COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A northern Idaho philanthropist convicted of poaching a moose near Coeur d’Alene has been ordered to serve 30 days in jail.

The Coeur d’Alene Press reports 66-year-old John A. Huckabay was sentenced to two years in prison, but 1st District Judge Benjamin Simpson then suspended that sentence and ordered Huckabay to serve a month in jail without the chance of work release or public service release.

Huckabay lives in Coeur d’Alene and runs his family’s foundation, Huckabay Family Challenge, which has committed more than $8 million toward scholarships through the University of Washington for students who want to practice rural medicine in the northwest.

Huckabay was convicted by a jury earlier this year of not having a tag to kill a cow moose he shot in October 2014.

During the sentencing earlier this month, Simpson commended Huckabay for his role as a benefactor, but said killing an animal valued by others and the state couldn’t go unpunished. He also ordered Huckabay to serve two years of probation and revoked his hunting license for three years.

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Information from: Coeur d’Alene Press, http://www.cdapress.com

POCATELLO — A Pocatello man recently set a new state catch-and-release record for rainbow trout.

According to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, David Raisch was fly fishing in the Snake River when he landed the 30.5-inch record rainbow, which coincidentally is where the previous record of 29.3 inches was caught.

Raisch caught his record fish in late March and submitted it into Fish and Game’s catch and release records, which allows anglers to claim a state record while letting the fish live.

The catch and release record program, which was started in 2016, complements the traditional “certified weight” records that require anglers to weigh the fish on a certified scale, which means the fish is typically killed.

I had been out crappie fishing three times this year. I hadn’t done any good but I knew that it’d bust loose any day.

My hotspot is a 15- to 20-minute boat ride from the dock and I usually throw a Rattlin’ Trap and troll over. I usually pick up one, maybe two, on the way over. This time about two-thirds of the way over I got a crappie. I’d just written a crappie fishing article for Fur-Fish & Game Magazine and in the article I advised that it doesn’t hurt to troll to find them. If you get one, stop and jig there. Crappie are a schooling fish so if you catch one, hit that spot. You’re almost guaranteed to catch more.

Well, I’d just written the article so I thought I’d better follow my own advice. I whipped the boat around and drug back over where I’d picked that one up at. Whammo, another one. I whipped around and had another hit.

OK, I’m slow but I can take a hint. I threw out the anchor and grabbed a rod. I had a red/white tube jig tied on two rods, and even though it isn’t my go-to color, since they were already tied on, I flipped one out. Right away I started catching them hot and heavy.

I was still a few hundred yards from my hotspot. It is usually really good but why move? I was catching them non-stop. You could not have handled two rods. I bet I sat for two hours within a 50-foot area.

It didn’t seem to matter if the plastic was properly positioned or not. After a while, the jig was getting really torn up. Finally, it met its demise so I looked in my tackle box. Oh no, no more red/white jigs. Oh well, as good as they were hitting, some other color should work fine. Nope. Red/white was the color today. I was only getting 25 percent as many hits on a pink/white.

Well, I still had one red/white jig left. Pretty soon, it was torn to shreds, too. I put on a yellow/red tube jig and carried on. I did hang one good fighter but it turned out to be a 20-inch sucker.

They definitely weren’t spawning yet. They were out about 20 feet from the bank. The big ones were out 20 feet and the smaller ones were out 30 feet. I threw back 28 and most of them were caught out deeper, so fish a little closer to the bank for the big ones.

Speaking of big ones. Probably two-thirds were 9 1/2 to 10 1/2 inches. There are some good crappies this year. Well, my cooler could hold no more. It was flat full. What a day. I’d caught 176 crappie, one bass, one catfish and one sucker in 5 3/4 hours. Luckily I had grabbed a Mister Twister electric fillet knife but it still took me a few hours.

I had barely filleted the last fish and my daughter told me she was done with school. It didn’t take long and Kolby was hauling in fish hand over fist. She got the knack of it pretty fast and was catching some nice ones up to 11 inches.

She’d flip out her jig and slowly lift the rod-tip and then slowly reel up the slack. Many times, this movement would entice a hit. On this trip, we caught a lot of fish almost trolling with a jig.

It was a perfect day. Sunny, minimal wind and I had my daughter with me and we were catching fish non-stop.

