If you can’t listen to me about why beavers matter, then you should at LEAST listen to salmon. They have some pretty strong opinions on the matter. NOAA too.
Working with Nature’s Engineers to Build Coho Salmon Habitat
NOAA partners managing an innovative pilot program in Oregon are constructing dam starter structures for beavers to finish building, creating slow water areas for juvenile Coho to thrive.
Analogs provide a solid foundation from which beavers can start building their dams. Photo: Upper Nehalem Watershed Council
On the Oregon coast, NOAA and partners are leveraging the strong engineering skills of their beloved state animal to restore important habitat for threatened coho salmon and other species.
Supported by NOAA, our partners at the Wild Salmon Center and Upper Nehalem Watershed Council are embarking on a pilot project. It will assist beavers with building dams in key areas of tributaries where juvenile migrating fish grow. Once built, beaver dams create slower moving sections of streams for juvenile fish to use as habitat.
Isn’t that a lovely sight to behold! A bunch of scientists teaming up with a bunch of nonprofits to lure beaver into a stream and make things easier for salmon It’s nice when everyone teams up to do the right thing. And we know who’s eager to play on the team soon just as soon as the set up the bases.
Similar to estuaries and river delta habitats, the slow-moving pools of water behind beaver dams offer juvenile salmon critical time for feeding and growing before their trip to the ocean. Unlike man-made barriers to fish passage, adult salmon are able pass beaver dams when they migrate back upstream to spawn.
With these pilot projects, NOAA and partners are building foundation structures, called “analogs.” They are placed in areas where beavers once lived, and where the stream grade and size are optimal for juvenile salmon habitat. Think of them as the foundations of a home.
The slow-moving pools of water created by beaver dams provide habitat for threatened coho salmon and other species.
Once we introduce the analogs to ideal areas, beavers find them and build out the rest of their new homes. Rows of wooden posts intertwined with tree branches and straw give our furry restoration partners a solid foundation from which to start building their dams. We also ensure they have plenty of food sources by planting willows and other tasty foods beavers like while removing invasive plants from the areas.
The key to success for salmon, a certain famous NOAA scientist once explained to me, is that you have a safe place to get fatter so that when you finally do make your way downstream to sea you are big enough that
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- 1) more things fit in your mouth to eat
- 2) you yourself fit in fewer mouths to eat.
The keys to salmon success are not complicated. Survival is paramount and beaver ponds give them a better chance of surviving. More salmon with more of a chance means better outcomes. It’s that simple.
These innovative but simple projects are turning back the clock to times where beavers freely built dams along streams and rivers in Oregon watersheds. Modern development has straightened stream channels and increased the amount and speed of water flow. This makes it hard for juvenile salmon to rest during freshwater stages of their early lives. This habitat loss for beavers and salmon has created population declines for both species.
Simple solutions that bring complexly beneficial results. Beavers dams are the ‘seat belts‘ of the stream system. They keep salmon safer and help keep the water from getting away or going causing problems by going too fast. What they do isn’t rocket science. They aren’t based in complex chemistry or mechanical physics. They don’t drive the car or power the vehicle.
But we all stand a better chance of reaching our destination when they’re in place.
Yesterday Jon finished hanging our ‘directional signs’ for the beaver festival. I think these will look cute scattered around the park, suggesting that you’re going to find good things for the environment whichever direction you go. Which is true.
