Silver City
Silver City’s combination of high desert rocky hillsides that are sparsely vegetated and densely vegetated riparian areas along the creeks has resulted in a diverse and challenging community forest with an interesting history. Silver City has many dynamic community members that have embraced that history and implemented innovative community forest programs to expand on it. A community forestry plan was developed in 2013. Big Ditch Park and the San Vicente Trail have been managed to provide lovely tree canopy cover for recreation and respite. A fruit tree inventory and planting effort supports a working food forest in town. Historic trees were inventoried. Tree giveaways have expanded the residential tree canopy. And Silver City has a long history of using simple solutions to repurpose stormwater to irrigate landscapes.
The updated community forest plan for Silver City will assess the current condition of and build upon these previous efforts. Focus areas will include:
- tree maintenance and/or planned replacement for historic trees in parks and downtown
- continued maintenance and support for newer tree plantings and community tree programs
- assessment of maintenance and planting needs at Big Ditch Park, San Vicente Trail, and trailheads/open space parking areas
Community Leadership and Staff:
Silver City Town Council
Silver City Assistant Town Manager
Silver City Community Development Director Silver City Public Works Department
Silver City Parks
Silver City Fire Chief
Grant County Manager
Grant County Public Works Director
Grant County Planning
Grant County Commission
The Parks Department cares for existing trees, with contractor assistance.
Community Groups/Resources/Local Experts
Silver City MainStreet
Silver Consolidated Schools
Cobre Consolidated Schools
Seedlings to Saplings/Upper Gila Watershed Alliance
Gila WoodNet
Miyawaki Forest Initiative
Gila Native Plant Society
Community Tree Overview
Silver City has an interesting community forest context with valley areas that have higher canopy cover such as Big Ditch Park and San Vicente Creek whereas hillsides tend to be rocky and sparsely vegetated such as Brewer Hill. Silver City’s riparian forest, located along San Vicente Creek and its tributaries Silva and Piños Altos
creeks, provide many opportunities for recreation and respite, but also bring considerable risk from wildfire.
Public spaces initially identified for tree planting and maintenance include: parks, downtown, libraries, fire stations, Rec Center, Big Ditch Park, Brewer Hill, La Capilla/Senior Center, trailhead and trail/open space parking areas.
There have been two tree inventory efforts completed. In 2013 a group of volunteers mapped the locations of fruit trees and in 2017 historic trees were mapped as part of a NM State Forestry project. Silver City developed
a community forestry plan in 2013, and had numerous implementation methods over the next several years, including developing community orchards.
Community Engagement Strategies
Information Hubs will be available at the Silver City Public Library, City Hall, and Grant County Offices, with materials in Spanish and English.
Bilingual Community Surveys will be deployed In-Person at an already scheduled community event as well as Online and at the Information Hubs. Additional events may be added to meet the needs of the community.