BOZEMAN, Montana — A recent report says visitors to Yellowstone National Park spent nearly $500 million last year in neighboring towns to the wilderness recreation area.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports a visitor spending analysis by economists with the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey says the figure was about $499 million, a fraction of the $18.2 billion spent nationwide near national parks in 2017.

The report estimates the $499 million supported about 7,350 jobs in towns on the park’s outskirts in Montana and Wyoming.

The figure marks a decline from 2016, when the agency estimated the park’s visitor spending at $524 million.

The report says Montana received $556 million in visitor spending in 2017, good enough for 12th in the nation. That is an increase from 2016, when visitor spending was estimated at $548 million.

NAMPA (AP) — Authorities say a 19-year-old man died after drowning at Lake Lowell east of Nampa.

KTVB-TV reports paramedics and sheriff’s deputies received a report of a drowning at the lake Sunday evening.

Officials say a bystander jumped into the water to try to save the man.

Officials say after the man was pulled out of the water, CPR was performed on him in hopes of reviving him, but he remained unresponsive and was pronounced dead shortly after.

Officials believe the man may have been at the lake with friends, but have not said what may have caused him to go underwater.

The man’s identity has not been released pending family notification.

NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — Authorities say a 19-year-old man died after drowning at Lake Lowell east of Nampa.

KTVB-TV reports paramedics and sheriff’s deputies received a report of a drowning at the lake Sunday evening.

Officials say a bystander jumped into the water to try to save the man.

Officials say after the man was pulled out of the water, CPR was performed on him in hopes of reviving him, but he remained unresponsive and was pronounced dead shortly after.

Officials believe the man may have been at the lake with friends, but have not said what may have caused him to go underwater.

The man’s identity has not been released pending family notification.

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Information from: KTVB-TV, http://www.ktvb.com/

FRISCO, Colo. (AP) — Skier visits to U.S. resorts in the Rocky Mountains were down about 5 percent this past winter, which equates to about 1 million fewer visits than the prior winter season.

The Summit Daily News reports that the National Ski Areas Association tallied about 21 million visits to the region’s slopes for 2017-2018 in a preliminary study.

Despite the decline, several resorts set visitation records. They included Wyoming’s Jackson Hole, Whitefish and Bridger Bowl in Montana and Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho.

Low snowfall amounts early in the season in the southern and central Rocky Mountain region prevented the industry from boosting business overall.

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Information from: Summit Daily News, http://www.summitdaily.com/

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Two men drove around at least two road-closed signs due to faulty navigation device information while trying to get to Yellowstone National Park and had to be rescued from deep snow, sheriff’s officers in Wyoming said Thursday.

Park County authorities said 60-year-old John Ray Elmore Jr. of Los Angeles and his father, 85-year-old John M. Elmore Sr. of Nashville, Indiana, likely won’t be cited for using the road northwest of Cody.

The road has been closed and unplowed since fall. Snow still covers much of the route, but the men said their navigation device showed it was open.

Their Nissan SUV got stuck Tuesday about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the last road-closed sign. The men called for help on a cellphone.

Rescuers got them out with help from a resident with a pickup truck.

Many roads in and around Yellowstone National Park remain covered with snow and unpassable. In Wyoming, driving around a road-closed sign is a big no-no, possibly punishable by a $420 fine.

The men got stuck in snow about 60 miles northwest of Cody on Beartooth Highway.

Their call for help was dropped before they could say where they were and that they were unhurt, but rescuers soon found them. A resident with a pickup truck and tire chains pulled their small Nissan SUV out of the snow and the men decided to take a different route into the park, Park County Search and Rescue Coordinator Lance Mathess said.

“It does happen maybe once or twice year, where tourists don’t know where they’re going. The residents know better than to go up there,” Mathess said.

The men probably won’t be ticketed because they’re not from Wyoming and didn’t come into contact with a sheriff’s deputy, Mathess said.

Efforts to reach the men were unsuccessful. They faced a fairly long drive to get to the park if they didn’t head to the East Entrance, which is 64 miles west of Cody but still closed for the season until at least Friday. The next-closest route was a 230-mile detour into Montana.

The Beartooth Highway is among the last of the region’s mountain roads that is completely plowed but typically not until Memorial Day or later.

Yellowstone’s summer season brings as many as 900,000 visitors a month and a range of rescue scenarios, from dehydrated hikers to tourists falling in hot springs.

Around the time the men were being rescued, a bison surprised a hiker as she came around a bend in a trail near Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone.

