Big walk
Setting the pace
Teenager takes on the PCT in solo adventure
LBHS grad Liam Daily takes over the XC program
EXTRA! Page B1
STORY Page B3
Methow Valley News
PUBLISHED WEEKLY SINCE 1903
T WISP, WASHINGTON
VOL . 121 NO. 17
W W W.METHOW VALLEYNEWS.COM
AUGUST 21, 2024
$1.50
Salmon projects will enhance river habitat Work expected to finish in 2026 BY MARCY STAMPER
A major restoration project in the Methow River near Twisp is underway to enhance habitat for juvenile steelhead and spring Chinook salmon and to restore the flow of the river so it’s closer to natural historic conditions Steelhead and spring Chinook are both on the federal list of endangered species.
Eagle Rocks
Work in the river has already started on the Eagle Rocks Habitat Enhancement Project near the Riverbend RV Park, where the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation (MSRF) will reestablish year-round flow in a river channel that currently dries up in late summer, said Tara Gregg, MSRF’s project manager for this work. The Eagle Rocks project will include installation of engineered wood structures to create pools that provide refuge for juvenile fish. Because it’s a popular area for boaters and tubers, wood
structures will be located away from the natural flow path they would use, and there is plenty of sight visibility. Smooth bumper logs will help direct boaters and tubers away from the structures and will keep any loose wood carried by the current from getting hung up and posing additional risk, Gregg said. Contractors will isolate the work areas during construction to control turbidity and limit disturbance to fish. Much of the work will be outside the main channel, so it won’t interrupt use of the river throughout the sixweek construction period. The project also includes a high cobble bank to provide space for more riparian vegetation. Having year-round channels encourages more vegetation growth, which in turn slows the water flow, decreasing risk to riverbanks. Slower sections of the river also accumulate more nutrients and stay colder during the summer, crucial to salmon species, according to MSRF. Property on both sides of the river in the Eagle Rocks project is privately owned and all landowners have signed agreements, Gregg said.
The Eagle Rocks project is expected to wrap up in early October.
Sugar Channel project
The Sugar Channel Reconnections Project is the second phase of restoration for this stretch of the Methow River. The Sugar Channel project, just north of Twisp, is still in the planning and development stages. River work is planned for summer and fall 2025. The Sugar project will connect floodplains that became disconnected after levees and other protective structures were built following the major floods of 1948 and 1972, Gregg said. The primary focus is juvenile spring Chinook, which require off-channel habitat that’s currently nonexistent in this stretch of river, according to MSRF. After the work is done, low-lying floodplains in areas owned by MSRF and private property owners will be more connected throughout the year. Property owners on the opposite side of the river should see less riverbank erosion because the water will spread out over a larger area, reducing its velocity, Gregg said. All the land that will see
UNMA SKE D
Photo courtesy of Tara Gregg
Contractors have started to dewater a shallow side channel to the Methow River in preparation for a project that will re-establish a year-round flow in the channel to benefit endangered salmon. increased flood elevations is owned by MSRF or private landowners who have already declared support for the changes, Gregg said. Flood risks won’t increase along other areas of the
river. Historically, the Methow River migrated across the valley floor and its alignment often changed. Those shifts created important habitat, including floodplains and
side channels, and sometimes left behind wood that fell naturally into the river. But as more roads, houses, and flood-protection
See SALMON, A3
What’s in a name? Plenty, if it’s a fire Agencies follow guidelines for naming suitability BY MARCY STAMPER
The Easy Fire in the North Cascades hasn’t exactly lived up to its name. Then again, most people who’ve hiked to Easy Pass, the nearby pass for which the fire was named, might wonder if the pass itself had been christened ironically. Although the Easy Fire hasn’t spread as fast as some fires and isn’t near any homes, it has challenged firefighters since it was started by lightning on July 17. Much of the fire is burning on steep, inaccessible slopes, and danger from falling trees and a major mudslide forced closure of the North Cascades Highway. The popular summer route has been closed for most of August, with no estimated time for reopening.
Photo by Marcy Stamper
Although parents may have been disappointed that actual, wriggling bugs and snakes didn’t make it to the Twisp library event last week, kids contentedly created their own masks. Martin Hill, left, decorated a colorful mask while Alex Hill looked on.
Photo courtesy of Pioneer and Easy Fires Facebook Page
The Easy Fire, which has been hard to contain, was named for the nearby Easy Pass. Fires need to be named right away so the Northeast Washington Interagency Communications Center (NEWICC) can enter the fire in its database and order fire crews, aircraft and other necessary equipment, NEWICC Dispatch Center Manager Cedar Reimer told the Methow Valley
News. Fires are typically named by the duty officer of the firefighting agency first on scene, she said. It can be tough to assign a suitable name when the primary focus is on controlling the fire,
See NAMING, A2
Twisp Council OKs rezoning for long-vacant riverfront site Properties would switch from commercial to residential use BY RALPH SCHWARTZ
By the looks of it — and the length of it — the debate in Twisp Town Council last week over whether to allow single-family homes on a piece of vacant riverfront was about much more than those 7.26 acres. The Aug. 13 debate, which lasted nearly an hour and a half, was about one of the Methow Valley’s biggest hot-button
issues: its housing crisis. In the end, council voted 3–2 to rezone four parcels between the end of Wagner Street and the river from commercial riverfront to high-density residential. The vote wasn’t final. The council will make its decision official at a future meeting, when it considers a zoning ordinance pertaining to the parcels and an accompanying amendment to the town’s comprehensive plan. Council member Tim Matsui opposed the rezone, requested by property owner Mike Port. Matsui argued that keeping the properties commercial would allow for even more homes to be built there. T hat’s b e cause Twisp’s high-density residential zone
ADDRESS LABEL
allows only single-family homes and duplexes. The commercial designation allows a mix of businesses and multifamily housing. Matsui said the crux of the issue was affordability. According to an analysis sent to the council by Simon Windell, chief operating officer of the Methow Housing Trust, the cost to build a new 1,000-square-foot single-family residence in Twisp would be $525,000 — an amount that’s out of reach for 92% of the valley’s full-time residents. Matsui used Windell’s analysis to bolster his argument. “The people who live here are no longer going to be able to afford to live here if we don’t create other forms of housing that include rentals, and include more
affordably built multiplexes of some kind — a two-story triplex or something like that,” Matsui said. Council member Will Menzies voted with Matsui. He had provided a written comment opposing the rezone before joining the council this year. “It is my belief that in changing the zoning map on these parcels we would be directly incentivizing investment properties instead of ensuring affordable homes for our residents,” Menzies wrote.
Better than empty
A majority of the council saw the matter differently. Sin-
See REZONING, A2
Photo by Ralph Schwartz
The Twisp Town Council voted last week to rezone 7.26 acres along the Methow River from commercial uses to single-family homes and duplexes.
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