Sa Teekh Wa to unveil interpretive signs

Walking trail offers natural, historical, political information

By Joyce Campbell
    Take a short walk this week and see where the history of the Methow Valley’s indigenous people, an 1800s lumber mill, an irrigation dam and the Endangered Species Act all convene and tell a tale of restoration.
    The public is invited to a walk and the unveiling of interpretive trail signs in Sa Teekh Wa Park in Winthrop at 2 p.m. on Friday (May 21), followed by light refreshments.
    From the start of the flat, less-than-half-mile trail at the pedestrian cable suspension bridge, participants will follow the canal and be given an informative history commemorating the indigenous people of the Methow, the native plants and animals, Guy Waring’s mill bridge, the irrigation canal siphon built after the flood of 1948, and the Endangered Species Act's role in the restoration of Chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout to area rivers and streams.
    The county park trail follows the irrigation canal from the bridge to the fish screen and fish return, then goes alongside the river up to the Fulton Dam intake. The dam intake was reconstructed to look natural and allow fish passage up the Chewuch River.
    The nine interpretive signs are a cooperative effort by the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation outreach and media departments to depict the history of the site. Partners include the U.S. Forest Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Foundation, the Upper Columbia Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group, the Bonneville Power Administration and Okanogan County. Methow Valley Industrial made the metal sign frames and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation printed the signs back East.
    “People are starting to get to know the trail is there and this adds an educational component,” said Paula Mackrow, public outreach coordinator for the Methow Restoration Council. The MRC represents agencies and organizations that deal with all aspects of salmon restoration. “The signs tell how cooperation spawns success.”

Photo by John Hanron: A mostly flat trail meanders along the edge of a sunny meadow along the banks of the Chewuch River