Solstice must be the hungriest day for beavers. They get the fewest night time hours to fix the dam, fell the trees, and patch up the lodge. Hardly any time at all left over for munching willow in their spare hours. And if you’ve eaten willow bark you know it takes a LOT of branches to fill up your tummy. Hard day for them.

But great for farmers and ranchers. Thank goodness Ben will tell them what they need to know.

Beavers & Why They Matter: A Ranch Talk with author Ben Goldfarb

Please join us at South Park’s Buffalo Peaks Ranch as author Ben Goldfarb discusses the world of beavers and the landscapes they create. Ben is the author of of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, the winner of the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and named one of the best books of 2018 by the Washington Post. This special event is FREE for all who register!

Buffalo Peaks Ranch will stay open after Ben’s talk,until 3pm. We’ll be offering a Ranch Tour, and the opportunity for you roam the ranch and river, with time to sketch, take photos, and add to the ranch’s Bird List. Bring a picnic lunch if you like. You’ll also be able to explore the ranch’s new beaver pond — but be sure to bring your boots for that!

This is in Fairplay Colorado so I’m thrilled ranchers there are catching on. It’s ironic really. Ben once asked me who else to interview for his book and I remember him saying, “I don’t think Sherri Tippie because she’s been talked about so much already, everyone already knows“. I said he HAD to include her but he did not. So he never went to Colorado for his interviews. And now he lives there.

So let that be a lesson to you! Although I’m sure there are worse consequences.

In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers” – including scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens – recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them.

“A marvelously humor-laced page-turner about the science of semi-aquatic rodents… Goldfarb has built a masterpiece of a treatise on the natural world.” — The Washington Post

Our thanks goes to The Summit Foundation and to Park County’s Land & Water Trust Fund for their support!

Great work team Ben! Gosh on July 16 the festival will be over, my house will be back in order and I’ll be living like a king. Or at least without an event to plan. We’re in SF FUN & Cheap today, so that’s another arrow in the quiver.

And we are truly. Really. Fun and Cheap.

Bay Area “Beaver Festival XIII” (Martinez)

The Martinez Beaver Festival is a beloved community event with national recognition. Now in its 13th year, it began as a celebration of the famous beavers in Alhambra Creek and became a showcase for citizen science and urban wildlife in general. With education, family fun, live music and an unique silent auction, the festival promotes nature conservation and teaches everyone how to live with beavers and why they matter.
Attendees agree “It’s a dam good time!”

I don’t know about you, but once all those ranchers have seen the Beaver Truth, they might just want to change their career.