Methow Valley Citizens' Council
Scaling down the Resort - Summary
MVCC Projects IndexPast History? - A primer on MVCC's long and arduous battle over development of an unsustainable resort in the upper Methow Valley
The recent withdrawal of resort plans may make much of these intense public dialogues only a memory. MVCC is currently seeking help through Trust for Public Lands for a conservation buy-out of the resort proposals referred to here as Early Winters, reborn as Arrowleaf Resort.Our wish for an environmental and educational center here in the North Cascades is under serious threat by the fifth developer in three decades--Arrowleaf--to propose a mega-destination golf / jacuzzi / condo / resort in the upper valley. We are dismayed at the arrogance and greed of the current proposal to more than double the population of the upper valley within a 25 mile radius of Mazama Washington, and claim it will benefit us. Our customs and culture are just fine already--we don't need the problems this land scam (and that's what it really is) would bring. MVCC heartily supports our existing recreation facilities--world class skiing, Sun Mountain Lodge, Bear Creek Golf Course and the many other ventures in recreation and ingenuity which this valley has built, and that is why we want to scale down the size and change the burgeoise attitude of the Arrowleaf proposal into a more reasonable, harmonious proposal we can live with - Board Member.
- Background history and timeline.
- Timeline (detailed, bulleted version).
- A comment letter to the Editor of the Methow Valley News, Oct 27, 1996).
- Fall 1996, MVCC Newsletter (including Arrowleaf Appeal, Proposed Merrill Development, Corporate Downsizing, MVCC's Position Statement On The Arrowleaf Resort).
- Proposed Findings of Fact submitted to Chelan County Superior Court Judge Carol Wardell, in Methow Valley Citizens Council, plaintiff, v. Okanogan county, et al., defendants, by David A. Bricklin, Attorneys for Plaintiff.
- Arrowleaf Appeal - May 29, 1996 by MVCC on the adequacy of the Arrowleaf EIS.
- Arrowleaf and Air Quality - picture of pollution of the Methow Valley by uncontrolled burning at Arrowleaf Resort.
- Letter to the editor of the Methow Valley News to correct biased claims about water consumption (unpublished for various reasons, particularly length).
- Letter to Counsel for Merrill Company from the state's Attorney General's office informing them that, "We find your position in both your decision summary and your client's press release that additional development of the Wilson Ranch project and Arrowleaf should occur to be untenable given that Merrill currently has a deficit of 8.08 af/y for its estimated domentic water needs at Wilson Ranch.
- List of pesticides planned for application by the Arrowleaf EIS in the Methow Valley floodplain. - from the Golf Course Management Plan, which plans to use approximately a tone of such pesticides along the Class AA river each year.
- Declaration of MVCC Board Member George F. Wooten, Jr., before The Okanogan County Commissioners in the Public Hearing On The EIS Addendum For The Arrowleaf Planned Destination Resort (Golf Course Plan), June 25, 1998.
- Site map of Arrowleaf resort proposal (b & w, about 90K).
- Map used to determine the extent of wetlands to be impacted by development in the upper valley (about 90K).
- A brief synopsis of the history of water use and law with respect to the Methow Valley - statement of Rachel Paschal, Center for Environmental Law Policy, before the Okanogan County Commissioners July 9, 1996 hearing regarding the Methow Valley Citizens Council appeal of the adequacy of Arrowleaf FEIS.
