Still dry
Earth Day Festival
Statewide drought declaration is extended
Celebrate conservation at Doran Ranch this weekend
STORY Page A6
STORY Page A8
Methow Valley News
PUBLISHED WEEKLY SINCE 1903
T WISP, WASHINGTON
VOL . 120 NO. 52
W W W.METHOW VALLEYNEWS.COM
APRIL 24, 2024
$1.50
State’s wolf count increased by 20% in 2023
The survey found two new packs and four packs that became re-established last year in Washington. A pack is defined as two wolves traveling together during winter. One of the re-established packs, called Beaver Creek pack, is in the eastern part of Okanogan County and has two members. Pack sizes range from two to 11 wolves. The Methow Valley’s Lookout pack is among the largest with 10 members. The Lookout pack is the oldest documented pack in the state, first discovered in 2008 occupying territory southwest of Twisp. Over the past 15 years the Lookout pack has survived poaching and wildfires.
Four packs thriving in Methow Valley area BY ANN MCCREARY
The number of endangered gray wolves in Washington increased last year by 20%, with at least 42 wolf packs in the north central and eastern part of the state. An annual survey of wolves found four wolf packs with territories near the Methow Valley last year, the same as in the 2022 population survey conducted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). The 15th annual gray wolf count by WDFW, conducted as part of the state’s management of the endangered species, found that the number of individual wolves had grown from 216 wolves at the end of 2022 to 260 wolves at the end of 2023, an increase of 44 wolves. The number of wolf packs increased from 37 in 2022 to 42 in 2023. The number of packs with successful breeding pairs, however, dropped from 26 in
Gauging recovery Photo courtesy of the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s annual survey of the state’s gray wolf population showed increases in both the total number of wolves and the number of established packs. 2022 to 25 in 2023. A breeding pair is a measurement of a pack’s reproductive success and is important to overall recovery of the species. It is defined as an adult male and
female wolf that raised at least two pups that survived until the end of the year. Among the four packs in the Methow Valley area, successful breeding pairs were found in the Lookout pack, which
had 10 members, the Loup Loup pack, with five members, and the Sullivan Creek pack, with seven members. The Chewuch pack, with five members, did not have a successful breeding pair.
Wolves are counted annually through tracking and aerial and camera surveys. The survey results represent a minimum count of wolves, WDFW said, due to the difficulty of accounting for every animal, especially lone wolves traveling without a pack. The annual wolf count is conducted
See WOLVES, A2
Methow Ranger District seeks comments on two proposed trail projects Revised Cub Creek Trailhead, new Devin’s Trail are in the works BY SANDRA STRIEBY
Photo by Don Nelson
Darold Brandenburg, standing far left, addressed the audience at last week’s Winthrop Town Council hearing on the RiversMeet project.
RiversMeet project draws big crowd for public hearing Most support request to install solar array BY DON NELSON
An overflow crowd packed the Winthrop Town Council’s public hearing on the RiversMeet mixed-use project last week, and commenters offered mixed opinions about how the town’s Westernization code should apply to the new building. The hearing was to consider recommendations from the Westernization Design Review Board (WDRB) to the council as to how the town’s Westernization code should be applied to RiversMeet, which will be built on the Riverside Avenue site of the former Methow Conservancy building. The testimony generally split into two points of view: the need to consistently apply and enforce the existing Westernization code and its traditional goals; and the need to make the code more flexible to reflect current realities. There was spirited support for each position. That said, public sentiment was clearly in favor allowing the solar power array that is proposed for the building — and which could be disallowed under a strict interpretation of the Westernization code. The new structure will be a threestory building that would include two, two-bedroom apartments on the first floor, which would face the Methow
River and would not be visible from the street; space for commercial tenants such as restaurants and other service providers on the second floor, which would front Riverside Avenue; and small to medium-size office spaces on the third floor.
Lots of interest
For last week’s hearing, more than 50 people filled the tiny Hen House room in the Winthrop Barn, where the council typically meets, and some spilled into the corridor that connects the room to the rest of the building. Most of the discussion and testimony centered on three topics: whether RiversMeet should be allowed to have a solar array on its roof; whether the building should be fitted with aluminum-clad windows; and, less contentiously, whether it can be painted in two different colors. Owner and developer Peter Goldman had asked that RiversMeet be permitted to install solar panels to save energy, and substitute longer-lasting aluminum-clad windows rather than strictly wooden windows. The WDRB recommended against both of those requests in its report to the council; the board was split on the color question. Another topic was how construction of the building would affect traffic on RiverSide Avenue. The WDRB recommended that work on the building be allowed to continue through June. Riverside Avenue construction is typically
ADDRESS LABEL
See RIVERSMEET, A3
The Methow Valley Ranger District is inviting comments on a proposed trail project with two components: one in the Rendezvous area and the other at the base of Sandy Butte near Timberline Meadows. The district proposes to “construct a new year-round Cub Creek Trailhead, and incorporate a new trail segment (‘Devin’s Trail’) into the network of groomed Nordic ski trails managed by Methow Trails,” wrote District Ranger Chris Furr in an April 4 letter to stakeholders. Methow Trails proposed both components of the project to the district, said district recreation staffer Rosemary Seifried, who is serving as the project lead, in an email. Both the Cub Creek trailhead and Devin’s Trail reflect “a community-gener-
ated need that comes up with a lot of our trail projects,” said Methow Trails Executive Director James De Salvo. Before undertaking a project, Methow Trails will “listen to the community about what they want and what’s needed, and look at the quality and safety of the trails” in order to plan improvements that will enhance users’ experience, said De Salvo.
Cub Creek trailhead
Cub Creek Road provides access to a network of roads and trails that are used year-round for motorized and non-motorized recreation. Currently, there is no permanent, formally established trailhead. Under an agreement between Methow Trails and a private landowner, winter users park on land adjacent to Cub Creek Road, De Salvo said. The size of the parking area is inadequate, said Furr in his letter announcing the scoping process, and does not allow for safe operation of maintenance equipment. Methow Trails maintains a portable toilet on the site during the winter. In the summer, recreationists park “at various pullouts and informal parking places
along the road,” wrote Seifried. Methow Trails has been seeking a site for a year-round trailhead on Cub Creek for at least a decade, De Salvo said, as both winter and summer use have grown. The area is popular for snowmobiling, skiing, snowshoeing, and fat biking in winter, and for biking, hiking, horseback riding, and running in summer, he said. The Cub Creek component of the project “would address the need to ensure safe and adequate year-round access for motorized and non-motorized recreationists to existing winter and summer system trails,” said Furr in his letter. Cub Creek is “one of the colder places” in the valley, said De Salvo — the drainage tends to retain snow, which attracts winter recreationists when snow is sparse, as it was last winter. “The Cub Creek Trailhead will also support the popular Buck Mountain Trail, which will be a great improvement for access to this area,” according to Seifried.
Shared concerns
“The District shares Methow Trails’
See TRAILS, A2
COMIN’ THROUG H
Photo by Steve Mitchell
The North Cascades Scenic Highway opened to vehicle traffic at 10 a.m. last Friday (April 19), a relatively early opening date for the popular route. Above, early arrivers passed through the Silver Star gate west of Mazama.
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61° 43°
57° 41°
62° 37°
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WEATHER DATA BASED ON ACCUWEATHER.COM FORECAST FOR T WISP
63° 37°
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