1st Tuesday Program: “What's Eating the Trees?”
Tuesday, October 6th, 7:00 - 8:30pm at the Twisp River Pub in Twisp
Join us for a presentation on tussock moths, western spruce budworm and forest health.  Forest insects have profound effects on trees and forests.  They chew on new buds and eat up needles. They burrow under the bark, and even into the roots.  US Forest Service Entomologist Connie Mehmel will talk about our local forest insects: how to recognize them, what they do to trees and forests, and what’s happening now on your local National Forest.

The Twisp River Pub will open at 6:00pm for attendees who would like to purchase food or drinks.  The event is free and open to everyone.  Contact Mary at 996-2870 or info@methowconservancy.org if you have questions.

Witte Place Protected
In 1903, George and Elsie Witte had a beautiful house built alongside farmland on the Methow River just north of Twisp on the Eastside County Rd.  The Witte’s paid $2000 to build the house, an astonishingly high price in those days!

Witte house photo from the early 1900's. Part of the Dick Webb collection as seen in the book Bound for the Methow.

Today, the Methow Conservancy is pleased to announce the placement of a conservation easement on the 100+ year old farm and river front property, protecting not just a beautiful, historic property, but also important irrigated farmland and critical riparian habitat and shoreline.

The 54-acre property spans both sides of the Methow River one mile north of Twisp, protecting a half mile of shoreline.  It is the fifth Methow Conservancy conservation easement protecting farmland & riparian habitat between the Smokejumper Base and Twisp. These five easements protect 416 acres and over two river miles.

The Witte family owned and worked the land into the 1940s.  A subsequent owner reported finding stamps from the Columbia Lumber Company in Wenatchee on the back of many of the trim pieces, implying that the lumber was carried up the Columbia by steamer and then up the Methow by wagon – these were difficult and pricey ventures in the early 1900’s. 

The Witte Place property has been a working farm and ranch for over 100 years.  Over the years, the agricultural setting produced hay and alfalfa for livestock, and owners kept milk cows, horses, pigs, goats and chickens.  Currently, Camden Shaw of Twisp maintains the irrigation on the upper field, harvests alfalfa, and runs approximately 30 sheep and lambs.  Three beef cows graze the smaller irrigated pasture closest to the house.

The Witte Place property is well-known by its striking historic farmhouse and lush, green pastures.  What might be less known is that the property is unique within the middle Methow River due to the presence of extensive riparian forest and floodplain, wetlands, and an overflow side channel. The area provides spawning, rearing, migration, foraging, and over-wintering habitat for the Methow’s anadromous and resident fish species.  Every returning adult spring Chinook, steelhead and bull trout that spawns in the upper reaches of the Methow and Chewuch rivers passes through this reach and uses the general area for refuge on the upstream journey.

This easement was funded in part by Bonneville Power Administration's Columbia Basin Riparian Conservation Easement Program.

This historic treasure is now permanently protected – for farms, for fish and for our community, forever.  Thank you!

“Leafing” Your Legacy
We are amazed and completely inspired by the incredible outpouring of community support for our Imagine the Methow Campaign for Conservation.  To date, we’ve received 1,322 donations to the campaign – that’s 1,322 little copper leaves on our Leave a Legacy tree, 1,322 votes for conservation, 1,322 voices speaking for the future of the Methow Valley, and 1,322 times people stood up for the land. 

We were having too much fun to count, but maybe we even pressed 1,322 jugs of cider at last weekend’s Cider Squeeze where we celebrated this incredible community and your support for leaving a lasting legacy of conservation in the Methow Valley.

Our goal was to receive 1,000 donations by September 26th and you helped us blast right past that goal.  Thank you!

We are humbled by this community’s commitment to conservation.  One of the leaves on our beautiful Leave a Legacy Tree came from a four year-old who brought in his dollars and change from selling fresh eggs.  Another leaf represents a gift from a woman who came into our office one morning and literally thrust every bit of money from her pocket onto our desk.  She noted she wished it could be more, but she wanted the land to have everything she had that day.  All the leaves represent someone’s personal story of hope for this valley we all love, and more are being added every day still.  Moreover, this community helped us receive the $100,000 challenge gift from a group of donors because we met our 1,000 donor goal.  Amazing.

