Silver Creek Preserve

In the high desert near Picabo, Idaho, a cold, wildlife-filled stream winds through wetlands and grasslands, fed not primarily by mountain runoff but by water emerging from the ground.

Water from the surrounding hills and nearby Big Wood River percolates underground through an aquifer before being forced back toward the surface near the Picabo Hills. Numerous springs feed seven large tributaries of Silver Creek. The emerging water is alkaline, nutrient-rich, and stays at a relatively constant temperature throughout the year. Those conditions support abundant aquatic insects and a wild trout fishery, while the surrounding riparian habitat attracts moose, coyotes, bobcats, eagles, and more than 150 recorded bird species.

The landscape visitors see today is also the result of a long restoration experiment. Before the preserve was established, livestock grazing, fishing pressure, erosion, and other disturbances had degraded portions of the creek and its watershed. The Nature Conservancy purchased the original 479-acre property in 1976 after encouragement from the local community. The preserve has since expanded to 882 acres, while more than 15,000 additional acres in the watershed have received protection, many through conservation easements.