I’d packed some good snacks so we had a ball. We had caught our fair share of fish so after 6 1/2 hours we headed back to the boat dock. Wow, 213 crappie. This had been the best fishing day of my life. You better get out!

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.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Yellowstone National Park is launching a new program to capture and quarantine wild bison with the goal of establishing new, disease-free herds across the nation, park officials said Tuesday.

The program aims to help the conservation of the species by relocating wild Yellowstone bison to “suitable public and tribal lands” after they pass rigorous testing for disease, according to the National Park Service’s decision.

It also would cut down the number of bison that are slaughtered when they wander outside the park over concerns about the spread of disease.

“We’re hopeful that this will significantly reduce the number of animals that are shipped to slaughter,” Yellowstone spokeswoman Morgan Warthin said.

The number of Yellowstone bison reached a record 5,500 in 2016, and about 2,300 of the animals have been slaughtered and hunted since then, according to park officials. The targeted population set by the Interagency Bison Management Plan is 3,000, but park officials are happy with the current estimated population of about 4,200, Warthin said.

The program greenlighted on Tuesday will begin with 91 bison now being held in park facilities with testing for the disease brucellosis, which causes animals to abort their young.

The animals that initially test negative will be repeatedly tested for months before being transferred to another park facility or to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana for the final phase of testing and monitoring.

If they remain disease-free, the bison will be relocated to start new herds or supplement existing ones for conservation or cultural purposes.

Bison from the first group could be transferred for the final phase by the end of the year, Warthin said.

Many details of the program, including who determines where the bison end up or which public lands are suitable for relocation, will be determined through negotiated agreements, Warthin said.

The program has no end date. “This is really a long-term plan,” she said.

A previous quarantine program resulted in a legal fight over the 2012 transfer of dozens of Yellowstone bison to the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap reservations by neighboring ranchers who worried about property damage and the spread of disease.

An organization that opposed that transfer, United Property Owners of Montana, said the matter is not as big of a concern now if the tribes can keep the bison contained.

“The bottom line for us is the bison need to be owned and managed by a responsible party who can be liable in the event damage occurs,” spokesman Chuck Denowh said.

Montana state veterinarian Marty Zaluski, along with the conservation groups Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the National Parks Conservation Association, said they support the program.

The bison advocacy group Buffalo Field Campaign opposes the quarantine program because its members would like to see the bison restore themselves on the western landscape through natural migration.

The group is concerned that the quarantine program would be used to turn the wild animals into livestock, said spokeswoman Stephanie Seay.

BOZEMAN, Montana — On a summer’s day, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is a busy place.

The Hyalite Peak trail south of Bozeman features a steady stream of foot traffic, one of the most popular forest recreation destinations in Montana. East of Hyalite Peak in the adjacent Paradise Valley, rafts crowd the shore of the Yellowstone River as people jostle to launch for a day’s float. In both places, vehicles are parked along roads and ditches because the parking lot at the trailhead and fishing access sites are full.

“More people are doing more things in more places,” said Scott Christensen, director of conservation for the Bozeman-based Greater Yellowstone Coalition advocacy group.

That prompts the question: How in the face of such recreation pressure can the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem be protected?

It was a query Christensen posed to a large group gathered in Bozeman on April 23 — academics, land managers, conservation group members and a few motorized recreationists — for the coalition’s two-day symposium titled “Our shared place: The present and future of recreation in Greater Yellowstone.”

Tackling such a broad topic across a vast landscape is no small challenge. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is a 34,000-square-mile area with Yellowstone National Park at its vital heart. Spread across the corners of three states — southwest Montana, southeast Idaho and northwest Wyoming — the ecosystem encompasses five national forests that make up almost half of the GYE. More than one-third of that acreage is managed as wilderness, much of which contains the largest predator in the lower 48 states — the grizzly bear.

Recreationists flock to the region to fish, hunt, camp, hike, backpack, raft and canoe. They backcountry ski, snowmobile, motorcycle and ride ATVs. More and more people are moving to the area to be closer to such activities and the environment in which they take place — the forests, mountains, lakes and streams.

It used to be said in rural states like Montana, Idaho and Wyoming that residents couldn’t eat the scenery, meaning there was no economic value to such beautiful places. So natives moved away to cities like Seattle and Denver to earn a living. But now recreationists, researchers, government officials and businesses are touting mountains, streams and access to such public lands as moneymakers.

