It's smoky out there! Here are some tips on how to improve indoor air quality to protect you and your family from the health impacts of smoke. You can also checkout the Washington Department of Health's awesome FAQ on smoke from fires, linked in our bio.
After a year-long effort, the 2024 Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for Okanogan County was officially approved on January 7! This plan is a critical step in reducing wildfire risk and protecting our communities. Clean Air Methow, a program of MVCC, contributed an important chapter about how residents can better prepare for wildlife smoke impacts. This was one of the first Wildfire Protection Plans in Washington to include a focus on smoke preparedness.
The updated CWPP reflects the collaborative work of more than 1,000 community members and over 100 partners.
Visit our linktree to learn more about the Plan and what it means for our region.
Painting by Candace Buzzard
#WildfirePreparedness #CommunityResilience #SmokeReady #OkanoganCounty
🌟 2024 Highlights from Clean Air Methow 🌟
✅ Chipping Drives: This fall, we hosted 8 free chipping events, processing over 400 loads of yard waste and woody debris—all without the smoke! 🎉 We also launched our first “roving” chipping service, helping two elders near Black Canyon with no-cost chipping right on their properties. Thank you for choosing cleaner air over burning!
✅ Air Quality Sensors: We added 12 new air quality sensors in 2024, including 3 in the Okanogan Valley and 2 up Libby Creek. Exciting plans for 2025 include installing a sensor at Loup Loup Ski Area, helping us expand air quality monitoring across the valley.
✅ Wood Stove Program: All 52 slots for the 2023-2025 program are filled! Since 2019, we’ve supported 81 clean woodstove installations, with the remaining projects wrapping up by June 2025. We’re also partnering with Cascade Mechanical to offer particulate-free heat pumps, with 12 installs already scheduled. Applications for the next 2025-2027 grant cycle are already rolling in!
Together, we’re taking big strides toward cleaner air for everyone in the Methow Valley. 💙
#CleanAirMethow #MethowValley
Winter in the Methow means crisp air, cozy fires, and sometimes...trapped smoke. ❄️🔥 During cold months, temperature inversions create a lid over our valley, trapping air, and smoke from wood stoves and other sources close to the ground. This photo, taken this morning up Gunn Ranch, is a great example of this phenomenon! Looking down into the valley you can see how the cloud layer is trapped in the valley. #winterairquality #burnsmart #inversions #washingtonweather #cleanairokanogan photo📸 @jordanpeters_91
The morning rush has ended, no lines at the chipping Drive right now! Bring your woody debris and yard waste and get rid of it here at the Twisp transfer station. Here until three!
This Friday is the first day of our fall chipping drive series!
Bring your woody debris and yard waste to the Twisp Transfer Station, free of charge from 10am-3pm.
Pro tip: please remember to separate the two, and to use a tarp to line the bottom of your truck beds or trailers, it makes it way easier to unload!!
Thank you to the Okanogan Conservation District for the funding to support events focused on burning alternatives. @theokanogancd
See you this Friday!
Please share your thoughts and experiences about long-term wildfire recovery in your community to help guide future actions. Join researchers from Oregon State University in an individual or group conversation from October 17th-23rd in Omak, Okanogan, Tonasket, Nespelem, Pateros, Brewster, Methow, Twisp or Winthrop. The aim of our study is to inform and improve recovery efforts for this and other potential wildfire-affected communities in the future. Call or text to sign up in advance, as space is limited: (360) 378-9447. All participants will receive a gift card to a local store, meals will be provided at group meetings, and Spanish interpretation is available at select meetings.
Seasons are changing and prescribed fire conditions are approaching fast. Please join the North Cascades Prescribed Burn Association at an upcoming event this fall!
PBAs, are partnerships between landowners, community members, and other interested stakeholders to implement prescribed burns. Think of a PBA as a locally-based organization of neighbors helping neighbors, coming together and combining resources, knowledge, and people to be able to implement prescribed burns that would be difficult for an individual alone.
Check out the upcoming events happening soon!
Saturday Sept 22nd - Burn prep for the Loup Rx Burn in Okanogan, WA - Sunday September 22nd @ 10 AM
Satuday Oct 19th -Learn & Burn in Carlton, WA
De la Foret Rx Burn in Carlton, WA - end of October, date TBD @ 9 AM
Loup Rx Burn on the Loup in Okanogan, WA - end of October, date TBD @ 9 AM
Check out the link in our bio to lean more and register!
Fall may not feel like it’s here yet, but it’s time to prepare for yard cleaning days! Instead of burning your yard waste this October, bring it to the Twisp Transfer Station free of charge on October 11th, 16th, 18th, and 30th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 🍁 These community events have been a great success, and we’re excited to continue our partnership with the Okanogan Conservation District to offer them twice a year.
✅ Accepted: Leaves, branches (up to 4” in diameter), brush, shrubs, grass clippings, and more!
🚫 Not Allowed: Garbage, treated wood, plastics, and construction materials.
For more info, visit /news-events/fallcleanup2024 or link in bio! 🔗
Check out the flyer on our socials, keep an eye out for newspaper ads in the Methow Valley News, and look for flyers around town. 🌲 Let’s work together to reduce wildfire risk and protect clean air!
#MethowValley #YardWasteDisposal #FallCleaningDays #WildfirePrevention #CommunityCleanup
Don’t let your old, inefficient wood stove burn you out! Enroll in our Wood Stove Exchange Program. Funded by the WA Dept of Ecology, this grant is designed to swap out your inefficient, smoky stove for a cleaner, EPA-certified wood stove or pellet stove.
Don’t let this opportunity go up in smoke! Call us at 509-997-0888, extension 6, or email [email protected] to get the scoop on how to apply.
Let’s stoke the flames of a cleaner future together
We’re so excited to have the Pateros sensor replaced and back on the map! Welcome back, Pateros City Hall! Check out their sensor readings on the @thepurpleair map, or on our own app, Methow Air available for apple and android! #cleanair #airmonitoring #okanogancounty
New sensor alert! 💥 our sensor maintenance and installation team put up a new unit near Twisp yesterday, and check out these new @thepurpleair Zen II models! We love that you can see the color associated with the AQI right on the unit. For those interested, swipe to see “under the hood” at the lasers and tech that goes into one of these sensors. Plus, this sensor has a beautiful view of the valley! Welcome to the clean air ambassador network, Nanasu sensor! Can you find this new sensor on the @thepurpleair or on our App, Methow Air? Let us know in the comments! #airquality #monitoring #AQI #methowvalley #cleanair
