I have been reading Diby’s Hullabaloo politics blog -way back since Bush was president. She writes a column for Salon now as well. She is my favorite thinker and acerbic wit in the internet(s) an more needed than ever now that we are auditioning for dictators. I think once we even shared emails and she wrote about our work in Martinez. For years she has ended a grueling political week with a “Friday night soother” where she shares wildlife videos.
I was pretty darn surprised this Friday:
There are good people in this world.
Beavers are essential “ecosystem engineers.”
Kodi Jo Jaspers, manager of the Wenatchee Beaver Project, refers to beavers as “ecosystem engineers.” Aside from humans, beavers do more to shape their environment than any other species. These animals are not particularly fast or strong. Instead, they rely on their construction ability for protection from predators. Beavers use their sharp front teeth to harvest branches and trees as building material for their dams. A beaver dam creates a deep pond of water, at the center of which a beaver will construct its home. The pond then acts as a barrier between the beaver’s dwelling and potential intruders, much like a moat around a castle.
Beaver dams benefit a multitude of other species, including cold-water-loving trout and salmon. Beaver ponds store cool water in summer, creating habitat for the region’s important native fish species, like endangered steelhead and spring Chinook. This is especially important today with record high summer temperatures and longer periods of low flow conditions predicted to continue across the Pacific Northwest in coming years.
Additionally, beaver ponds store groundwater which fuels riverside vegetation. This vegetation, in turn, shades rivers and streams, further cooling the water for native fish. In many cases the stored groundwater also returns to surface flow in downstream reaches, providing important cool water to chill too-warm summer streams. This means that a healthy beaver population acts to conserve native fish species in the Wenatchee Valley, allowing future generations to witness iconic trout and salmon on this picturesque landscape.
Jaspers explains that beaver “affect our landscape on a big level when it comes to fire and climate resiliency.” Recent research suggests that beavers help to protect people and their property from wildfires. Riverside vegetation fed by beaver ponds acts as a fire break, stopping wildfires from advancing across the landscape. In 2021, twenty times more land was burned by wildfires in Washington and Oregon than in 2020. With increasing rates of wildfire in the region, beavers may be an important defense against fire-induced property damage and destruction.
They are on a mission from God:
You’ll get no argument from me Heather.
