(emailed on May 12, 2024)

Hello supporters of the Chelan Butte,

Since our last communication, the law firm hired by the Trust for Public Land (TPL) completed both of the public meetings for the Chelan Butte Acquisition Feasibility Study (April 4th and May 9th). The first meeting attracted well over 100 members of the public and included an exercise allowing participants to submit their ideas for how they would like to see the Chelan Butte utilized in the future for open space, recreation, or other uses.

Prior to the second (May 9th) meeting, TPL indicated to the steering committee (which included CBC) that it was not going to finalize the Study and that the second meeting was going to be dedicated to explaining why this was happening. As this information trickled out ahead of the meeting, it was unsurprising that the second meeting was not as well attended. CBC did not feel it was our role to make this announcement beforehand, but as a result we chose not to re-advertise the May 9th meeting.

TPL relayed at the May 9th meeting that the reason for not completing the Study was that the desired properties are not currently available for purchase (the option to purchase the land from Golden Gate Ventures is still held by Mr. Venugopal) and there was not currently a willing potential owner of the land (CBC believes the logical landowner would be the City of Chelan). CBC disagreed with the decision to terminate the Study at this time, but it was not ultimately our decision.

However, the important point we’d like to make is that this decision does not in any way affect our efforts or our optimism for a positive outcome. TPL has indicated that the partial work products from the Study will be made available to the public, which include: 1) a summary of potential public funding sources, and 2) the extensive feedback from the April 4th meeting providing ideas of how the public would like to see the Butte utilized in the future. We plan to obtain all materials associated with the Study and further review and summarize them.

There are also certain elements of the Study that we can carry out ourselves. For example, the Study was going to examine the potential costs associated with owning and maintaining property on the Butte. We intend to collect such data from existing conservation landholders in north-central Washington.

Once we have sufficient information to share, CBC will determine the best method to summarize for the public what we have gathered, review our strategy, and take public input.

Mr. Venugopal still believes that only a small portion of the community would like to see all of the Golden Gate Ventures property preserved and that the majority are OK with his vision of development. We will be redoubling our efforts to communicate the voices of those of you who have signed our petition to preserve the Butte (over 3,200 people so far). We will be strategizing how to get this message out more directly to Mr. Venugopal and to City of Chelan representatives.

As part of our core strategy at this point, CBC will continue to be vigilant to ensure that any land use proposal contemplated for the Butte complies with all city, county, and state requirements, consulting with our land use attorney when appropriate. We encourage Mr. Venugopal to be transparent with the broader community in his planning efforts and be responsive to local desires for the Butte even as we understand he has no legal obligation to do so.

Before and after the May 9th meeting we had a number of positive conversations that show the incredible widespread support for conservation of the Golden Gate Ventures properties. Senator Brad Hawkins attended the meeting and, in conversations after the meeting, was very supportive of the preservation of the Butte. In addition, there was a local representative of the National Park Service who indicated he is willing to help CBC assess the potential funding sources compiled by TPL. On a separate positive note, the international outdoor clothing and gear company Patagonia has approached CBC and offered to help promote our Preserve the Butte effort within Washington state through their social media.

I’ll leave it here for now, but please do not hesitate to reach out to us by responding to this email if you have any questions or comments. Thanks as always for your interest and support.

Brian Patterson
Chelan Basin Conservancy President

on behalf of the CBC board:

Lisa Garvich – Vice President
Tony Crosetto – Treasurer
Mary Bider – Secretary