The Washington state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has officially designated a new natural area preserve in Cowlitz County.
Toutle Ridge Fen Natural Area Preserve totals 166 acres and will protect an exemplary example of a montane fen, a type of wetland in the mountains which supports five rare plant associations and two rare plants and provides habitat for native amphibians, mammals and resident and migratory songbirds.
The site was identified by DNR Pacific Cascade Region staff in 2019 as a site of potential conservation value and brought to the attention of the Washington Natural Heritage Program (WNHP).
Beginning in August 2020, WNHP scientists conducted rare plant surveys, classified the plant associations present and determined their ecological integrity. Scientists concluded that the rare species and plant associations in the fen were identified in the State of Washington Natural Heritage Plan as a priority for inclusion on the statewide register of natural areas.
In June 2025, the Washington Natural Heritage Program presented a recommendation to the Washington Natural Heritage Advisory Council to include Toutle Ridge Fen on the statewide register of natural areas. After a unanimous, affirmative vote from the council, the Pacific Cascade Region held a public informational meeting on Jan. 22, 2026, to receive comment on designation of the proposed natural area preserve.
The proposed natural area preserve boundary was presented to Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove in April 2026, signed and thus formally designated.
“It’s no secret that Washington is home to some of the most pristine natural resources in the world,” Upthegrove said in a news release. “I’m thrilled to work with our world leading scientists to establish a new natural area preserve — our first in years — and to preserve this fen and the rare plant species and plant associations it supports for generations to come.”
The DNR Natural Areas Program has submitted a trust land transfer request to transfer the land out of the state trust land portfolio and into conservation status. The area encompasses agricultural school (34.8 acres), common school (38.3 acres) and normal school trust (92.9 acres) parcels.
The designation of Toutle Ridge Fen Natural Area Preserve marks the first new natural area preserve within DNR in at least six years. This site will be added to the statewide register of natural area preserves.
“The forested mountainside drains into a lovely wetland with diverse plants from wild blueberries and tiny cranberries to mosses and carnivorous sundews,” Heida Diefenderfer, Natural Heritage Advisory Council president, said in a news release. “The council unanimously voted for DNR scientists’ recommendation to protect the rare plants and state-endangered plant association in this peatland encircled by wet meadows.”
