Another day of horrific burning in California and I’m feeling mortified that any fire can grow by “80 football fields a minute.” It gripped me yesterday with a strange irresistible impulse, the four-hour results of which I’ll show you later. For now let’s go to Yale and see if beavers make us any smarter.

3 Plugin Updates, 1 Theme UpdateBen Goldfarb ’13 M.E.M. had just graduated from Yale when it occurred to him that his conception of what makes a healthy landscape was completely wrong. But then again, that’s true of most contemporary Americans, he says. Why? Because most of us can’t comprehend what North America looked like before fur traders arrived, trapping millions of beavers from the continent’s rivers and lakes.

In his new book, “Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter,” Goldfarb makes the case that the near eradication of these once ubiquitous rodents had a profound impact on the continent’s landscapes and ecosystems. In an interview, he describes the vital role of these “ecosystem engineers,” how a growing coalition is trying to restore their populations, and how this animal can help humankind fight drought, improve water quality — even address climate change.
 
“This animal can provide us a huge amount of help… if we learn to work with it, to coexist with it, to outsource some of our labor to it,” Goldfarb says.

So begins yet another interview and book review, this one by the school of Environmental Forestry at Yale. Of course we know the answers already, but we’re so glad to see Ben helping folks ask the right questions.

How exactly do beavers transform the land? And what did North American landscapes look like before the fur trade?

Goldfarb: The classic beaver behavior that every school kid knows, of course, is that they build dams. The purpose of those dams is to create ponds and wetlands that provide shelter. A beaver on land is a slow, fat, waddling snack for wolves and bears and cougars. By contrast, beavers are incredibly powerful and agile swimmers. So building dams increases the extent of the watery habitat in which they’re safe.
 
In so doing, they inadvertently create huge amounts of habitat for other creatures as well. Water is life: In the American West, wetlands cover just 2 percent of the land area but support 80 percent of the biodiversity. It’s hard to name an animal that doesn’t benefit from beaver-built habitats in some way. Frogs and salamanders breed in beaver ponds. Juvenile trout and salmon use ponds as rearing habitat. Waterfowl forage in beaver ponds and even nest directly atop beaver lodges. Moose hang out in beaver ponds to cool off. Woodpeckers will use dead trees killed by rising water levels. There’s just this incredible array of species that has evolved to take advantage of beaver engineering.

I’m so old I remember when I thought that knowing the science about beavers and the important work they do would lead to actual changes in policy! Ahh I was so you then.

What lessons can humans learn from beavers as we try to address our own environmental challenges?

Goldfarb: To me the fundamental lesson of beaver restoration, and of the book, is the importance of working with nature rather than against it. As a species our inclination is to dominate nature – to channelize streams, pave over wetlands, and clearcut forests. One of the mantras of those who work in beaver restoration is “Let the rodent do the work.” This animal can provide us a huge amount of help — storing water, improving water quality, creating wildlife habitat, even sequestering carbon — if we learn to work with it, to coexist with it, to outsource some of our labor to it. Rather than dominating the natural world, beaver work is really about cooperating with it. Beaver restoration suggests a new approach to ecological restoration in general — one that is more holistic and in tune with the natural world.

From your lips to Gavin Newsome’s ears I hope. (Insert the name of your governor here). Good lord, we could sure use more beaver wetlands in California. As a firebreak if nothing else. This is what was ringing in my head yesterday and what I couldn’t avoid. I’ll add a link to remind you of the tune, but if you plan to try and sing along I recommend slowing the speed down to ,5, because that’s an awful lot of beaver words to manage at a fast pace.

“We could have stopped the fire”

A Song for California from the beavers. (with apologies to Mr. Joel.)