Methow Valley organizations will host several events on and around Earth Day (Saturday, April 22). Here’s a roundup of activities scheduled for this weekend and next weekend:
Sprucing up Twisp
The Twisp Parks and Rec Commission is organizing a town-wide cleanup on Saturday (April 22), starting at TwispWorks at 9 a.m. Bring work gloves and rakes if you have them, and a trash bag for rubbish. Blue bags for recyclables will be provided. For more information, call Rebecca at (509) 386-3783.
Cleanup at Pearrygin
Staff from Pearrygin Lake State Park will team up with the Methow Conservancy for an Earth Day spring cleanup at the old Graves homestead site and ranch area on Sunday (April 23) from 8:30 a.m. – noon. Lots of volunteers are needed to help. Organizers recommend wearing work clothes and bringing tools such as metal rakes and shovels. Volunteers are also invited to a barbecue and a talk by Ranger Rick Lewis about the history of the park. Mary Kiesau, the Conservancy’s educational programs director, will lead a flower walk in the park. For more information and directions to the cleanup site, contact mary@methowconservancy.org or call 996-2870.
Roadside litter crews
Several different groups will be doing their “Adopt-a-Highway” roadside litter cleanups on segments of Highway 20, county roads and some trails. If you want to get involved either with an existing group or by creating your own group, contact Methow Recycles at 997-0520 or aspen@methowrecycles.org. Methow Recycles and WasteWise Methow are making it easy with free blue bags for separating recyclables from trash.
March for clean air, water, public lands
A community “people’s climate march” to celebrate clean air, clean water and public lands will be staged in Twisp on April 29, starting at the Methow Valley Community Center at 3:30 p.m. and concluding at Twisp Town Park. At the park there will be a variety of speakers addressing climate change and related environmental concerns. Attendees will learn about how to become active in environmental causes. There will also be music and interactive art. For more information, email peoplesclimatemarchncw@gmail.com.
Free trees for Arbor Day
On April 29, the Methow Conservancy will be part of the Washington Tree Recovery campaign for the third year in a row. Working in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, the Conservancy is giving away free trees at TwispWorks. There will be ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and chokecherry saplings available. People with land that burned in the 2014 or 2015 fires should come between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Everyone else can start getting trees at 10:30 a.m. The event goes until noon, or whenever the plants are gone. Printed material and experts will be available to discuss how to best care for these young trees. Call the Methow Conservancy at 996-2870 if you have questions.
Methow Recycles Metal Drive
Start collecting the metal stuff you want to get rid of for the annual Methow Recycles metal drive on April 29-30. Drop-off is free from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. each day at Cascade Concrete, on Horizon Flats Road in Winthrop. For more information, call 997-0520.
