News from the Field

Kyler Mitchell, Liberty Bell High School Class of 2024

A third-generation resident, Kyler has lived in the Methow Valley his whole life and says he takes a lot of pride in it. The valley "has always been a place people want to visit and live," he says, "but if you want to be here you must take care of it so it keeps its natural beauty."

Kyler has explored much of the front country and back country of the Methow Valley on horseback, including participating in the annual Ride to Rendezvous overland journey. "I love seeing all the beautiful views and pretty green covering all the mountains," he says. "This is something that I cherish being able to do and would like to be able to do in the valley for years to come."

Kyler is widely reported to be the first student to start cleaning up at the end of a camping trip or sports event, organizing the group to gather trash and leave the places looking better than they were. A member of Kiwanis Key Club, he also participates in annual highway cleanups.

In the fall, Kyler will attend Spokane Falls Community College before transferring to a 4-year university to major in Physical Education. He plans to continue his athletic career by participating in decathlon and track.

Whether or not he returns to live in the Methow Valley full-time, Kyler will always have family ties and emotional connections to the valley. The Methow Conservancy looks forward to opportunities to engage him in caring for the land that he cares so much about.

Roy Miller, Omak High School Class of 2024

Roy is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and says that after attending Washington State University to major in Ecology he plans to return to Omak to work for the Tribes' Fish & Wildlife Department to help manage Native resources.

"Caring for the land means properly managing natural resources and ensuring the survival of native species," he says. "My family has always stressed the importance of being mindful about our resources. Every time we would go berry picking or root digging, my grandma would tell me to save some for seed. I want to help maintain tribal resources and make sure our resources will stay around for generations to come."

In the summer of 2023, Roy worked as a summer youth employee in the Fish & Wildlife Department. Most of his work was manual labor as a deckhand on a boat called the Dream Catcher: helping bring up gear, getting fish out of the net, and carrying ice buckets. He also helped collect sockeye salmon, as well as collecting Chinook salmon for the Tribal hatcheries. Roy says, "The job taught me about the local rivers ecosystem and the species living there."

"We as a species are using more and more resources," Roy says, "so it's important that we manage them properly so we don't run this planet dry."

The Methow Conservancy congratulates Roy. We are thrilled to hear that he intends to make his career in natural resource management.

Lily Colin, Liberty Bell High School Class of 2023

Lily has grown up in the Methow Valley and says "Although I love to travel and visit new places, I am always happy to return home to this beautiful place. I feel very fortunate to have grown up in such an amazing place."

Next fall Lily plans to attend the University of Washington as an Environmental Sciences major. "My life's goal is to be able to make a difference in protecting and restoring the land," she says. "I hope that my studies at UW and beyond will give me the tools and the knowledge to do so."

A biologist who spent time in the field with Lily noted her "enthusiasm and inquisitiveness."

In her essay about caring for the land, Lily says "To me, caring for the land involves three separate actions: to take action to preserve the beauty of the land, to educate oneself and others on what can be done to care for the land and to show appreciation of the land in words and deeds. "

The Methow Conservancy congratulates Lily and looks forward to helping her pursue her goal of protecting and restoring land.

Paris Marchand, Omak High School Class of 2023

Paris is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and says that after college she hopes to "come back to the reservation to help our youth and whatever else I can do to help." She plans to attend Pima Community College for two years and then transfer to the University of Arizona to study business.

Her school counselor says "Paris is driven and focused. She has a plan and smiles through obstacles. She is extremely positive and has high expectations for herself. Paris is a determined, resilient, and optimistic individual [who is] going places with a smile, a positive attitude, and a caring personality."

Paris's Indian Education Advisor says that "People admire her. They follow her and look up to her. She...wants everyone to succeed."

In her essay about caring for the land, Paris talks about planting trees, exploring beautiful places, and picking up garbage, calling those activities "simple acts of kindness."

The Methow Conservancy is proud to have Paris use our Care for the Land scholarship to continue her education and become the first college graduate in her family.

Rasa Conservation Easement

November 2022

We are delighted to introduce a new piece of conserved property in the upper Methow Valley, made possible by a generous and conservation-minded landowner. Tom Bihn's Rasa Conservation Easement encompasses open fields, an area of mixed conifer forest, and a small area of deciduous woodland. The 45-acre property covered by the easement contributes to habitat connectivity between adjacent National Forest land and the Methow River and is part of a Priority Habitat Mule Deer Migration Corridor identified by WDFW. It is also highly visible from State Route 20 and provides scenic and open space values to residents and visitors.

Prior to the conservation easement, the Rasa property could have become a planned development with 13 lots. The conservation easement extinguished 10 of these lots, retaining three lots for a total of two residential dwellings and one ADU.

A donated conservation easement means that Tom Bihn received no compensation for protecting his land. He voluntarily and permanently gave up rights to future residential development on the property beyond the terms of the easement to ensure the protection of wildlife habitat, scenic views, and open space. Learn more about conservation easements HERE.

Tom Bihn's landowner statement reflects his love of the land.

I have had the good fortune to live in this part of the Methow Valley for ten years now. These 44 acres, in particular, have greatly impressed me with not just their scenic beauty, but with their abundance of wildlife. One of my favorite things to do is to walk the pasture land after the season’s first snow, and see the braided tracks of so many deer, bob cats and other animals. When I was able to purchase the property, my immediate, though inchoate, thought was to protect it as much as possible from further human impact: to let the wildlife have it forever. Through the Methow Conservancy’s Conservation Easement program, I am realizing my dream, and leaving this slice of the world a bit better than when I came here.

We are grateful to Tom Bihn for his vision for preserving the Methow Valley's rural character through this conservation easement, and to our community of conservation advocates, who make land protection like this possible.

Taylor Conservation Easement

October 2022

We are thrilled to share the exciting news that Carlton residents Mark and Kay Taylor have chosen to protect the natural, scenic, open space, forest, fish, and wildlife values of their 119-acre property through a donated conservation easement.

The Taylor Conservation Easement is home to a diversity of wildlife species, from golden eagles to bobcat to moose, and is adjacent to the Methow River, which is used by spring and summer Chinook, summer steelhead, and bull trout. The property provides critical mule deer winter range and is also part of a mule deer (and other wildlife) migration corridor, with animals moving across the valley floor and between valley bottom and higher elevation public lands.

The Taylor Conservation Easement is visible from State Route 153 and the Methow River and provides scenic and open space vistas to residents and visitors in the area.

A donated conservation easement means that the Taylors received no compensation for protecting their land. They voluntarily and permanently gave up rights to future residential development on the property to ensure the protection of wildlife habitat, scenic views, and open space. Learn more about conservation easements HERE.

The Taylors' deep love for this land is evident in their landowner statement:

Over 100 years ago, Teddy Roosevelt stated, "The wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so we must and we will." Our intent in establishing a conservation easement for our property is to provide healthy land and healthy habitat for wildlife. This land provides a migration route from the high Cascades to a crossing on the Methow River, leading to winter shrub steppe which is critical habitat for mule deer. We feel privileged to live here, being caretakers of the land and the wildlife habitat. We want to see this land protected forever.

We offer gratitude to Mark and Kay, for having this legacy vision for their beautiful land, and to our community of conservation advocates, who make land protection like this possible.