Meet our Guests: Dana Visalli

Dana Visalli

Citizen Scientist, Gardener

Methow Valley

September 1, 2024

Nestled among alfalfa, wheat, and fruit farms in the heart of the Methow Valley, Dana Visalli lives a life deeply connected to nature. Upon our arrival, he warmly greeted us from his porch. Through his cabin's large windows, we saw shelves lined with endless books and plants. Dana immediately began sharing his lifestyle with enthusiasm. He lives on a few acres, with an outdoor composting toilet, solar panels, and a large garden.

As he spoke, our conversation naturally flowed between topics. A point on natural history might lead to the blooming cycles of his front yard plants, while a discussion on ecology might shift to his favorite flower, the Rocky Mountain bee plant. His garden, where he grows beets, tomatoes, eggplants, carrots, strawberries, lettuce, and more, is central to his life. He sells his produce to a local health food store and welcomes community members weekly to pick up their fruits and vegetables directly from his farm, taking pride in showing them where their food comes from.

Soon, all 21 of our students were exploring his property with butterfly nets, examining plants under microscopes, and searching for critters in the creek. From our time with him, it was clear that Dana’s extensive knowledge comes from his passions and avid habit of reading. His commitment to sustainability and thoughtful approach to global systems were evident. Dana’s enthusiasm for close observation and learning underscores his dedication to understanding the natural world and encourages reflection on the sustainability of our society.

by Cambria Bartlett

Meet our Guests: Alexa Whipple

Alexa Whipple

Program Director, Methow Okanogan Beaver Project

Winthrop, WA

August 30, 2024

The Westies met Alexa Whipple and other members of the Methow Okanagan Beaver Project for a hot, sweaty, and inspiring day along leafy streambeds in the Methow Valley. The Beaver Project began in 2008 and has been directed by Alexa since 2019. It works to preserve and restore beaver activity in the Methow and Okanagan watersheds by facilitating human-beaver coexistence, outreach, and education. 

Beavers are considered a “nuisance species” in the state of Washington, but they are vital to river ecosystems. By building dams, beavers create swaths of habitat for other organisms, reduce water sediments, and increase nutrient cycling. Beaver populations are far lower than they should be in the Methow–and across the west–because of the historical fur trade and ongoing failures in human-beaver cohabitation. The Methow valley is only at 18% of its beaver capacity. 

As project director for the Methow Okanagan Beaver Project, Alexa strives to create conditions that will enrich beaver, human, and ecosystem dynamics.  As we talked to her, Alexa also emphasized the many lessons that humans can learn from beavers, including how to take care of the landscape, share resources, and benefit other creatures. 

Throughout the day, Westies explored a handful of coexistence devices installed by the Beaver Project. We engaged in some hands-on stream restoration by creating temporary wooden devices to mimic beaver dams and slow down water flow. Thanks to Alexa’s enthusiastic explanations, demonstrations from other Beaver Project team members, and an afternoon working in the field, Westies gained a deeper appreciation for beavers and the importance of the Methow Okanagan Beaver Project’s work to help them thrive. 

by: Juliette Silvers

Meet our Guests: Susan Prichard

Susan Prichard

Research Scientist, UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences

Winthrop, WA

August 27, 2024

Outside of Winthrop, Washington on a Forest Service road traversing the ridge above 8 Mile Creek, a tributary of the Chewuch River, we drive through the dense forest of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir, observing the abrupt transition to bare scorched trees and fireweed gone to seed. The Cub Creek 2 fire burned 80,000 acres in 2021, starting on the Chewuch River and burning over the ridge in front of us and into the Falls Creek drainage. 

With us is Dr. Susan Prichard, a research scientist with the University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. Her research focuses mainly on fuels management and climate-resilient forestry practices in the wake of higher severity wildfires.

“Even though it's tempting to say that all these wildfires are a result of climate change and warmer, drier, longer summers, I would say a huge part of the problem is loss of Indigenous burning which happened well over a hundred years ago through here and active fire suppression,” she tells us as we look across the burned landscape. 

The valley used to be stewarded by Methow people, and was burned intentionally every 5 years. These understory fires were conducted primarily through grasses and brush. Susan estimates that when prescribed burning was regularly implemented, severity effects of wildfires were much lower, consistently falling in the range of less than 20% of the vegetation burned. “We’re looking at over 120 years of fire exclusion here,” she concludes. 