The bison dropped its head and butted 72-year-old Virginia Junk of Boise, Idaho, in the thigh, pushing her from the path.

She was treated for minor injuries and taken to a hospital.

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Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver

To cover putting in for controlled hunts for all species, I would have had to write this article a couple months ago. Because I’ve killed my once-in-a-lifetime moose, now I focus on putting in for controlled elk, deer and antelope tags in which applications can’t be sent in until May. However, I did mean to put in for a controlled spring bear tag this year.

If you’re new to Idaho, you may wonder what’s the big deal about controlled hunts. Here are a few:

• There’ll be fewer hunters in that zone.
• You’ll encounter more trophy animals.
• You may want to put in for a controlled hunt if you saw some nice bulls there last year or if you have access.
• If you’re hunting bears, you probably want to save the hide and make a bear skin rug. You don’t want to pay that much to tan the hide of a 3 1/2-year-old bear, do you? Ugh. Although maybe you do. I just got a bear hide back from the taxidermist and it cost me $1,700. At that moment I did wish it was a 5-footer instead of an 8 3/4-foot bear.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve let the antis influence us to call them controlled hunt zones instead of trophy units. What is suddenly wrong with wanting a trophy? I’m going to make it into steaks and sausage whether it’s a spike or a bull. It’s not like all I will keep are the horns. We’re trying to appease people that don’t hunt anyway.

Anyway, back to the draws. The application time period for spring bear closed on Feb. 15, and moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goats ended on April 30. But the drawing for deer, elk antelope and fall bear doesn’t end until June 5, so get out the regs and pick out your unit.

If you’re putting in for a controlled hunt, you probably already know where you want to hunt, but if not, you still have a month to do some fast scouting. I’ve got an area where I saw a huge bull, a nice buck and a big antelope. If I draw all three, I may end up living out there for a month or two! No internet service so I guess I’ll tie my articles to a pigeon’s leg and send them over every week from my camp. I use MapQuest quite a bit. I know it tells you how long it will take to drive but I don’t believe I’ve ever noticed that they give traveling times in pigeon language.

And don’t make the mistake that I did the first time I went moose hunting. I still tried to focus on bear, deer and elk hunting hard. If you draw a controlled tag, especially a once-in-a-lifetime tag, focus on the tag. If you don’t get anything else, don’t worry. Your main mission was accomplished.

To most people, drawing a controlled hunt is a huge deal, and in many cases, a once-in-a-lifetime deal. So when you open the letter from Fish and Game and pull out that magic response, it’s a big deal. Now it’s time to start scouting big time, getting vacation lined up and figuring the best spot to set up a camp.

Once you’ve determined your hunting spot, you’ll want to order some detailed maps of that area. I use MyTopo maps. They make the best. I know a lot of people use apps, etc., but maps are the best option. Phones can die, get lost or destroyed. I want a map in my little hands.

You’ll want to have spot No. 1, spot No. 2 and spot No. 3. What if opening morning you get to your special spot and the Rainbow Coalition has a camp there (that actually happened to me one year) or another hunter is already where you want to be?

So I’m excited. Now to impatiently wait until July 10.

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, Idaho (AP) — There’s a sense of relief at the U.S. Forest Service because of the billions of additional dollars made available by lawmakers over the next decade to fight catastrophic wildfires but also a duty to spend it wisely, the acting chief of the U.S. Forest Service said Wednesday.

Vicki Christiansen, speaking at the National Interagency Fire Center about the recently approved Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, said the money will help the agency avoid raiding other parts of its budget and allow work to prevent wildfires while also tackling a backlog of trail and road maintenance.

“We really have an opportunity to put the work on the ground, improve the conditions of the national forests and create more opportunity for access and recreation as well,” she said.

Also taking part in the news conference was Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, Democratic U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Republican U.S. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo of Idaho. The lawmakers for about five years had been trying to pass the legislation to pay for catastrophic wildfires rather than using money from elsewhere in the Forest Service’s budget, a practice termed “fire borrowing.”

“The passage of our legislation to end fire borrowing means today that westerners can celebrate an uncommon triumph for common sense,” Wyden said.

Previously, a 10-year average of firefighting spending was used to set the Forest Service wildfire fighting budget.

But the wildfire season has become longer and wildfires themselves more destructive in the last several decades. In 1990, the Forest Service spent about 13 percent of its budget on wildfires. Last year it reached 55 percent at $2.4 billion, a season that saw 8,500 homes and business destroyed, about 15,500 square miles burned, and 14 wildland firefighters killed.

