSC, there’ll be more booths and seminars than you’ll be able to attend.

We’re out of room to get into all of the state shows. Then what about the local gun shows? I love hitting them. There’s always something I can’t live without. You’ll find unique items from new guns on down to old knives and traps.

Have a merry Christmas!

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.

BOISE — The U.S. Forest Service has withdrawn snowmobile use maps for two national forests in Idaho and part of another in Wyoming after environmental groups in a lawsuit said the maps violate the federal agency’s regulations and environmental laws.

The Forest Service last week withdrew Over-Snow Vehicle Use Maps for the Payette National Forest and Boise National Forest in Idaho.

The agency also withdrew the map for the Teton Division of the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming.

But the agency in the three separate notices also said that for this winter “there will be no change in over-snow motor vehicle use” for any the forests from the 2016-2017 season as a result of withdrawing the maps. The agency also said new maps would not be completed any sooner than April 1.

Winter Wildlands Alliance and Wildearth Guardians filed the lawsuit in September, and The Wilderness Society joined in November. That lawsuit has been put on hold until at least March 15 when the Forest Service is scheduled to give a progress report.

The environmental groups say the maps are based on outdated information and aren’t restrictive enough for snowmobiles that in recent years have become more numerous and powerful, giving more snowmobilers access to remote areas.

The groups said that can harm wildlife and also create conflicts with backcountry skiers and snowshoe enthusiasts looking for a quieter experience.

“One of the main things is designating places where people can backcountry ski and snowshoe without having snowmobiles running around,” said Laurie Rule, an attorney with Advocates for the West representing the groups.

Specifically, the lawsuit contends the Forest Service in using the maps didn’t adhere to an updated January 2015 rule that required new travel management plans for snowmobiles that must designate specific roads, trails and areas open for use.

That rule also includes requirements minimizing damage to natural resources and disruption of wildlife. It also seeks to minimize conflicts with other recreation users.

“The 2015 rule presents an important opportunity to enhance quality recreation opportunities for everybody, protect wildlife during the vulnerable winter season, and prevent avoidable damage to wild places,” said Alison Flint, counsel and planning specialist at The Wilderness Society. “But not if forests short-circuit the process required by the rule.”

The groups also contend the Forest Service in approving the maps violated various environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act due to Canada lynx and northern Idaho ground squirrels found in the forests.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which handles legal matters for the Forest Service, didn’t immediately respond to an email on Wednesday from The Associated Press.

BOISE (AP) — A Meridian man caught a fish at a western Idaho lake that broke the state’s weight record.

KBOI-TV reports Dave Gassel recently pulled from Lake Cascade a largescale sucker weighing 9.04 pounds.

The previous record was 8.42 pounds, and the heavyweight also was caught at Lake Cascade.

Idaho Fish and Game officials say largescale suckers typically stay in the deeper areas of the water.

Suckers can be found in most rivers and lakes in Idaho that are connected to the Snake River. The U.S. and Canada are home to 60 species of suckers.

BOISE (AP) — Idaho wildlife officials say a trapper reported finding a wolverine dead in a trap in east-central Idaho.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game in a news release Tuesday says the Idaho trapper reported finding the adult female wolverine inadvertently caught in his trap in Lemhi County on Dec. 8.

Idaho has not allowed a hunting or trapping season for wolverines since 1965.

Wolverines were wiped out across most of the U.S. by the 1930s. In the Lower 48 states, an estimated 250 to 300 wolverines survive in remote areas of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington state.

Fish and Game spokesman Roger Phillips says the trapped wolverine will be mounted for educational purposes and kept at the agency’s office in Salmon.

The number of Utah snowmobilers is declining despite the state’s rising population, according to a report issued by Utah State University.