The wind picks up and we all stand and listen as the snags begin to fall across the valley.   

by Gwen Marbet

Meet our Guests: Deed Fink

Deed Fink

Rancher

Winthrop, WA

August 28, 2024

In a small circle of students overlooking the expansive golden hills and fields of the Methow Valley, Deed Fink shared his personal journey and insights into local ranching. His family first arrived in the region in 1892, eventually settling on Deed’s current property just outside the small town of Winthrop.

Growing up, Deed worked for a Forest Service road crew, put out wildfires as a smokejumper, and served as a supervisor at the Washington State Department of Transportation, eventually retiring to dedicate his focus entirely to ranching. His day starts at dawn, changing sprinklers, hauling hay, managing his fields, and moving cattle. Deed explained how the region has changed with an influx of people moving from the cities, which has driven up housing costs, and strained the local water supply.

Deed hopes people understand that ranchers aren’t trying to destroy the environment, and that they actively care for the land they steward. He stresses the importance of listening to one another and finding a common ground to develop practical solutions. Through his stories and wit, our group gained a deeper appreciation for the ranching lifestyle, and its distinct relationship with the land and agricultural practices that shape the region. 

by Henry Anderson

Meet our Guests: Craig Boesel

Craig Boesel

Rancher 

Winthrop, WA

August 28, 2024

We’re sitting in the shade of a tree overlooking part of the Methow Valley, talking to Craig Boesel, a down-to-earth rancher with a shy smile and an eagerness to share. Craig has been ranching in the Methow Valley since the 70s, after cutting his teeth smokejumping in the North Cascades. He still proudly wears his big silver smokejumper belt buckle. He emphasizes the importance of the lessons he learned smokejumping; being alone, doing the hard things you think you cannot do, and working with people of differing opinions and perspectives in order to do good for the greater community.

We lean in as he talks and talks, eager to hear his richly nuanced love for all things living and his clear passion for “protecting the dirt.” As we delve into his relationship with the Methow, he talks about the onset of rapid development and urbanization in his beloved valley. Craig decided he wanted to protect his ranch by creating a family trust for agricultural use so that “potentially some little boy or girl that wanted to be something on the land” could be able to live with the same values and lifestyle that he holds dear. While chasing cows around his land, he often doesn’t see a soul, “just the birds and the animals and maybe a new baby fawn that was born that day or something, and it can make my day.” 

by Antonia Prinster

Meet our Guests: Clara Hoffman

Clara Hoffman

Home Range Program Coordinator

Twisp, WA

August 28, 2024

Clara Hoffman showed up to our camp wearing a pair of chic clogs and double-knee jeans. A member of the Westie class of 2018, Clara now lives in the Methow Valley working as the Project Coordinator for Home Range Wildlife Research. 

During the winter she spends most of her week on snowmobiles categorizing lynx habitat, setting and monitoring traps. During the summer months, she spearheads Home Range’s efforts to improve human-Black Bear relationships in the valley through education and community outreach regarding conflict mitigation strategies. An aspect of her lynx work that I found especially compelling was her investigation into how climate change impacts predator-prey dynamics as low snowpack seasons negate the lynx’s evolutionary advantage on snow.

Clara hails from Vermont and was raised in a culture of farming and animal husbandry; though these are not her vocation, she shared that these passions are still close to her heart. She lives in a yurt on a small farm in Winthrop that has “the best carrots I have ever had”. This year, she grew her rows on the property, heirloom tomatoes (which didn’t do so well), green beans, and one singular melon!

by Irving Baldwin

Meet our Guests: Kristen Kirkby

Kristen Kirkby

Cascade Fisheries

Winthrop, WA

August 29, 2024

We were lucky enough to meet 2004 Westie Kristen Kirby on the banks of the glittering Methow River. Post Whitman, Kristen has been working as a Fisheries Biologist, currently with Cascade Fisheries. In talking about her work, she described the number one priority as “restoring natural processes for habitat.” She taught us about the ways humans have interfered with the habitats and natural life cycles of fish, specifically salmon- habitat disturbance, hydropower, hatcheries, and harvesting of fish. With Cascade Fisheries, Kristen works to reverse these impacts, with projects such as constructing log jams to provide spawning ground for salmon, steelhead and other species. 

As we sit with her, we are surrounded by a restoration project, working to re-engage the floodplains of the river to provide more opportunities for fish to reproduce and thrive. 

