Time is running out to comment on the Twisp Restoration Project. Comment deadline is Friday, December 18th.

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Time is running out to comment on the Twisp Restoration Project. Comment deadline is Friday, December 18th.
There are only one day left to comment on the largest project proposal in the Methow Valley Ranger District’s history, covering 77,000 acres and proposing a variety of management activities — including 22,000 acres of commercial logging — over the next three decades. Methow Valley Citizens Council supports the ecological restoration of our forests when developed collaboratively with sound scientific principles. The Twisp Restoration Project, as currently proposed, needs substantial improvement before it can be considered beneficial. We have serious concerns that the project departs from the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest’s own Restoration Strategy, based on the best available scientific information. The Twisp Restoration Project will leave a lasting impact on our forests for generations to come, so please weigh to help create a better project that our community can support.

The Citizens Council staff have spent countless hours evaluating the project, ground-truthing the prescriptions, and consulting with biologists, foresters, and fire specialists. We’ve digested that information and identified several critical concerns listed below. We have also created a commenting guide to help as you develop your own comments.

  • The proposal allows for the cutting of large trees, departing from the Forest Service’s own Restoration Strategy
  • New ATV access along the Upper Twisp River does not belong in the proposal
  • The proposal should fully take into account large areas already in special old-growth reserves, roadless status, and/or with potential for wilderness designation
  • Salvage logging should not be included in the proposal
  • The project’s scale and complexity demand additional opportunities for public engagement 
It is critically important that the Methow Valley community take part in the public process. This project can be successful – even beneficial –  if local citizens ensure that their collective voices are heard. We encourage you to draft personalized comments based on your direct on-the-ground knowledge and experience before the Friday, December 18th deadline. We have created a comment guide to provide some background and context. Together we can create healthy, resilient forests for generations to come.

Comments can be submitted in the following ways:

Submit electronically by https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public//CommentInput?Project=56554.

Or by U.S. Mail to Eireann Pederson, Project Leader, Methow Valley Ranger District, 24 West Chewuch Rd., Winthrop, WA 98862

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Thank you for helping to protect the Methow Valley’s natural environment and rural character.  

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