Methow Valley Citizens Council is supportive of thoughtful, landscape-scale ecosystem restoration, with goals and methods based on best available science. We are supportive of the Twisp River Restoration Project as it is directed at restoring and maintaining ecosystem function over time – but we’ll be working closely with the community and the Forest Service to ensure that it upholds our community’s values and meets ecological goals.

Suggested commenting guideline:

• Condition-based analysis
  • MVCC supports a modified condition-based approach where planned treatments in sensitive or special areas are site specific and identified as part of the decision rather than condition based.
• Aquatic Restoration
  • MVCC applauds the strong focus and importance placed on protecting and restoring aquatic habitats as this is a high priority watershed for the recovery of federally listed bull trout, Upper Columbia spring-run Chinook and steelhead;
  • In order to address the aquatic health as stated in the purpose and need we suggest thoroughly analyzing and developing a comprehensive roads plan to understand where current and future roads are, and determine the impacts they have on aquatic habitats, especially where federally listed fish stocks occur.
• Terrestrial Restoration
  • MVCC encourages the Methow Valley Ranger District to fully analyze a comprehensive list of restoration needs and activities to maximize the ecological, economic, and social benefit of the project;
  • MVCC is supportive and encouraged by the expanded use of prescribed fire and maintenance burning into the future but strongly encourages the agency to develop a communications and outreach strategy to keep the community informed about the status and potential impacts of associated smoke.
  • MVCC suggests creating forest resiliency to future disturbances by creating stand and landscape conditions informed by both the historical range of variability and anticipated future changes in climate conditions for both aquatic and terrestrial restoration.
  • We suggest reducing the diameter limit of harvested trees to a range between 18-21” given the need to develop larger trees in the project area and to help preserve the already limited number of large trees due to past logging in the proposal area.

Please contact Hannah Dewey, Public Lands Coordinator if you have any questions about this project or how to best comment – hannah@mvcitizens.org or 206-227-8403.