The advertising is working. More than 4.1 million people visited Yellowstone National Park last year. From that it’s estimated about 7 million people visited the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Most of those visitors are coming during the peak months of summer — June, July and August.

With more active people crowded into one wild space, what will the effects be on wildlife, the land and its waters? At what point does selling, building upon and using the resources compromise the very wildlands that first enticed everyone to the region? And how can so many people with such different ideas of playing in those places ever come to an agreement on controlling or even reducing use?

Yellowstone National Park — which has seen a 50 percent increase in visitation just since 2000 — has been studying many of these questions.

“We tend to look at problems in isolation,” said Christina White, outdoor recreation planner for Yellowstone. “This is very complex. Our biggest challenge is understanding how we operate as a system, and how does it change over time.

“Right now, all potential solutions are on the table,” she added. “But there won’t be a silver bullet.”

Sustainable recreation is the new buzz word, said Wendi Urie, recreation program manager for the Custer Gallatin National Forest, which has 68 percent of its lands in wilderness. Yet what’s sustainable about 39 percent growth in the forest’s visitation between 2008 and 2013?

“A lot of what we hear about daily is people and how they use the area — trail conflicts,” Urie said.

The forest staff is also fielding a lot more questions that relate to recreation, better trail systems, signage, better access, being more responsive to new technologies and activities, in addition to safety since more users are urban, she said.

“So how do we balance all of that?”

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah authorities are investigating reports of drinking water contaminated by E. coli linked to prairie dogs at an iconic Utah park, but said Tuesday that tests so far show the water is clean.

Bryce Canyon National Park saw 2.5 million visitors last year, and county leaders are alarmed about contamination reports linked to feces from prairie dogs near the well that supplies water to visitor facilities and cabins.

Park officials said contaminated samples came from untreated water. Treated water is safe, they said. State drinking water officials said they’re planning to review the system this week, but so far have seen no evidence of a problem in monthly drinking water tests.

“Bryce Canyon is in full compliance with everything they’ve done,” said Utah Department of Environmental Quality Division of Drinking Water director Marie Owens.

But local leaders aren’t convinced.

“This has been going on for a long time, and we’re not going to put up with that anymore,” said Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins.

The county commission passed a resolution Monday calling it an “immediate, direct and significant” public-health threat.

A park employee has shared results of more than a dozen tests over the last several years have shown the presence of E. coli, most recently last year, Perkins said.

It’s a bigger issue in high-water years when more debris enters the water supply, Perkins said. He said the park should get a new well or move the prairie dog colony.

The park constructed a fence last year and is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to move the colony next month, National Park Service spokeswoman Vanessa Lacayo said.

The water is safe after being treated by a micro filter and chlorination, she said.

Utah prairie dogs are a threatened species, and federal endangered species protections for them have been a source of frustration for property owners who say the rules go too far and allow them to take over.

Many sportsmen and women spend the winter planning, scheming and otherwise looking forward to the year’s hunting opportunities. Obtaining the necessary tags is an integral step in this process, a step that often begins in the springtime. State management agencies across the West generally begin the annual process of selling tags in late winter and through the spring with a drawing process to sell tags that are in great demand or short supply.

The timing, methodology and policy/laws associated with this process vary from state to state. Terminology differs (for example controlled hunts versus limited entry, or trophy species versus once-in-a lifetime); timing is variable; some states have weighted draws while others do not (the use of preference or bonus points versus random); and many other factors can make this a difficult process to navigate.

Biologists with Idaho’s Department of Fish and Game field many questions each year about this drawing process. I have attempted to concisely answer many of those questions below and will focus on Moose, Mountain Goat, Bighorn Sheep, Deer, Elk, and Pronghorn.

Prior to applying

Idaho code requires hunters to purchase a hunting license prior to applying for any controlled hunts. This license can then be used to hunt upland game or purchase a general season tag for big game if applicants are unsuccessful (a license is also necessary to purchase any general season tags).

Trophy species versus deer, elk and pronghorn

As you consider entering the Idaho drawing, you first need to decide if you want to put in for a single trophy species (moose, mountain goat and bighorn sheep) or all of the “non-trophy species” (deer, elk, and pronghorn). In other words you can choose to put in for moose OR mountain goat OR bighorn sheep OR deer, elk and pronghorn.