A recent analysis conducted by the school’s Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism found that there were 11,000 households reporting snowmobile ownership in February of this year, compared to 13,000 of them in 1998 — a 15 percent decrease over the last two decades.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a dramatic decline,” said Jordan Smith, director of the Institute for Outdoor Recreation and Tourism. “This is not a trend that’s unique to Utah and a lot of other states.”

A news release about the report suggests the decline in Utah snowmobilers could be because of less interest in the recreational activity than before so that when older riders quit, they’re not being replaced by younger ones.

The decline in snowmobilers comes as Utah’s population increased 77 percent over the same two-decade period, according to the Institute’s report.

But given the hard spot the snowmobiling industry has found itself in, Smith doesn’t think the sport will completely disappear.

“It’s not a sport or an activity that people come into or go out of relatively easily,” Smith said. “You make an investment in a snowmobile, a trailer, a vehicle that can haul the trailer and snowmobile — it’s a considerable investment. Once they get involved, they tend to stay involved, so I don’t think it’s going to go away.”

The report says Cache County snowmobilers spent $2.8 million on expenses related to snowmobiling trips, which can average more than $200 for a day trip or over $500 overnight.

What worries Smith is new people not entering snowmobiling.

“It’s a slow acquisition of new users,” he said.

It’s not all bad news when it comes to the Beehive State’s snowmobiling industry. The report sheds light on strong economic statistics.

In 2016, snowmobiling accounted for over 1,300 jobs and contributed $138.2 million in local industry sales and $88.4 million in value added to Utah’s economy.

“The activity has made a significant contribution to the state’s economy — that is one thing that has remained consistent,” Smith said.

Snowmobiling has brought in $7.6 million for Cache County and $225,000 for Rich County, according to the report.

Currently there are 1,616 snowmobiles, or 885 households that own at least one registered snowmobile in Cache County, according to the report. Meanwhile, Rich County has 134 registered snowmobiles, or 34 households with at least one registered snowmobile.

The Institute’s report was prepared for the Utah Snowmobilers Association, a nonprofit. Cal Taylor, president of the Utah Snowmobilers Association, said USA hired the USU Institute to develop a report on the economic impact on snowmobiling.

Taylor said he’d like to see more people snowmobiling — and there is hope.

“We’re seeing a little bit of a return of (snowmobiling),” he said. “I think in the next year or two we’ll see an increase in family riders as they create more entry-level sleds that give them an opportunity to be out.”

Melissa Andersen, office manager at Beaver Creek Lodge, said it has purchased more snowmobiles for people to rent over the last several years.

She says rentals range in the size of the snowmobile and cost to use them for a day can go for a few hundred dollars.

Andersen tends to see a young demographic, including USU students, asking to rent snowmobiles. Though she noted renting a snowmobile is cheaper than buying and maintaining one.

Kelly Leishman, a Cache Valley resident and former president of the Top of Utah Snowmobile Association, has been snowmobiling since 1996.

He thinks one of the reasons there’s been a drop in snowmobilers is that the activity costs more as the machines’ performance reaches higher standards. Leishman estimated snowmobiles in 1996 costs just under $6,000, and today they’re about $13,000.

He also said snowmobiling doesn’t lend itself to a long season for activity, and lack of snow during some winters can only compound the issue.

“If you do have a poor season, like we’re starting out today, and you’ve invested $13,000, and maybe you only get a three-month window, sometimes that discourages people,” Leishman said. “They sell them and try a different sport.”

Leishman would like it if more families took up snowmobiling, but he understands the expense involved. He did say he’s heard off-highway vehicle sales are up and maybe families prefer that.

Leishman noted that unlike what the USU report suggests about older snowmobile riders not being replaced by younger ones, he has passed the passion on to his sons, and his sons have passed the sport on to his grandsons.

“I think the key is, almost every kid would like to be a snowmobiler if they had the opportunity,” he said. “There’s an exhilaration of your skill level, and as you get a better skill level, your love for the sport deepens, and you get more aggressive. It’s a very addicting sport.”

