By Don Nelson
There’s hardly anything left to say about 2014, which will be remembered as the year of what happened, while 2015 will be remembered as the year of what came next. We will all be looking at a different Methow Valley landscape — literally and figuratively — come next December.
I’m not big on making or suggesting New Year’s resolutions, but it seems like the Methow Valley community has already resolved itself to long-term and thorough work toward recovery from the natural depredations of 2014. Drawing up ambitious plans is one thing, follow-through on the commitment is another. The Methow is blessed with talented and dedicated leadership, so continued restoration is something we can look forward to in 2015.
Some things remain to be resolved as we move into the new year. Most ominous is the possibility — however remote — that exploratory drilling on Flagg Mountain near Mazama may turn up copper deposits worth mining. The impacts of such man-made depredations — on the land, on our tourism economy, on our serenity — are hard to imagine but scary to speculate about.
In that same neighborhood, also of interest is what will eventually happen to the small cabin built on Flagg Mountain that has generated notoriety as the so-called “hanging hut.” Currently the owners are under a court order to move it, but that decision will be appealed so the outcome is still unclear.
Another thing to watch is how Okanogan County Fire District 6 proceeds with its plans to build a new fire hall in Winthrop. The meaning of valley voters’ rejection of a levy increase to finance the new building didn’t seem to sink in right away with the district’s commissioners, but citizen involvement in a new plan — or insistence on one — may change the new building’s final configuration.
After more than a decade of revising, reconsidering and reprioritizing, the county has adopted a new comprehensive plan that has many valley residents worried about what it might do, and what it won’t do. How the plan works will most likely unfold on a case-by-case basis.
The Winthrop Ice & Sports Rink is tantalizingly close to having enough funds to install the refrigeration equipment the rink needs to extend its season. We could be skating on a new, smooth surface a year from now.
The newly constituted Washington Legislature begins work shortly on a biennial budget that, the state’s supreme court says, must reflect the constitutionally required commitment to fully fund public education. Where the billions will come from is anyone’s guess, especially since voter-approved Initiative 1351 directs the Legislature to allocate funds to reduce class sizes for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
On the lighter side, we’ll all be eager to find out how Cinder the bear, burned in the summer fires, is progressing toward her return to the Methow.
Whatever transpires, we’ll keep you informed. That’s one resolution we can make with confidence.
The early verdict on Trial by Fire
We’re just beginning to hear reactions to Trial by Fire, the 100-page commemorative publication that appeared in last week’s newspaper — and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. We thank you for that and are pleased that so many people have already told us they want numerous copies to keep and to pass along to friends and family. Starting this week we’ll have plenty of copies available in the News office, at various places around the valley, and through the mail. We will also be sending copies to people we think would appreciate having the publication — politicians, community leaders and other newspaper folks, for instance. The Methow Valley story needs to be told to a big audience.
