Lots more good coverage of the beaver letter to Biden while the crazy beaver dam removal article from TWS dissolves into obscurity. This morning there is even coverage from Oregon Capitol Press, which means it will be seen by the broader capitol Press.!
BAKER CITY, Ore. — A coalition is calling on President Joe Biden to issue an executive order banning trapping and hunting of beavers on public land managed by federal agencies.
The group, which sent a letter to the White House on Feb. 27, contends that killing beavers — most are trapped rather than hunted — is preventing beavers from expanding their populations.
They advocate for the federal government to help boost beaver numbers to take advantage of the benefits of their dams. Chief among those is storing water, both in ponds and wetlands, which can help ease the harmful effects of drought and climate change on a variety of activities, including farming and ranching, said Suzanne Fouty, a retired U.S. Forest Service hydrologist who lives in Baker City.
“Our public lands are the best place to begin landscape-scale stream, wetland and riparian recovery needed to help tackle the challenges our communities face,” Fouty said.
Fouty is one of two co-signers of the letter to Biden, along with Adam Bronstein, Oregon and Nevada director for the Western Watersheds Project.
Which is good because Suzanne was anxiously watching who might pick this up, the louder the message the more likely it is to be heard. The article itself seems a little AI to me because it quotes Fouty and then says “Says Fouty who has a doctorate”
Hahahahaha. Maybe you could say that a little better? You know like “Hydrologist/Soils specialist. Retired Forest Service from Wallowa-Whitman National Forest”
Just a thought.
The Herald and News out of Klamath Falls does a slightly better job.
Beavers are natural engineers. They build dams, slowing down and spreading water that would otherwise run off — and that makes them a natural ally for Biden’s climate agenda, said Suzanne Fouty, a retired U.S. Forest Service hydrologist who co-authored the letter.
“It turns out that wetlands, which beavers are capable of creating very effectively, are a tremendous carbon storage zone,” she told the Capital Chronicle.
Wetland soil can store up to 10 times more carbon than the same amount of forest soil, and up to 35 times more than grassland, the letter said. Carbon in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels is the primary driver of climate change, and scientists say we have to both reduce our emissions and pull more carbon out of the atmosphere to stabilize the climate.
Bronstein points out that beaver trapping is only one use that actively competes with the other services that wetlands with beavers can provide. In Oregon, fewer than 200 people actively trap and hunt beavers to sell their fur or because some landowners consider them pests. Others hunt them recreationally. “Public lands belong to all Americans, and wildlife is in our collective trust,” says Bronstein. “We want our public lands to provide the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people.
From your fingers to Biden’s ears, here’s hoping that this message gets carried outside Oregon soon.