CODY, Wyoming — When the 750-pound charging grizzly ran over Tammy Copson, the impact hurled her into the air.

“It felt like a bus hit me,” she said. “I bounced when I hit the ground.”

And then things got worse. The monstrous bear loomed over her, opened its jaws and chomped down on the side of her head.

“I could feel the pressure of it biting me,” Copson said.

Her mind raced. “Oh, no, oh God, please don’t kill me,” she thought.

She was terrified this far-fetched scenario could end her life.

Copson, 52, of Acworth, Georgia, came to Wyoming in late October for an all-women’s elk hunt with Boulder Basin Outfitters. It was a horseback trip in the rocky terrain above Wapiti on the outskirts of Cody.

Accompanied by guide Jon Sheets, 46, also severely injured by the bear that blindsided them while he was field dressing the elk that Copson had shot, Copson until now has remained silent about what happened that evening.

Sheets, of Powell, was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Billings, Montana, for treatment of multiple wounds.

Copson was ferried by a different helicopter to a hospital in Idaho Falls, bleeding from the head and left leg.

Copson and Sheets were two of five people injured by bears in Wyoming this year.

Both spent days in hospitals. Both were sent home for recuperation. Both have returned to the hospital for additional surgery and have more scheduled.

They shared one of the most frightening experiences humans can have in the wild, but they had not yet shared notes of what went through their minds and how they have coped since, the Cody Enterprise reported.

Survival is the first goal in such a dangerous situation, and the aftermath means processing what you have been dealt by such a powerful creature.

As the bear dragged her a few dozen feet from Sheets, Copson thought, “Please, Lord, don’t let me die.”

Copson lives about 30 miles from Atlanta, and she and her fiance, Keith Whatley, hunt whitetail deer and turkeys.

He got her started in hunting a couple of years ago. A friend signed up for the all-women’s elk hunt, and Copson joined her.

“This was a chance of a lifetime,” Copson said.

There had been shopping and admiring the scenery before the hunt began on her first visit to Wyoming.

“It was beautiful country, and I loved it,” she said.

The hunt began Oct. 25. On the fateful day, the group of five hunters, plus guides, scouted for elk in the high ground. None of the elk seen were close enough for a shot.

As darkness closed in, the decision was made to return to camp. Copson and Sheets were together on horseback when they spied 10 or 15 elk in a ravine, as Copson remembers.

After dismounting, she aimed her .308 and fired from 280 to 300 yards. The first shot missed the target completely, yet the elk did not flee.

“It actually didn’t move,” Copson said.

The second shot was true, and the elk fell. The remaining elk “just moseyed off,” she said.

Copson and Sheets descended, and she took a few photographs. Wow, she had an elk. She was thrilled. Sheets radioed camp to report the kill and declined an offer to help dress it.

As the sun hid behind the hills, they put headlamps on. Sheets was on his knees, wielding a 7-inch knife on the elk. Copson assisted, pulling the legs apart.

They were in bear country at a time of year when bears are trying to stockpile calories for winter hibernation, so there was always the threat a bear might intrude.

Sheets told Copson to say, “Go away, bear” as loud as she could.

However, the next thing she uttered was, “Bear!” in a yell.

There was no time for evasive action. The grizzly storming out of the dusk was so fast Copson was caught flat-footed.

The bear steamrolled her, then grabbed her by the left thigh and tried to turn her over. She fought to remain on her belly. The bear dragged her away from Sheets over a dip in the terrain so he and the elk were out of sight. In the struggle, her headlamp came off leaving her in the dark with the bear.

“I thought, ‘Please don’t let this be real,'” Copson said, repeating her primary emotion was terror. “I don’t want to die like this.”

The bear gnashed at her leg with claws or teeth or both, creating a river of blood.

“I didn’t go into a full panic,” Copson said. “I told myself to stay tucked as tight as I could.”

Then the bear abandoned her.

