MVTC Winter Newsletter

I started as MVTC’s first staff member in April of 2022. Being the organization’s first employee came with many firsts for MVTC and lots of personal firsts. Now that my first year with MVTC has ended, so has the first grant that paid for my position. This USFS title II grant covered all my payroll in 2022, and since it has ended, I’ll be significantly reducing my time this winter. I’ll be working enough to ensure that new connections don’t grow cold and plans for the 2023 season move forward, but dialing back my time to not exhaust the funding MVTC currently has available. My time commitment to MVTC will ramp back up in spring when the snow is melting and we can once again gather to improve our trails. If you support the work MVTC is doing to enhance trail experiences in the Methow Valley, please consider donating to the organization so that it can continue to support all trail users. Thank you to those of you who volunteered and donated in 2022. Your efforts help keep Methow Valley trail network well cared for. If it was your first time supporting MVTC, I hope it won’t be your last.

I look forward to more firsts for MVTC, and more of what has worked.

Allen Jircik, Trails Manager.

Donate Here

Working with the Mountaineers Adventure Club and USFS climbing rangers in August 2022 to decrease erosion on the Blue Lake trail #314

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Upcoming Public Meeting

The Methow Valley Trails Collaborative hosts a bi-monthly meeting between its partner organizations and land managers. The next meeting is on January 17th from 9:30 am-11:30 am at the Winthrop Public Library Community Room. While topics covered change each meeting, the goal is always to discuss emerging recreation issues in the Methow Valley, to build consensus, and find solutions. Please join us if you are interested in getting involved.

RSVP here

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MVTC Projects in 2023

There are some exciting things in the works for the next field season. MVTC plans to focus on continuing restoration efforts on trails affected by the 2021 cedar creek fire, and performing deferred maintenance along SR 20. The intent is to hire an AmeriCorps crew to help accomplish some of this work and increase the capacity for trail maintenance in the valley. MVTC also plans to facilitate more volunteer days on a consistent schedule throughout the spring and summer. These days will support the two projects above and to address annual maintenance needs for all trail users. We hope that you will join us for a rewarding day of trail work! As we plan for trails to consider next year we are looking for input from valley residents and visitors you would like MVTC to focus on next field season. If you have a minute, please fill out the attached poll to help us determine where to focus the efforts of our 2023 Save-A-Trail project.

Take the survey

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USFS Hires Winter Ranger

The Methow Valley Ranger District has hired a winter recreation ranger to support winter users. This position is paid for using funds from two WA State Winter Recreation grants. 2023 will be the second consecutive winter the position will be filled. The ranger supports winter trails accessed from the nine Sno-Parks on Forest Service land. With the support of 4 volunteers, the ranger will maintain signage and restroom facilities at Sno-Parks. In addition to facilities maintenance, this position will conduct patrols of groomed routes to educate members of the public on winter recreation best practices and enforce compliance with the use of Sno-Park permits. Sno-Park permits are required between December 1st and March 31st at all official Sno-Parks. Proceeds are used exclusively to maintain and improve Sno-Park facilities. Sno-Park permits are included in the cost of snowmobile registration for Washington residents, and are available for purchase online or at a local vendor.

purchase sno park permits here

An FS volunteer contacts a trail user last winter

Motorized Trail Grooming

Methow Trails isn’t the only organization grooming trails in the valley this
winter. Mountain Trails Grooming Association (MTGA) grooms 177 miles of snowmobile trails in the Methow River drainage. The organization has been awarded a new 5-year grant contract with Washington State Parks and has applied for additional funding from Washington Recreation and Conservation Office. Grooming is currently being done by members of the association. The vast network of groomed snowmobile trails will be maintained on a rotating schedule from Dec. 1 through March 31. The trails groomed by MTGA are open to motorized and non-motorized users. The organization’s
grooming schedule is at the link below.

MTGA schedule

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A Revision on Eureka Creek

MVTC’s Fall newsletter excluded significant volunteer contributions that went into replacing the footlog crossing Eureka Creek on the Monument Creek trail. In an attempt at brevity, the publication only credited the USFS crew. Brevity is no good if it does not tell the complete story. The Trails Collaborative values all volunteers' hard work in this and other trail projects, so I sincerely apologize for this oversight. For the Eureka Creek footlog, volunteer contributions included the planning work years prior, maintaining the trail to a stock standard to the bridge site, and the skilled labor that went into prepping the materials and building the bridge. In addition, FS crew time was made possible by a generous gift from the Dianne and Joe Hoffbeck Pasayten Wilderness Trails Trust. A complete write-up of the project is on the FS website.

project writeup