What's Happening: Our Moment to Imagine

What an incredible gift that the Methow Conservancy has been entrusted to carry forward the Haub Family’s legacy on this land.

~ Kevin van Bueren

For 35 years the Haub Family welcomed multiple uses of the 2500 acres they owned in the Methow Valley around Sun Mountain Lodge, Patterson Mountain, Wolf Creek Road, and the Barnsley-Bitterbrush area. The Methow Valley community has relied on the Haub Family’s vision and goodwill to steward the land, protect wildlife habitat, support local agriculture, and ensure recreational trail use that is so essential to the local economy.

In spring 2022, the Haub Family sold the Sun Mountain Lodge property including the cabins at Patterson Lake and about 1300 acres of their holdings to GEM Partners in Seattle. The Methow Conservancy now has the opportunity to purchase the remaining 1200 acres to secure the future of this land for the community, for wildlife, for trails, for agriculture, for the rural economy, and for future generations. These 1200 acres are part of what was once the historic Sunny M Ranch, which in its heyday encompassed 4000 acres between Winthrop, Patterson Lake, and Sun Mountain. And before that, since Time Immemorial, the land has been cared for by the Methow People.

The Methow Conservancy intends to purchase and hold the bulk of this land long-term on behalf of our community, both human and wild. We are building partnerships within the community to ensure the longevity of wildlife, farming, housing, economic viability, and human-powered recreational trail opportunities. Through these partnerships, as well as deed restrictions and conservation easements, we will manage and steward the land in a way that maintains and expands upon the Haub Family’s vision for the property. By owning this land, we preserve possibilities for our community.

One project, four core shared community values: wildlife, farming, trails, and the economy. When we think about this land, we imagine the possibilities. We hope you will too.

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We’re excited to launch Imagine the Methow: A Campaign for Sunny M Ranch. We have until June 15, 2023 to preserve these possibilities for our community. To join us and to learn more about the Campaign for Sunny M Ranch, visit methowconservancy.org/sunnym. To make a multi-year pledge, contact Executive Director Sarah Brooks to schedule a meeting: sarah@methowconservancy.org or 509-996-2870. Or click here to access a pledge form.