TACOMA -- An 82-acre peninsula in Pierce County has been purchased for protection as a wildlife preserve.
The Jacob's Point property on the south side of Anderson Island on Oro Bay had once been targeted for a Christian youth camp. The News Tribune reported that it now it will be protected as a wildlife habitat with limited public recreation.
The Anderson Island Park and Recreation District plans to develop a trail, a stop for kayaks and canoes, interpretive signs and viewpoints on the property.
The property includes one mile of unaltered shoreline along Oro Bay, mature forested uplands and wetlands, and views of Puget Sound and Mount Rainier. It provides habitat for endangered Chinook, chum and pink salmon.
Keep safe on area trails during icy, wet winter
With winter and wet trail conditions present, Ridge to Rivers of Boise trail advocates are encouraging users to avoid damaging trails.
"Our trails get tremendous use throughout the year, but the most damage occurs each winter from visitors who tread on soft and muddy trails," said Ridge to Rivers coordinator David Gordon.
All kinds of users can cause problems on wet trails.
"There is a bit of a misconception among our hikers and runners that they do not harm muddy trails," Gordon said. "That couldn't be further from the truth. The heavy foot traffic we receive tramples drainage dips installed to mediate trail erosion, kills trailside vegetation and widens trails as users attempt to walk to the side of the trail to avoid mud."
Foot tracks in soft trails also create deep pock marks that make trails unpleasant for those who use them at appropriate times -- when the trails are frozen.
There are tips for winter trail use on their website at http://ridgetorivers.city ofboise.org/index.aspx
Here are two big ones:
* If you are leaving tracks, you are causing damage. Turn back.
* Don't leave the trail to walk around short patches of mud or water.
Big Sky offers free skiing to Epic Pass holders
BIG SKY, Mont. -- With less-than-epic snow in parts of Colorado so far this season, Montana's Big Sky Resort is offering some Colorado and California season pass holders free skiing and snowboarding through January.
Big Sky said it will honor Epic Passes sold by Vail Resorts Inc., as long as holders book lodging with Big Sky Central Reservations.
Big Sky spokesman Chad Jones said the resort has about twice the open acreage that Vail and Breckenridge in Colorado do right now.
Skiers in Colorado start tubing with lack of snow
WINTER PARK, Colo. -- Skiers are taking out their inner tubes because of a lack of snow in the Colorado mountains.
Tubing park marketing director Lisa Boyes said her facility near the Winter Park ski resort is getting a lot of people who are not skiing and snowboarding this year.
The snowpack statewide was 73 percent of the long-term average at the beginning of the year.
Wyoming ski resorts report good conditions
CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- The snowfall is down from last winter's record dumping, but most Wyoming ski resorts are reporting good conditions and business so far this season.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort reports an upper mountain base of 44 inches that is below average for this time of year. Nearby Grand Targhee and Snow King resorts report all lifts open.
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