The Nature Conservancy of Washington

Black River

The thicket makes foot travel difficult, yet it creates a safe, near-impenetrable home for swamp dwellers such as the river otter, beaver and mink. Stilt legged waders, the American bittern and great-blue heron, hunt silently in the calm water at the river's edge, while the yellow warbler and other native songbirds flit among the branches on the banks. For an easy paddle through land largely unaltered by humans, the Black River is ideal.

With a lowland lake as its main source, the Black River shows a dramatically different face from other rivers in the state, most of which are fed by melting snow. Flowing gently into the Chehalis River southwest of Olympia, the Black meanders through a vast, largely impenetrable swamp before becoming a free-flowing, Class I river. The land on either side of its banks represents one of the most extensive riparian environments in Western Washington.

With its dark, inky appearance, the Black River lives up to its name.

Reachable only by kayak or canoe, the preserve contains an environment unlike any other in the state. Rising up from the soggy ground are mixed stands of red alder and distinctive Oregon ash, a handsome hardwood tree that grows to a height of 50 feet. Beneath these trees spreads a dense thicket of Pacific ninebark, red-osier dogwood and willow.

Limbs of a familiar streamside dweller, the red-osier dogwood, are reflected in the Black River's placid waters.

River Otter

Immediately across the channel from the Conservancy's property on the Black River is the Black River Habitat Management Area, another vital Washington swampland. Managed by the Washington Department of Wildlife, this protected area comprises more than 300 acres.

The history of the Conservancy's preserve is a personal one. In 1957, Boots Satterlee traded four city lots in Seattle's North Beach neighborhood for 77 acres of shrub swamp on the Black River.

A near-impenetrable thicket lines both sides of the Black River's banks.

Boots loved her land dearly, After she died in 1986, her children donated 21.5 acres of her land to The Nature Conservancy of Washington. Their generous donation ensured that a portion of the land would be preserved in its natural state, creating a fitting, permanent memorial to their adventuresome mother. Since then, the Conservancy has expanded its ownership on the Black River to include the Black River Swamp preserve, which includes over 320 acres at the river's headwaters.

The qualities of life that lured Boots Satterlee from the city to the country continue to impress visitors to the Black River.