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July 14 - Okanogan CD Board Meeting (2nd Tuesday of each month)
- July 18 - Pateros Apple Pie Jamboree, 9am-3pm
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July 2026 - Community Drought Preparedness Meetings:
- 7/15 | Twisp Grange Hall, 6pm-7:30pm
- 7/22 | Tonasket Community Cultural Center (CCC), 6pm-7:30pm
- 7/29 | Virtual meeting, 6pm-7:30pm
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August 11 - Okanogan CD Board Meeting (2nd Tuesday of each month)
- September 7 - District Office CLOSED - Labor Day
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September 8 - Okanogan CD Board Meeting (2nd Tuesday of each month)
- September 10-13 - Okanogan County Fair, 9am-9pm
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Executive Director Note
By: Craig Nelson
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I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Edd Townsend of T3 Ranch located just outside of Okanogan. Edd served our board for one term, where he provided great leadership and thoughtful input on our programs. If you know him, please thank him for his voluntary service to the district and non-regulatory natural resource conservation.
Edd is succeeded on our board by Michelle Martin, most recently the Conservation Coordinator at the Okanogan Land Trust. Michelle was elected to the supervisor position following the district election this spring. We are excited to have her on our board helping to guide our program going forward.
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This summer, we are beginning the process of updating our 5-year strategic plan. We will reach out to the public in the coming months for input on our priorities. The district uses the plan to inform partner organizations and agencies about natural resource priorities and guides planning efforts to help secure grant funding and implement priority projects.
If you have ideas to share, please send me an email with your suggested priorities.
Contact: craig@okanogancd.org
| | Board of Supervisors Update | Edd Townsend - Edd and his family are dryland grain and cereal farmers who also run a cattle ranching operation. He brought wisdom and creative energy to our board and was a frequent face in our office. Conservation, education, and innovative solutions for improving soil, crops, and livestock are in his blood. Thank you for serving on our board, Edd! | |
Michelle Martin - Michelle comes from St. Petersburg, Florida with a strong background in wildlife habitat education and research. She's lived in the area for a few years now and her experience working with private landowners, farmers, and ranchers, as well as her familiarity with Okanogan County ecology, will be a fabulous asset to our board. Welcome to the team, Michelle! | |
| | | Taylor George - Taylor joined the team in August 2023, as the Voluntary Stewardship Program Coordinator. We thank her for 2.5+ years of dedicated service to our community, landowners, and advocacy of local agriculture. As Agriculture Planner, Taylor implemented a variety of diverse and innovative projects at the district. Her wealth of knowledge and outgoing personality will be missed. Thank you, Taylor! | |
| Thomas Leicester - Thomas joined the district in April 2026 as Range Planner. In this role, he will support agricultural users with rangeland management as it relates to their goals in conservation. He is passionate about local agriculture and building community connections. Thomas received his BS in Conservation & his MS
in Agriculture and spent the last two years working with local landowners through the Audubon Society in Nebraska. We are excited to have him on the team! | |
| | Davis Clark - Davis recently joined us in July 2026 as our new Agriculture Lead. In this role, his extensive experience allows him to oversee all agricultural programs, including the coordination of projects that improve rangeland, water resource management, and promote overall agricultural viability. Davis earned his BS in Environmental Science with a minor in physics and geology, joined the Peace Corps where he volunteered in Senegal working in sustainable agriculture, then went on to earn his master's degree in Environmental Management. Davis is joining us from New Zealand. His passion is sustainable land management and he is excited to work with the community. | |
| | Rowan Utzinger - Rowan also recently joined us in July 2026 as our Agriculture Planner. In this role, she will develop natural resource conservation plans, facilitate projects in collaboration with agricultural cooperators and their conservation goals, and coordinate the Okanogan County Voluntary Stewardship Program Workgroup. Rowan is local and extremely familiar with the area. She's also a Wildland Firefighter, Engine Lead with WA DNR and will be joining the team full-time this fall after fire season. | |
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Jack Earnest - Jack joined the team in June 2026 and will serve as our Okanogan County Resiliency Fellow for the summer. He is passionate about agroecology, environmental communication, and habitat restoration. Jack is currently in school for his BSc in Environmental Sciences with an emphasis in Freshwater and Terrestrial Ecology and is minoring in Biology and Geology. Previously, Jack worked at a Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group where he educated the community about salmon and riparian restoration.
