The Methow unit is the largest and oldest, with 14,800 acres located in the foothills on the east side of the Methow Valley. It is a long narrow strip of land varying in width from a half mile to two miles, stretching from Falls Creek on the north end to Frazer Creek and Highway 20 on the south end -- a distance of about 18 miles. The area is bordered on the east and north by Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forest, and on the west and south by private land. Elevations vary from 2,100 feet in the Frazer Creek area to just under 4,000 feet at a point north of Campbell Lake. Purchased primarily for mule deer winter range, habitats and vegetation vary from timber (Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir) on north facing sites, to shrub-steppe (bitterbrush, sagebrush, and bunch grasses) on south and west facing slopes. Aspen, cottonwood, and a variety of shrub and forb species dominate along most stream courses. This is critical habitat for songbirds, cavity nesters, amphibians and reptiles, small mammals, nesting golden eagles, and three species of forest grouse.