Andy Zahn

A land conservation proposal for a refuge for wild horses featuring amazing outdoor access opportunities.

The Southern shore of Silver Lake is a rarely visited and surprisingly wild place, home to both elk and numerous other species of wildlife, including the only herd of wild horses west of the Cascade Mountains. These animals have roamed the rain-soaked forests on the lakeshore for over a hundred years, and are a fixture of the local landscape. However, in that time the habitat in this watershed has declined significantly in quality, with most healthy, native forest having been converted into low-diversity timber plantations. The horses and other wildlife here must also contend with the application of herbicide and fertilizer to these plantations, chemicals which are not healthy for animals, and which find their way downstream into the lake and the drinking water of communities in the area.

The first priority must be the shoreline and the forests immediately adjacent to it. Setting these areas aside is essential to prevent further suburban sprawl from shrinking the undeveloped lakeshore. Beyond this, we should aim to acquire and restore as much of the watershed as possible. Not only will this prevent the area from ever being subdivided and destroyed, it will help to create better wildlife habitat and drastically improve the water quality of Silver Lake over time.

There is also a great opportunity here to restore native prairie, of which only 3% still remains of Western Washington’s once sprawling lowland prairie ecosystems. Much of the area South of Silver Lake has been recently clearcut, and a portion of those clearcuts could be restored as prairie, with groves of native deciduous trees such as Garry oak, aspen, birch, as well as big leaf and vine maple. Timber plantations would be subject to commercial thinning as a means of restoration with the replanting of a wide diversity of tree and shrub species.

All of this would obviously be of great benefit to the wild horses and other wildlife, to the quality of the water entering Silver Lake, to aquatic species, and to migratory birds. It would also create a very attractive area for people to visit. A hiking trail along the lakeshore, coupled with a rails-to-trails project to convert the old Green Mountain Railroad bed into a bike trail connecting Toutle with Longview/Kelso would create diverse outdoor recreation opportunities for locals to enjoy, and to help local communities to better tap into Washington’s enormous outdoor recreation economy.

I’ve given great time and thought to how best to implement access to the park, as it is imperative to prevent it from becoming overdeveloped and to minimize the impact of visitors on the wildlife here. Road access would be from the community of Headquarters, with a trailhead and kayak launch in the area of Timber Point. There would be separate trailheads for the lakeside hiking trails, and for the Green Mountain Rail Trail, and there would be a small picnic area near the kayak launch.

The bulk of the preserve would be treated as a wild backcountry following restoration, potentially with remote kayak-in campsites. There is also an opportunity for this if some of the small undeveloped islands in the lake were to be added to the preserve, and the whole area would provide highly attractive opportunities for kayaking adventures starting from both the new kayak launch, and from the town of Silver Lake. In general, the idea is to maximize recreation access and opportunity, while minimizing environmental impact and financial cost. Facilities would be minimal and rustic.

Going back to the concept of native prairie restoration in existing clearcuts, this has many additional advantages on top of bringing back a rare and endangered ecosystem. These are really beautiful places, offering spectacular spring wildflower displays. With the aforementioned planting of groves of deciduous trees, they would also be great for autumn colors. Such prairies would also serve as top-notch grazing areas for the wild horses, elk, and deer, as well as hunting grounds for birds of prey. The Silver Lake area is home to owls, hawks, and eagles, with even such species as Golden Eagles and Peregrine Falcons putting in an appearance. Keep in mind that the bulk of the preserve would be restored as forest, with several of these prairies set within those forests.

The Silver Lake Wild Horse Preserve is a concept that weaves together ecosystem restoration and preservation with outdoor access to benefit both local communities and the creatures which call this place home. Combined with the Green Mountain Rail Trail and further conservation projects on the SR504 corridor, we could restore the outdoor access I myself enjoyed growing up in the Toutle Valley, access which has been sadly lost with the march of time and suburban sprawl. Land conservation is essential to preserving the rural character of small towns in Western Washington.

To be clear, the vast majority of the proposed protected area would be left as wilderness following restoration. This would NOT be a heavily developed park by any means, and we must act now before any more of the lakeshore is lost to development.