We are excited to have him on the team!
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| | 2026 Conservation Celebration | | This year's event featured a presentation from Washington State’s Poet Laureate, Derek Sheffield. Following the presentation, Okanogan CD's Executive Director, Craig Nelson, shared program updates and 2025 successes, and we concluded with an awards ceremony to highlight the conservation work of local landowners and partners. | Learn more about our award winners and watch a highlight video on our website, linked below: Award Recipients | | (Pictured left to right): Rosalie Powell, Natalie Torres-Guzman, Emmy Engle, Jack Owen, Emily Bustamante, Brant Smith, Jordana Ellis, Eli Loftis, Kim Kogler, Craig Nelson, Taylor George, Thomas Leicester, and Tanya Margerison. | | |
Volunteer of the Year:
Cristian Hurtado, Brewster HS 2026 Graduate.
Okanogan CD has seven active volunteers. This year, Cristian was selected for Volunteer of the Year.
He expressed interest in volunteering with the district to further pursue his passion in wildlife biology. From the start, Cristian demonstrated strong communication skills and the ability to manage an independent work schedule. He put in over 40 hours of service attending outreach events, job shadowing, and developing a multi-series educational herping video.
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Employee of the Year:
Rosalie Powell, Communications
& Outreach Specialist
Rosalie received this award for demonstrating independent planning and social media implementation. The district celebrated her phenomenal content creation and management of social media accounts, that resulted in a huge increase in views and followers. District presence has grown and we engage with people around the world. Rosalie consistently encourages staff and community members to participate in media creation and outreach activities. She has also played a large role supporting our air quality program with chipping events to reduce wildfire smoke and harmful PM2.5.
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Full list of award recipients (13):
| | Forests & Wildfire Program | | | | |
5/16 Wildfire Resiliency Event in Twisp -
Home Risk Assessment Demonstrations
Eli Loftis, Forests and Wildfire Program Lead, demonstrates a home ignition zone (HIZ) assessment for wildfire resiliency for staff from the Methow Valley Ranger District, Fire District 6, Fire Adapted Methow, the North Cascades PBA, the Washington Insurance Commissioner’s Office, Wister Way Firewise USA Site, and the Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board.
HIZ assessments are an easy way to learn the ins and outs of the risks and strengths of the home during a wildfire. Request your FREE assessment today!
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Air Care Events - Keeping our air clean!
This spring, the district provided 13 chipping events across the county. The district chipped over 2,400 piles of woody debris and disposed of 690 cubic yards of vegetation to avoid burning and reduce wildfire risk around homes, keeping our air quality clean! Altogether, we diverted 2.2 tons of PM2.5, one of the most harmful pollutants for human health produced by smoke. Thank you to everyone who participated in these FREE events this spring. We're looking forward to hosting more this fall, stay tuned!
| | | Okanogan CD worked with partners countywide to make this work possible. Thank you for your continued partnership, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation - Environmental Trust/Air Quality Program, the Okanogan County Landfill, Twisp Transfer Station, the City of Okanogan, City of Omak, Town of Twisp, HOA community Leaders, and more. Thank you to the WA Department of Natural Resources and WA Department of Ecology for funding these events! | | | |
Biochar - CORRIM
Our biochar program took some major steps forward this spring, with the district implementing three demonstration burns in the Aeneas Valley, the Jack Wells Road area of the Colville Reservation, and Winthrop. Along with emissions testing conducted with district equipment in Tunk Valley, these burns provided excellent opportunities to educate interested landowners about the possibilities of biochar production and use. District staff expanded their skills in using the biochar kilns, enabling safe and even more efficient, beneficial burns in the future.
| | | These efforts were funded by the Consortium for Research in Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM). CORRIM has cost-share funding assistance available! Contact us if you are interested in a project or to learn more about the program. Contact: eli@okanogancd.org | | | |
North Cascades Prescribed Burn Association (NCPBA) - Okanogan Valley Highlands
In early April, the Forests & Wildfire Program
helped host the first learn-to-burn event hosted by NCPBA outside of the Methow in the Aeneas Valley. In May, Program Lead, Eli Loftis, and Program Director, Jordana Ellis, were on the line for prescribed burns on Hoot-in-Howler Road near Winthrop. The NCPBA is becoming a key player in expanding the use of prescribed fire on private property in Okanogan County, and the district looks forward to working with them going forward.
