The Methow Conservancy has named Chuck Kinsey, Sarah Patterson and Jason Paulsen as winners of its 2024 Conservation Awards.
The awards were announced Tuesday (Dec. 3) at the Conservancy’s Four Thoughts presentation.
Kinsey and Patterson are the 2024 recipients of the Susie Stephens Award for providing outstanding volunteer service to the Conservancy. Stephens was a dedicated Methow Conservancy staff member who was tragically killed in an accident in 2002. Her joyful enthusiasm encouraged others to get involved with the Methow Conservancy.
According to a Conservancy press release, Kinsey and Patterson dedicated themselves to helping improve and restore parts of the Sunny M Ranch, a 1,200-acre property purchased in 2023 by the Conservancy with community support. During the summer and fall of 2024, “they pulled and coiled kilometers of barbed wire, improving wildlife habitat by removing unnecessary fencing from the property,” according to the release. “They pulled Russian thistle, Hounds tongue, and other invasive species. And they helped improve riparian habitat by planting native shrubs like willow, rose, serviceberry, and chokecherry.”
“Chuck and Sarah are the perfect volunteers,” said Daniel Senner, Conservation Project Manager for the Conservancy. “They show up ready to work hard, but also to have a good time. Even when the task is hot and less than fun, their attitude doesn’t show it. They will even invite their friends to come volunteer with them before they all go off and get cocktails and dinner. To top it all off they have even brought delicious home baked cookies to share with other volunteers.”
The Ken White Award, the Conservancy’s longest-standing distinction, is awarded to someone with a history of carrying forward and furthering the legacy of conservation in the Methow Valley. Its namesake was often called “the Methow Valley’s most enthusiastic naturalist.” White was a self-taught conservationist with a passion for sharing his knowledge and love of the Methow Valley.
The 2024 award recipient goes to Jason Paulsen, who served as the Conservancy’s executive director from 2007-2022, and who continues to serve as a member of the organization’s Advisory Council.
According to the press release, “Under Paulsen’s leadership, the Methow Conservancy’s projects made a lasting impact on the Methow Valley. The organization was successful in its first Imagine the Methow Campaign, which raised more than $20 million for new land conservation projects in the Methow Valley from 2008-2011. The Conservancy purchased 139 acres on a hillside above the Heckendorn neighborhood and created the Meadowlark Natural Area in 2018. In 2021 it purchased the former Wagner Ranch and laid the groundwork for its return to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, on behalf of the Methow Descendants.
“Jason helped found the Methow Housing Trust and was instrumental in forming both the Methow Valley Long Term Recovery Organization, which has helped guide post-fire, flood, and COVID recovery efforts, and Fire Adapted Methow Valley, which works with communities to prepare and adapt to wildfires,” the release said. “His leadership and strategic direction helped facilitate the historic Methow Headwaters Protection Act, which protects 340,079 acres in the Methow Headwaters from new mineral exploration and mine development.”
Methow Conservancy Executive Director Sarah Brooks said of Paulsen that “He is so very deserving of this recognition, and it feels good to have the opportunity to publicly thank him for all his past, present, and future work on behalf of this community.”