There are several exceptions to this: you can put in for a single trophy species AND 1) any unlimited controlled hunts for deer, elk or pronghorn; 2) the second drawing for deer, elk and pronghorn; 3) any extra tags for deer, elk and pronghorn; and 4) any designated depredation hunts.

In Idaho, trophy species are considered once-in-a-lifetime, meaning that if you successfully draw AND harvest an antlered moose, antlerless moose, big horn sheep, or mountain goat you will no longer be eligible for that trophy species in Idaho for life.

Unlimited controlled hunts

These are tags that you must put in for, but are guaranteed to draw if you do. These may be designated first-choice only. These hunts force sportsmen to commit to a particular hunt, but allow them to draw every year. Unlimited controlled hunts are not subject to the waiting period.

Waiting period

If you drew out and purchased an antlered-only tag for deer, elk or pronghorn, you must sit out for antlered-only drawings for that species the following year. However, you are still eligible to put in for either sex, unlimited controlled and antlerless tags. If you successfully drew a moose, sheep or goat tag but were unsuccessful harvesting, you must sit out for trophy species drawing for two years.

Extra tags

These are controlled hunts that are available for you to put in for and potentially draw a second controlled hunt tag for deer, elk and pronghorn. In the Big Game Regulations these hunts are denoted with an X. An individual can only obtain one extra tag or depredation hunt tag in a calendar year.

Controlled hunt tag purchase

Remember that if you draw your desired tag you still must purchase that tag for deer, elk, pronghorn and bear by Aug. 1. Otherwise it will be reverted into a second drawing. Unlimited tags and turkey permits do not get reverted into a 2nd drawing.

Second drawing

If all of the tags for a hunt or multiple hunts are either not applied for/drawn or not purchased and picked up, then these tags will become available during a second drawing period taking place in August. The application period for this drawing is Aug. 5 to 15. Everyone (including non-residents) has an equal chance of drawing these tags.

Non-resident drawing odds

The IDFG commission has mandated that “up to” 10 percent of available tags for a controlled hunt can go to non-residents. However, if there are fewer than 10 tags available, then “up to” 1 tag can be drawn by a non-resident. This does not mean that 10 percent are set aside for non-residents. Essentially, everyone’s name (resident and non-resident) goes in the same pool and once the 10 percent threshold for non-residents has been reached, all non-residents are pulled from the pool. Therefore, some controlled hunts may have fewer than 10 percent non-residents that successfully drew.

Second tags

These are NOT controlled hunt tags. These are general season non-resident tags (for which there is a statewide quota) that the IDFG commission has made available to hunters as second general season deer and elk tags. Any non-resident deer or elk tags that have not been sold by Aug. 1 become available to residents and nonresidents alike as a second opportunity until the nonresident quota is met. When the non-resident tags are sold out, this opportunity is no longer available. This opportunity is reevaluated by the commission on an annual basis.

Weighted drawing systems

Several states, such as Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and Montana have systems in place where applicants accrue bonus points or preference points in an attempt to give individuals who apply multiple years increased chances of successfully drawing. However, Idaho does not have any form of a weighted system for controlled hunt drawings. This draw is completely random and everyone has the same odds regardless of age or duration of applying.

Eric Freeman is a Regional Wildlife Biologist for Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s, Southeast Region.

I was able to get my pickup all the way to the end of a jeep trail. Normally, we have to wait until mid-May before we can get into the area.

This is an area where I like to camp, hike up and then travel around the mountain starting as early as possible each year. I like to see the scenery, the wildlife and to get myself in shape during the spring and summer in preparation for the hunting season in the fall.

As I have grown older, I’ve found that staying in shape year-round is a lot easier than having to try to get in shape each spring. Still, muscle endurance for hiking is best maintained by hiking. That isn’t really news to those of us who believe in activity-specific exercise.

I spend a lot of time in the mountains carrying a small backpack full of essentials I might need, as well as a rifle, during hunting season. I also spend as much time as possible during the spring and summer hiking with the same equipment.

I have always enjoyed the serenity, isolation and beauty of the mountains I grew up with in Idaho. I really missed trips to the mountains during the 25 years I spent in Texas.