We are inspired by this momentum to keep plowing ahead toward our ultimate campaign goal of $20 million in public and private funds for conservation in the Methow Valley.  As we write to you today, we have raised just over $14.8 million in pledges and we are excited and enthused to spend the next few months taking our inspirational Leave a Legacy Tree and story anywhere we need to be to close out this campaign.  We will still be putting leaves on the tree for donations – and we encourage any of you who know someone who would want to hear the incredible story of this community coming together around conservation to email Sarah.

We look forward to sharing stories with you in the next few weeks about the impact this campaign is already having – because at the end of the day, that is why it matters.  Rest assured, your 1,322 donations are already being put to work on some incredible land protection opportunities in the Methow Valley—from farmlands to riparian habitat, we’re continuing to strategically protect the best in the Valley. 

The annual Chelan Ridge Raptor Migration Project is up and running again near Cooper Mountain at the south end of the valley.  This is the 13th year for the project and it's already proving to be a record reporting season in many respects. Some early reports from Project Manager, Kent Woodruff, include, "It's a big year for Cooper's hawks - their populations are very healthy.  The first ever broad-winged hawk captured also indicates that populations of this eastern North America species continue to expand in British Columbia.  More migrants have been counted in September than in the last 10 years!  Also, non-raptor species like American pipits, gray-crowned rosy finches, and even a rare parasitic jaeger are some of the birds seen this year.  It continues to be obvious why this partnership between the Forest Service and HawkWatch International offers a great day trip to see science at work at the best raptor migration place in Washington."

The project site, up Black Canyon Rd in the lower valley, is open to the public every day through about mid-October.  If you go, bring lots of warm clothes (regardless of weather down in the Valley) and binoculars.  More information is available at the Forest Service office in Winthrop. 

Also, this Sunday morning, October 4th, listen to the "BirdNote" program on KPBX (or whenever your local NPR station carries it) for a brief program about Chelan Ridge. Or go to www.birdnote.org to listen to the program.

Restoration Beavers
With funding from the Community Salmon Fund, EcoTrust, Department of Ecology, and the Yakama Nation, the “Methow Watershed Beaver Restoration Project” completed its second full year by capturing 29 "nuisance" beavers, caring for them at a holding facility at the USFWS Winthrop National Fish Hatchery, and relocating them to public land in the mid and high elevation tributaries of the Methow watershed.  Our 2008 and 2009 efforts combined have resulted in multiple new water storage structures (e.g., beaver dams) in these upper tributaries as well as other improvements to late season flows, water temperatures, and fish and wildlife habitat.  This project has also been a great tool for educational outreach to schools, community groups, and the general public.  Read more about our “Methow Watershed Beaver Restoration Project” here.

Last Chance for "Restoring Native Habitat" Class
The seventh and last class in the “Restoring Native Habitat Around Your Home” Workshop Series is October 10th.  In this class, Rob Crandall, owner of Methow Natives, will teach participants about seeding and fall planting.  Using the large demonstration garden as a backdrop, Rob will share information on planning, designing and implementing native plant restoration and landscaping projects around your house.  Students will be able to purchase seeds and plants after the class.

The class is Saturday, October 10th from 9am to Noon at Methow Natives.  To pre-register, contact Mary at 996-2870 or info@methowconservancy.org.  The cost is a sliding scale of $10-$20, payable to Rob the day of the class.

Events with Nature Writer Rick Bass in Seattle and the Methow
Mark your calendars now, on either side of the mountains, for a special event with renowned nature writer Rick Bass!  Rick has agreed to join us for two special presentations – December 7th in Seattle and December 8th in the Methow.  Stay tuned for more details.