Experts at the National Interagency Fire Center at the news conference predicted another tough wildfire season this year for the U.S. West.

The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act this year gives the agency $3.2 billion to spend fighting wildfires and another lump sum next year. Starting in 2020, the wildfire budget will be fixed at $1.1 billion but the agency will be able to tap into about $2.2 billion to pay for catastrophic wildfires. That $2.2 billion cap climbs to nearly $3 billion by 2027.

The Forest Service manages about 300,000 square miles that include 154 national forests, 20 national grasslands in 43 states and Puerto Rico.

Wyden last week asked Christiansen to prepare a document explaining how the Forest Service planned to spend money now available for use outside of fighting wildfires. Christiansen said Wednesday the agency had drafted an outline and expected to present a completed version to Wyden and other senators in five or six weeks.

Besides the infusion of money, the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act includes aspects intended to streamline some forest projects, including allowing logging through “categorical exclusions” that limit some objections.

Jonathan Oppenheimer of the Idaho Conservation League, an environmental watchdog group that has challenged federal land management agencies in court, said the group generally backed the new law because of the negative impacts to campgrounds, trails and roads that the Forest Service couldn’t afford to maintain under the previous budgeting system.

“It really has had a significant impact on Idahoans and other American’s ability to utilize and enjoy their public lands, so we see this as a big step forward,” he said.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — A bison rammed a 72-year-old Idaho woman and tossed her off a trail as she walked in Yellowstone National Park.

Park officials said Wednesday that Virginia Junk of Boise was treated for minor injuries and transported to a hospital following the encounter in the Old Faithful area.

She reportedly came around a bend in the trail Tuesday and was unable to move out of the animal’s way. It dropped its head, butted her in the thigh and pushed her off the trail.

She’s the first Yellowstone visitor hurt by a bison this year. A bison injured a husband and wife last year, and there were five such incidents in 2015.

Visitors are advised to say at least 25 yards from the animals.

SHADY COVE, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State Police say they’re seeking information about two deer in southern Oregon who were found with arrows caught shot through their bodies.

The animals were found in the wild Friday near Shady Cove, one with an arrow embedded through its head and the other close to its neck.

Fish and Wildlife workers tried to tranquilize the deer to remove the arrows but were unable to capture them.

Authorities say the injuries don’t appear to be life-threatening, as the animals are able to eat and walk.

A reward is being offered by the Oregon Hunters Association for information about the attackers.

Applying for a coveted controlled hunt for deer, elk or pronghorn? Improve your chances of hunting your dream unit by also entering the Super Hunt drawing at the same time you apply.

Here’s the deal. Thousands of hunters apply for controlled hunts every year hoping to snag one of those prime controlled hunt tags during the application period May 1 through June 5. A resident Idaho hunter pays a $6.25 application fee and gets one chance for a tag in any of those controlled hunts for deer, elk, pronghorn and fall black bear. You can apply online, at any license vendor or by phone at 800-554-8685.

The Super Hunt program is a separate and smaller pool of tags, but for an additional $6, a hunter can get added chances at any particular controlled hunt (except black bear) because a Super Hunt tag is good for any controlled or general hunt for that specific species.

Unlike the controlled hunt applications, hunters can enter as many times as they want for Super Hunt tags. There are eight tags each for deer, elk and pronghorn, along with one moose tag, which will all be drawn in June. But the deadline for Super Hunt entries is May 31, so don’t delay.

If you really have an open calendar for fall, there’s also one Super Hunt Combo up for grabs, which provides the lucky winner with one tag each for deer, elk, pronghorn and moose. Entries for the Super Hunt combo are $20 each, and hunters can also enter for the combo as many times as they like.

So what happens if you draw both a controlled hunt and a Super Hunt tag? Well, you’re one lucky hunter! The Super Hunt tag is considered an “extra” tag, so you would have two tags to enjoy the best hunting experiences Idaho has to offer.

Remember that you will need a 2018 hunting license to apply for a controlled hunt; however, residents and nonresidents can enter for Super Hunt tags without purchasing a license first.

A full list of the hundreds of controlled hunts offered for 2018 can be found in the Big Game Seasons and Rules booklet, which is available at license vendors. You can apply for both controlled hunts and Super Hunts at huntfishidaho.net, and if you haven’t been to the site already, you will need to set up an account with a username and password.

Once you’re there, apply for the controlled hunts on the application page, and add your Super Hunt applications by clicking on the “purchase a license, tag or permit” box. You can also buy Super Hunt entries at license vendors or by calling 800-554-8685.