The Idaho mountains in the Challis area, the Little Lost River area, Soda Springs, Wolverine Canyon by Blackfoot and the mountains around Pocatello and Arbon Valley are where I grew up hunting with my father, uncles and friends.

I still like to visit those areas when I’m hunting or in those areas for other reasons, such as taking Boy Scouts on camping trips or a high-adventure program.

When I was about 16 years old, my father bought some mountain property about 45 minutes from Pocatello and that is where I go hiking and camping most often to stay in condition for hiking during the hunting season. The area is a mixture of private property, BLM land and Forest Service land.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has convinced most of the landowners in the area to sign on to the Access Yes hunting program during the last few years, but that may have changed. I have seen several signs warning of grave consequences to trespassers and hunters in areas where hunters were allowed previously.

It may be that a couple of cabins exist and are pretty hidden unless one walks within a few yards of them, or possibly irresponsible hunters have convinced landowners to put up no trespassing signs. At any rate, I’ll have to talk to the landowners to see if I can hunt on all the land I previously was able hunt on in that area.

I know the landowners reasonably well, and they know my family has land close to theirs. They are good people, but obviously have some serious concerns. I do know that most of them have livestock they are concerned about and have had trespassers leave gates open, leave trash in camping areas where they are not allowed to camp and have driven vehicles through creeks to get around locked gates.

So far I haven’t encountered any animosity from any of them when I drive into my family’s property, and hunting on the BLM and Forest Service property shouldn’t be a problem. However, two locked gates must be opened on my way to my family’s property. I have keys to those gates, but those who don’t, may not find the landowners very understanding if they trespass.

So my plan is to keep going to my family’s property to camp and hike and to talk to the other landowners to make sure I understand their concerns before hunting in the area again.

Smokey Merkley was raised in Idaho and has been hunting since he was 10 years old. He was a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University for 25 years. There he taught orienteering, marksmanship, self-defense, fencing, scuba diving and boxing. He was among the first DPS-certified Texas Concealed Handgun Instructors. He can be contacted at mokeydo41245@hotmail.com.

A man who fell into the frigid Snake River when his canoe tipped in April was found Monday, about three weeks later, according to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.

The Ada County Coroner’s Office identified the man as Douglas Wick, 31, of Boise. His body was found near the Walters Ferry boat landing and Idaho 45 near Nampa on Monday morning — about 8.5 miles downriver from where the canoe tipped.

Wick and a 31-year-old woman who has not been named were canoeing in the Snake River near the Swan Falls Dam in Melba on April 21. The couple was only 1.5 miles from Celebration Park when they hit water turbulence and the canoe tipped.

Sheriff’s deputies say the two had life jackets in their canoe but were not wearing them at the time. The woman was able to grab a life jacket to keep her afloat and swim to shore, according to the sheriff’s office. Witnesses said Wick held onto the canoe for awhile before attempting to swim to shore.

The woman was treated for hypothermia on scene by paramedics.

The water was 53 degree at the time Wick and the woman fell in and was dozens of feet deep, according to the sheriff’s office.

A group of Ada, Canyon, and Owhyee county sheriff’s deputies searched the area using sonar detection equipment in boats, while pilots of an air ambulance helicopter did an aerial search of the river and riverbanks. The search, which lasted for several days following his disappearance, was called off when there was no sign of Wick.

A person called Canyon County dispatch Monday morning to report a body in river past Celebration Park. Owyhee County Sheriff’s deputies recovered Wick’s body using a boat.

Wick was identified as a veterinarian for Intermountain Pet Hospital in Meridian, according to the business’ website.

“Dr. Wick truly embodied the values, spirit, and heart of Intermountain Pet Hospital and was a true champion for providing the best care possible to every pet he has ever seen here. He will be truly missed by everyone here,” the post on the website reads.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — The world’s largest active geyser has erupted again in Yellowstone National Park.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the Steamboat Geyser erupted early Sunday, its fifth eruption this year.

The agency says in a series of tweets there’s no indication of any volcanic activity in the park and most geysers are intermittent. But it says the string of eruptions is a good sign summer visitors will get to see some “spectacular geysering.”

Steamboat has gone dormant for as long as nine years. Its first eruption since 2014 occurred in mid-March, followed by two other eruptions in April and another on May 4.

Earlier this month scientists deployed 28 seismographs around the geyser to gather data in hopes of catching it erupting again to learn more about it.