| | | Thanks to funding from DNR, provided to Okanogan CD by our sister district in Chelan County, Cascadia CD, our staff supported the operations of the North Cascades Prescribed Burn Association (NCPBA) as it expands its operations to include the Okanogan Valley and Highlands. Subscribe and follow NCPBA news: North Cascades Prescribed Burn Association | | | |
North Central Forest Health Collaborative - Community Meeting 6/2/26
Over 140 people joined Okanogan CD staff and other members of the North Central Washington Forest Health Collaborative for a discussion on forest health at the Winthrop Barn in the Methow. Okanogan CD staff had a table and provided free resources and Eli Loftis was among the panelists.
| | | Aquatics & Habitats Program | | | | Program staff have been busy in the field this spring supporting landowners with the maintenance of water quality restoration planting projects. Below are a few photo point examples demonstrating what success can look like with well-maintained projects. Contact us to learn more about the program or to request a project!
Contact: brant@okanogancd.org | | Before & After Restoration! | | Photos of 2023 Cooperator of the Year, the Strong-Smart property, showing a six-year landscape transformation. Photographed on the left is their original 2020 planting project and on the right is the growth through 2026. Since it's implementation, these landowners have kept the project well-maintained and, as a result, vegetation has established, expanded, and continued developing across the riparian restoration area. | | Photos from a cooperator project showing an emerging wetland protected through the installation of boundary fencing. Since the initial protection efforts, Okanogan CD staff have continued working with the landowner to meet their goals of improving wetland diversity and habitat conditions through additional restoration projects. | | Education Program and Community Outreach Events | | |
Stream Table Lessons
Students use our new stream table to create their ideal farm, mitigate the impacts of erosion, and increase their awareness of potential pollutants to the land. We offer stream table lessons year round. Learn more about the education program or request a lesson on our website! www.okanogancd.org/education
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Virginia Grainger Farmers Markets - 3/31/26, 4/21/26, and 4/28/26
3rd grade students at Virginia Grainger readied the garden for their farmers market this spring! Thanks to funding from foundry10 received by Classroom in Bloom, students used their math skills to price produce and count change to their 2nd grade buyers. Produce was donated from both Classroom in Bloom and the Methow Valley Food Shed.
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Funding Award from Community Foundation!
The Okanogan County Garden Network has received funds from Community Foundation through their Okanogan Valley Legacy Grant Fund! These funds will support the work of the eight school gardens around the county. Funds will go directly to improvements for each garden to ensure they continue growing local produce for students and allow them to have outdoor education experiences at their schools!
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Forestry Field Trip on 3/24/26
Students from the Ecology of the Okanogan class at Okanogan High School took part in a forestry field trip with Okanogan CD staff. Students measured the Diameter at Breast Height (DMH)
of trees to determine the trunk diameter and practiced using a clinometer.
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Phenology Field Day with Western Washington University - 4/14/26
Ecology of the Okanogan students from Okanogan High School worked with students and staff at Western Washington University (WWU) to monitor the phenology of plots. Phenology is the timing of certain annual cycles such as when plants flower, when seasonal changes happen, and when certain birds are in areas. Studying phenology is a big indicator of how seasons are shifting. Thank you to WWU Sustainability Pathways for this incredible experience for these students!
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Okanogan CD Hosts the 2026 State Envirothon in Conconully, WA - 5/20 & 5/21
Around 80 students and supervisors from across Washington State camped out in Conconully for the State Envirothon Competition this May! We hosted 13 teams, made up of five students each. They competed and put their technical skills to the test in the areas of aquatics, forestry, wildlife, and soils. Students also presented on a topic based in Non-Point Source pollution to give conservation advice on what a theoretical landowner could do to mitigate these effects.
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Thank you for subscribing to our quarterly updates! Due to funding cuts and the cost of printing, we have switched to online-only newsletters. We hope to continue printed content in some form in the future. In the meantime, we will continue providing our district updates and opportunities in a new format. We love to hear your feedback, so if there is any way we could improve or anything you hope to see in our newsletters, please contact us!
Contact: rosalie@okanogancd.org
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