Copson, who could not stand, began crawling uphill and when she crested the top, she saw Sheets silhouetted by his own headlamp, wrestling with the bear.

“I could see him being tossed around,” Copson said.

She did not realize Sheets was stabbing the bear with the field knife.

The sharp blade made little more impact on the thick-coated, huge animal than a spoon would have. The bear dropped Sheets, smashed his left arm and jumped up and down on his back.

Then the grizzly grabbed the elk carcass and dragged it off, right over Sheets’ back. It got what it came for.

Both bloodied and hurting, guide and hunter sought to regroup.

“I thought it was coming back after me,” said Copson, who did not see the bear steal the elk.

Sheets broke the quiet by saying, “Tammy, are you OK?”

She said, “No, I thought it was tearing my head off.”

Sheets said Copson was worried about going blind, perhaps because of the blood from her head and another cut on her face, but she has no memory of saying that. He said she dropped the radio, but she doesn’t remember ever having it.

A handgun Sheets set aside while processing the elk was never within reach during the tussle. Scared the bear would return, Copson demanded to hold it for protection.

“Thank goodness that bear didn’t come back,” she said.

Between the stress and danger during the bear assault, Sheets said he did not remember everything clearly during the bear assault.

Once the duo rode into camp, with some aid from guides ascending to meet them, medical help was summoned.

“I was in horrible pain,” Copson said. “I could not walk. My head hurt, but my leg hurt the most. I was screaming that it was torn to pieces.”

Copson has a 4-inch scar where she received stitches in her head. She has a 2-inch scar above her right eye and took so many stitches in her leg the medical people told her they didn’t count.

Despite the injuries, Copson knows she is fortunate.

“Oh, gosh, it could have been worse,” Copson said. “It could have killed me or torn my face off.”

Copson uses a walker to get around. She said no date has been set for her wedding with Whatley and she absolutely will walk down the aisle under her own power.

Sheets is anxious to hunt again. Copson is not so sure she will.

“Probably,” she said, thinking of whitetail deer and turkey near home. “When next year comes around I’ll see how I feel about it. I will not go where there are grizzlies.”

MISSOULA, Montana (AP) — Work to restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades Ecosystem has been stopped by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s office, a national parks official told a Montana newspaper.

But Zinke spokeswoman Heather Swift told The Associated Press Tuesday that Zinke did not direct a stop work order on the environmental review. Swift didn’t provide further details.

North Cascades National Park Superintendent Karen Taylor-Goodrich told the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee last week that her staff had been asked to halt work on its environmental review, the Missoulian reported.

She said the order also stalls discussions with Canadian wildlife managers who oversee a similar grizzly recovery process in British Columbia.

“We were in the process of evaluating public comment,” Taylor-Goodrich said of the stop order. “We’re in year three of the process and all the public scoping has been done. The draft EIS went out for public review in spring and we’ve received about 127,000 comments.”

A park spokeswoman in Washington state on Tuesday referred all questions to the Interior Department.

The National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been considering four options to restore the grizzly population, including taking no action.

Three alternatives seek to restore a population of about 200 bears, by relocating animals to 9,800 square miles of mostly public land in and around North Cascades National Park and letting them breed. The options differ in the number of bruins initially released and the time expected to get to that goal, ranging from 25 years for the expedited option to 60 to 100 years for the other two alternatives.

Supporters of the proposals to bring back the population say the population won’t recover without help and their return would increase the biodiversity of the ecosystem.

Others say the animals should recover naturally, while some worry about potential increased dangers to recreationists and livestock and opposed the move over potential impacts to communities, ranchers, farmers and others.

Federal officials have noted that grizzly bears would be relocated in remote areas. They would likely come from areas in northwestern Montana or south-central British Columbia.

They were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. In the North Cascades, the population is estimated to be fewer than 20 animals, according to Fish and Wildlife Service.

A federal 1997 plan designated the North Cascades as one of five grizzly bear recovery zones. The others are in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.