The group dons wetsuits and snorkels, and we move our classroom into a large eddy of the river. Joyful faces pop out of the water to describe the fish they’ve seen, and Kristen helps us identify them- Mountain Whitefish, various trout, and even a couple Chinook Salmon.

By allowing us to experience a glimpse of the extraordinary underwater world, Kristen lets us see for ourselves why we should care about restoring the vitality of these species and the incredible habitats they live in.

by Sofia DeFanti

Meet our Guests: Matt Benson

Matt Benson

Benson Farm Incorporated Native Seeds

Moses Lake, WA

August 26, 2024

Matt Benson owns Benson Farm Incorporated (BFI) in Moses Lake, Washington where they grow ecological plants using agricultural practices; they work with customers one on one through a five year process to produce native seeds for restoration projects. Matt started his career working with native seeds by following his father, Jerry Benson, a farmer who was a botanist for Washington State's Department of Wildlife. His father was tasked with mitigating the damage caused by building a dam. He tried a new system when the traditional mitigation strategies created by the Natural Resource Conservation’s (NRC) failed to achieve the desired results. This new system collected native plants for the specific region and multiplied the number of seeds to restore the area. This practice started BFI as it is known today.

At BFI Native Seeds, the Westies toured BFI’s agricultural plots and greenhouses while talking about Matt's contribution to ecological restoration projects. Matt’s job requires a deep understanding of the land in the West and in the Columbia Basin where BFI is located. He commented that the Columbia Basin is a great seed-growing region because it's not very windy, there's great water from Grand Coulee Dam, stable climate, and good soil- which are all controllable features that can be used to produce seeds for native plants on the west side of the Rockies. We were able to learn how Matt produces the seeds, the challenges he faces, and how BFI plans to continue working on restoration projects.

By: Caitlyn Taylor

Meet our Guests: Scott Corbitt and Mary Iacobelli

Scott Corbitt and Mary Iacobelli

General Manager and Communications Coordinator

Port of Lewiston

August 22, 2024

Scott Corbit is the general manager of the port of Lewiston. Scott describes his beloved town of Lewiston, the second largest city in northern Idaho, as “ground zero” in the issue of removing the four Lower Snake River dams. Charged with a passion for the families and economy of Lewiston, Scott discusses the variant of factors that make Lewiston and so many people dependent on the operation of the dams. Lewiston relies on the reservoir made by the dams to recharge the aquifer that is the city's water source. The Port is only operational with the navigation capabilities of the dam. Corbitt explains how he believes that fish and dams can coexist and that existence would be most beneficial for everyone. 

Mary Iacobelli works alongside Scott as the communications coordinator. Mary is a journalist and takes the role of writing humanitarian stories surrounding the port. Mary shared stories of the local family farms that rely on the port as a transportation source for their wheat. 

Scott leaves us with some impactful words. He encourages the Lewiston community to step up against the dam removal because “it's different this time,” explaining that there have been efforts since the dams have been built to remove them but these efforts have always stopped dead in the water. This time he feels like there is more of a chance.
By: Annika Schwartz

Meet our Guests: Peter Yager and the Lower Granite Dam

PETER YAGER

Park Ranger

Lower Granite Dam Visitor Center

August 22, 2024

We got our first view of the Lower Granite dam as the five-vehicle caravan cruised up the stagnant Snake River. We visited the Lower Granite dam to learn about hydropower, navigation, and salmon on the Snake River, which perfectly fits into this semester’s theme of Water in the West. The Lower Granite is a run-of-the-river dam in Southeast Washington. It is the highest dam on Marine Highway M-84, which carries barges for 465 miles between Lewiston, Idaho and the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia and Snake rivers. We parked at the visitor center and strolled in, all 21 students, professors Lyman and Stan, and our science communications educator, Sarah Koenigsberg. A man in his early 30s and a hi-vis Army Corps vest walked out of his office and asked for everyone’s IDs so he could photocopy them. Just like the water upstream, visitor access to the dam is restricted. The man’s name was Peter Yager, and his mullet stuck out from under his hard hat. As we walked down the road to the salmon lab, Peter dispelled bits and pieces of his life story. He grew up on the Yellowstone River in Montana, and appreciates the value of a wild river. Peter worked as a horse patrol EMT in Yellowstone National park before transferring to Lower Granite last year. He said he’d have no qualms finding a new job if the dam was breached the next day. As we talked about rising awareness of habitat loss and salmon populations, Peter said, “I don’t think these dams would have gone in if we put them in now.” Our heads perked up.

by Jackson Schroeder