The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest just announced it is closing several roads in the Interstate 90 corridor to target shooters starting this weekend.

Here is the release:

The closure area encompasses the valley bottom that follows the I-90 freeway corridor from Exit 38 to the top of Snoqualmie Pass. The Tinkham and Denny Creek roads are included.

“We have a serious public safety concern,” said Snoqualmie District Ranger Jim Franzel. “If we don’t do something immediately, someone will get hurt. We are closing the smallest land area possible to prevent an injury and provide for public safety.”

The target shooting closure area encompasses concentrated recreation uses with multiple roads, campgrounds, trailheads and picnic areas.

Franzel said the local geography doesn’t provide for natural target shooting backstops, so target shooters often use trees and vegetation as backstops, not realizing there may be a trailhead or people recreating within range.

Although unsafe target shooting has been a growing problem on national forest lands adjacent to I-90, recent near-misses of road repair workers and shooting across roads has elevated the concern. “Peak visitor use is during the summer and additional road repair and trail reconstruction is scheduled,” Franzel said.

The closure involves a small part of the 332,000-acre Snoqualmie Ranger District.

Target shooting regulations remain unchanged everywhere else on the district. The Code of Federal Regulations prohibits discharging firearms within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation site or occupied area. Violators can be fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned up to six months in jail. Signs are posted marking closed areas. Visitors can get a map at Snoqualmie Ranger District Office in North Bend and online here that show where target shooting is prohibited.

This is a temporary emergency closure. The forest will consider the need for a permanent closure in one year. Franzel said that target shooting in high-use recreation areas has increased over the years, along with associated environmental damage and dumped trash. For information regarding the closure, please call 425-888-1421 x230 or click here.

I stopped and fished Rocky Ford Creek for a couple of hours on Sunday. I was in the area on another assignment, and happened to have a fly rod along, and well ... ya know ... I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

The water was clear, making the trout pretty wary. There were a growing mat of weeds growing along the creek edges, but the water was still fishable. Some of the trout were holding behind rocks and others were holding in holes in the weeds on the streambed.

From my vantage point, I could spot three trout and had to work to get a good drift where they would show interest.

I was able to hook this trout – the only one for the outing – on a small, likely a size 18 red brassie with a bit of peacock herl at the head. Oddly enough, the trout seemed more interested in the fly when I gave it some small movement. I had two other trout come up to the fly after I landed this one, both times when I was giving it small twitches.

I’m considering this trout a victory, considering it was probably already 80 degrees when I landed it about 11 a.m. on a bright sunny day. It was fat, thick and a put up a great fight on my 4-weight rod.

I just got this press release from the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance:

Companion bills, introduced yesterday in Congress, protect the rights of sportsmen to hunt on federal land while also recognizing hunting’s importance to all conservation.

The Hunting Heritage Protection Act, is made up of Senate bill 1348, sponsored by Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and H.R. 3046, sponsored by Representative Denny Rehberg (R-MT).

Both pieces of legislation require that federal land be managed in a way that supports, promotes, and enhances access for hunting and mandates that an annual report be submitted to Congress detailing any limitations that are imposed on hunting federal lands. It also will require a written notification be given to Congress prior to any agency action that limits hunting on large parcels of federal land consisting of 5,000 or more acres.

From the Portland Tribune:

A 27-year-old Seattle man was airlifted off Mount Hood Sunday afternoon after falling and breaking his leg near the Sandy Glacier area.

Clackamas County sheriff’s search and rescue members said Kristopher R. Haskins was taken off the mountain before 2 p.m. by an Oregon National Guard helicopter to Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Haskins is an employee of the University of Washington in Seattle.

Read the entire story here.