May 19th: Methow Conservancy Medicinal & Edible Plant Walk with local herbalist Rosalee de la Forêt and staff naturalist Mary Kiesau, 9am – Noon, $25. Join us for an informative plant walk through the Methow’s beautiful shrub-steppe habitat to learn how our beloved plants are used for medicine and for food by peoples past and present. This plant walk is limited to 12 people and registration is required. Contact the Methow Conservancy at 996-2870 or mary@methowconservancy.org to register*. See more details here.
May 24 – 27th: Methow Conservancy Spring Naturalists’ Retreat with instructors Libby Mills & Dana Visalli, $130. Spend a long weekend with us where we’ll enjoy beautiful days in the field and engage in presentations and group dinners in the evenings. Under the friendly and 
expert tutelage of ornithologist Libby Mills and botanist Dana Visalli you will be amazed by all that you learn and soak up in this fantastic nature and educational experience! See more details here. Space is limited and this course fills up fast! Contact the Methow Conservancy at 996-2870 or mary@methowconservancy.org to register*.
June 15-16th: Methow Conservancy “Birding 101” class with Susan Ballinger, $35. An indoor class will be held Friday evening and a field session will be held early Saturday morning. Susan Ballinger’s engaging introductory birding class, co-sponsored by North Central Washington (NCW) Audubon Society and the Methow Conservancy, is geared specifically for beginning birders. Participants in this workshop will be introduced to the basics of bird biology; learn about bird behavior and habitats; and learn how to use field characteristics as an aid to bird identification. There is a follow-up field trip on Saturday June 16th where we will help you identify common birds in a great local habitat. This class is limited to 20 people and registration is required. Contact the Methow Conservancy at 996-2870 or mary@methowconservancy.org to register*. See more details here.
June 18th: Methow Conservancy & Classroom in Bloom Gardening Class, Compost & Creating Healthy Garden Soil, 5-7pm, free, at Classroom in Bloom.
June 30th: Draonflies, Damselflies and other Winged Beauties of the Methow Valley with Dennis Paulson, all day, $40. Join Dennis Paulson, one of the most knowledgeable naturalists in the Northwest, to learn about the "birdwatchers’ insects," -- dragonflies and damselflies. With nets and cameras at the ready, we’ll search lakes and ponds of the Methow Valley to see what we can find on a midsummer day. Class size is limited to 15 people and registration is required. Contact the Methow Conservancy at 996-2870 or mary@methowconservancy.org to register*. See more details here.
July 14th: Methow Conservancy Stream Ecology & Aquatic Macroinvertebrates Field Class with Tim Hall and Rick Haley, 9:00am - 4:00pm, free. We'll start the day off with an indoor orientation to river and stream ecology. Then, we'll go to the Methow River and a tributary stream with sampling equipment and macroinvertebrate nets. We'll take water quality measurements and learn what they tell us. We'll learn how scientists characterize stream habitat, and we'll talk about how what's in the water, such as algae, insects, nutrients and fish, play ecological roles. See more details here.
July 23rd: Methow Conservancy & Classroom in Bloom Gardening Class, Season Extenders – Dealing with Heat & Cold, 5-7pm, free, at Classroom in Bloom.
Aug. 20th: Methow Conservancy & Classroom in Bloom Gardening Class, Medicinal & Culinary Gardening for a Healthy You, 5-7pm, free, at Classroom in Bloom.
Sept. 10th - Oct 1st: Geology of the Pacific Northwest (with a Methow focus!) Methow Conservancy Mini Course. Local geologist Eric Bard will teach this four-week class that will meet on Monday evenings. There will also be two fieldtrips. Stay tuned for more details and registration information.
Sept. 17th: Methow Conservancy & Classroom in Bloom Gardening Class, Companion Planting - Help your Plants Help Each Other and Get the Full Use of your Garden Space, 5-7pm, free, at Classroom in Bloom.
Sept. 29th: Methow Conservancy Annual Cider Squeeze & Social, 2-4pm at Marilyn & Dave Sabold’s house.
Wow, the conservation opportunities in the Methow seem limitless these days! There are numerous programs and workshops being offered by other entities. See below for some great ways to connect with the natural world of the Methow ... and beyond.
Botany Workshop Series, taught by Dana Visalli, of the Methow Naturalist. Call 997-9011 or email dana@methownet.com for info and registration. $25/class
- May 13: How to Identify Methow Plants Using Plant Keys
- June 10: The Willows of the Methow
- July 8: Grass and Sedge Workshop
- September 9: Mushrooms of the Methow
Annual Methow Migratory Bird Count, May 20, free. Spend all or part of the day surveying for bird species present in the Methow. Organized by Dana Visalli. Call 997-9011 or email dana@methownet.com for info.
Spring Festival at the North Cascades Basecamp, June 1-3. Weekend activities include live raptor demonstrations, nest identification and owl pellet workshops, bird and plant field identification, kids games, and art projects/classes. $5/person. Sponsored by the North Cascades Basecamp, WA Native Plant Society Okanogan Chapter, Methow Biodiversity Project and North Central WA Audubon Society. See the North Cascades Basecamp website for more a full schedule and more details.
Washington Butterfly Association Annual Conference, June 22-24. Butterfly lovers in the Methow should know that the Washington Butterfly Association’s annual conference is near Oroville this year. It is an informal and fun gathering for enthusiasts of all ages, from expert to beginner. Two field trips will catch, identify and release butterflies, and two evening lectures by Dave Nunnallee and Dana Visalli will interpret the habitat, local species, and the relation of pollinators and plants. See this website for more details and registration information.
20th Annual Methow River Camp, July 16 -20th. This five-day, four-night ecology adventure for kids ages 10-13 is run by Dana Visalli and Rob Crandall. Cost is $350. Contact Dana at dana@methownet.com or 997-9011.
The Okanogan Highlands Alliance offers their "Highland Wonders" natural history programs on the first Friday of the month: November through May. Check out their full calendar.
*Our Cancellation and Refund Policy
If you cancel or leave a fee-based course for any reason:
Full refunds will be given if the request is received two weeks or more before the day of the program (class, workshop, fieldtrip, etc.). If the cancellation is made less than two weeks before the start of the program, the Methow Conservancy will give a full refund only if we are able to fill your spot. If you cancel 24 hours or less before the start time of the program or after the class has started there will be no refund of the program fee. Although we rarely need to do so, we reserve the right to cancel a program. In this case you will receive a full refund.
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315 Riverside Avenue / PO Box 71 Winthrop, WA 98862 509.996.2870
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June 5th:"Co-Dependence: Cottonwoods and the River"
7:00-8:30pm at the Twisp Grange. In the inland Northwest, cottonwoods and healthy stream systems are intimately intertwined and interdependent. Cottonwoods have evolved to depend on natural patterns of both flooding and low flows, and river corridors depend on the wood from down and dead cottonwoods for ecological complexity. This presentation with WDFW's Gina and Tom McCoy explores the linkages between cottonwood ecology and the physical processes that drive river and riparian ecosystems.
