Methow Headwaters

The Methow Valley, located in the foothills of the North Cascades, is one of the Northwest's most popular recreation destinations. It is surrounded by spectacular protected lands, including the wild high country of North Cascades National Park, the rolling mountains and high country meadows of the Pasayten Wilderness, the Chelan-Sawtooth Range, and the North Cascades Scenic Highway.The Methow Valley is also known for its world-class, year-round recreational opportunities including alpine and rock climbing, backcountry skiing, hunting and fishing, wildlife viewing, river running, and mountain biking. The valley is perhaps most famous for cross-country skiing, boasting North America’s largest groomed cross-country ski trail system.

A proposed large-scale copper mine in the heart of the Methow Valley near Flagg Mountain threatened this treasured landscape. The Methow Headwaters Protection Act, passed in 2019’s public lands package, protects an iconic and diverse landscape in the North Cascades of Washington from the threat of industrial-scale copper mining.