Last week, the Forest Service issued a press statement and was quoted in the Methow Valley News, noting that the response from the public on the Twisp Restoration Project was remarkable with more than 900 comment letters. “The amount of thoughtful, substantive feedback we received on this project is much higher than we have seen for similar projects in the past,” said District Ranger Chris Furr.

“We received a lot of comments related to large and old trees, salvage of trees killed in the 2018 Crescent Mountain Fire, and our proposal to designate a new Washington ATV route,” said Eireann Pederson, District Silviculturist and project lead. The District is completing a substantive review of all comments and is working with the Northcentral Washington Forest Health Collaborative to address the public’s feedback and consider changes to the proposal.

MVCC also did its own review of all submitted comments and conducted an analysis of the major themes. Last week, MVCC Community Organizer, Lazo Gitchos, presented the analysis to the Collaborative highlighting frequent commenter themes including:

1. Opposition to motorized recreation expansion
2. Protection of big and old trees
3. Additional public outreach needed
4. Scope and scale of the proposal is too large
5. Support for the Okanogan-Wenatchee Restoration Strategy
6. Opposition to salvage logging
7. Concerns about Roadless Areas and Old-Growth Reserves (LSRs)
8. Concerns about trails and recreation

MVCC continues to remain highly engaged with the Forest Service and the Collaborative to improve the project, building broader community support around a common vision. Stay tuned!