Grace City Church Uses Chelan-Douglas Land Trust Property for 'Project ManCard' Year Two
Neighbors notice rafts and ATVs on CDLT property during the 'rite of passage' weekend
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Grace City Church held its second “Project ManCard” rite of passage weekend for 14-to-18-year-old boys up the Entiat Valley from Nov. 9 to 12 and used Chelan-Douglas Land Trust property in the process.
Last year GCC boys engaged in hand-to-hand combat training using Chelan County Sheriff’s Office equipment, rappelled from cliff-sides, and fired a .50 caliber sniper rifle during their rite of passage weekend.
Curious to see if any of those activities were taking place on public land this year, I headed up to meet a few concerned neighbors in the area on the morning of Sunday, Nov. 12. We took a walk down to the Entiat River where they said GCC had left several rafts on CDLT property the day before. During that short walk, we stumbled upon a group of men dressed in camouflage standing around a fire across the river.
It looked as if they had driven across the river in a pair of side-by-side ATVs. I took a few photos and we moved on.
But we had been spotted and a pair of the men came across the river to talk. The two men who approached were GCC members Michael Vasquez and Dominic Mutch, who is a deputy with the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
The pair had patches on their arms that said “Grace City Church” and Vasquez said the group of 20 boys started their trek from a church member’s property on Thursday. He said they were waiting for the boys to come downriver on rafts so they could take them back to their fathers after their rite of passage weekend.
Mutch said they were on CLDT property but didn’t say if they drove the ATVs through the Entiat River to get them there.
“We were in charge of the rafts,” he said.
We had a polite conversation for a few minutes and then went our separate ways.
Update as of Nov. 16
Eunice Youmans, the executive director of the Chelan-Douglas County Land Trust, reached out with a statement. I’m putting it outside the paywall in its entirety so everyone can read it.
“It has recently come to the attention of the Chelan Douglas Land Trust (“CDLT”) that property along the Entiat River that is owned by CDLT may have been used by a local group, without permission, during which the participants allegedly drove side-by-side vehicles across the river, and the participants allegedly used the property for exercises involving the carrying of firearms while wearing camouflage.
CDLT was not contacted in advance about this event. CDLT maintains a policy that requires third parties to seek a use permit for group events on CDLT properties.
CDLT has adopted policies designed to protect the lands it owns while providing appropriate public access for all people.
Driving vehicles off road in unauthorized areas is damaging to habitat and disruptive to wildlife; discharging or open-carrying firearms, and conducting group exercises in camouflage, can have the effect of intimidating unaffiliated persons who do not receive advance notice of the purpose and presence of such activities. These unpermitted activities run counter to CDLT’s goal of making our lands welcoming for all people to connect with nature.
CDLT has notified the user group of the incompatibility of the group’s use with CDLT’s mission and asked that the group comply with CDLT’s permitting system for any future request. In evaluating any future request, CDLT’s approval will be conditioned on uses that are compatible with CDLT’s mission.
While CDLT prefers to first inform unauthorized users before taking more substantial steps to ensure compliance with CDLT policies, CDLT reserves the right, as a private landowner, to trespass unauthorized users from CDLT property,” Youmans wrote.