Rick Bass’s works are concerned with the nature of the human heart and the heart of nature.  Born in Texas and raised the son of a geologist, Bass took an early interest in the natural world.  He studied petroleum geology at Utah State University. He started writing short stories on his lunch breaks while working as a petroleum geologist in Jackson, Mississippi.  In 1987, he moved with his wife, the artist Elizabeth Hughes, to the remote Yaak Valley near Troy, Montana, where he has worked, through his words, for the last 20+ years to protect the Yaak.

He is the author of over twenty books, including nonfiction nature writing, essay collections, short story collections, novellas and novels. Among his works are The Deer Pasture; Oil Notes; Wild to the Heart; Winter: Notes from Montana; The Book of Yaak; Where the Sea Used to Be; The Hermit's Story; and Colter: The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and an O. Henry Award.  He was a finalist for The Story Prize in 2007 for his short story collection The Lives of Rocks. He was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for Why I Came West.

His latest book, The Wild Marsh: Four Seasons at Home in Montana, is not just a celebration of his home, it is also a powerful argument for becoming intimate with the places we've all chosen to call home.

New Members!
Thank you to our new members who donated in the month of September (through Sept 24th), most of whom gave to our Imagine the Methow Campaign for Conservation!  The Imagine the Methow campaign has not only raised critical funds for our ongoing conservation work, it has also resulted in a significant number of new members in the last couple of months.  Thank you all for supporting our work and expanding the Methow Conservancy family!

Events
Below, you'll find announcements about events or publications (ours and those of other organizations) that we think you might find interesting.

October 6th: Methow Conservancy “1st Tuesday” Program:  “What’s Eating the Trees?”  7:00 - 8:30pm at the Twisp River Pub. Join us for a presentation on tussock moths, western spruce budworm and forest health.  Forest insects have profound effects on trees and forests.  They chew on new buds and eat up needles. They burrow under the bark, and even into the roots.  US Forest Service Entomologist Connie Mehmel will talk about our local forest insects: how to recognize them, what they do to trees and forests, and what’s happening now on your local National Forest.

October 10th:  Methow Conservancy & Methow Natives Workshop Series Restoring a Native Landscape around the Home.  Final Class - “Seeding and Fall Planting" NOTICE: THIS CLASS IS CANCELLED BECAUSE ROB IS SICK. 9am – noon at Methow Natives.  Registration recommended.  For more details, contact Mary at 996-2870 or info@methowconservancy.org, or see workshop series page.

October 10th:  Firewise workshop, 9am – 4pm at Red Tail Canyon Farm in Leavenworth.  See this flyer for more details.

October 17th:  The Annual Community Harvest Dinner, sponsored by Partnership for a Sustainable Methow, will take place Saturday, October 17 at the Winthrop Barn.  At 5:30pm there is a no host social hour; at 6:30pm is the buffet style dinner catered by Cameron Green and provided by your local farmers.  Due to the enormous popularity of this event, this year PSM will be offering a limited number of dinner tickets on sale for $10 (adults) and $5 (children).  Tickets are on sale at: the Mazama Store, Almquist Pottery, North Cascades Gear Heads, Methow Cycle and Sport, Confluence Gallery, Blue Star Coffee Roasters, the Carlton Store and the Twisp Farmers Market.  All the food is grown or raised locally and donated from community members.  The event is put together by volunteers who bring together all the pieces, from gorgeous decorations to an elaborate feast.  To volunteer for this event, donate harvest items, or to find out more information, please call or leave a message at 509-997-1050, email info@sustainablemethow.net , or romain_ka@hotmail.com .

November 3rd: Methow Conservancy “1st Tuesday” Program - Following Peregrine Falcon Migrations from the Arctic to Chile "The Southern Cross Peregrine Project" 7:00 - 8:30pm at the Twisp River Pub in Twisp. Join us for an exciting presentation by Bud Anderson, raptor biologist and founder of the Falcon Research Group, on the Southern Cross Peregrine Project. 

December 7th:  Special event with Rick Bass in Seattle.  Details to come!

December 8th:  Special event with Rick Bass in the Methow Valley.  Details to come!

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