Archaeologist finds ancient beaver teeth in eastern Oregon — earliest record of the animal in North America

Nice Article from Ken Cole at The Wilderness News about the 7.2 million old beaver teeth found in eastern Oregon. Here’s my favorite part but you should go read it all:

Beavers play an important role in North America and its ecology. Beaver dams provide enormous benefits for all kinds of wildlife. In the West, they are very beneficial to trout by providing slower water refuges where the fish can grow to larger sizes, thus producing more eggs and offspring. The riparian vegetation that grows in association with beaver dams also creates habitat for songbirds and other wildlife.

He goes on to mention that some regions have been so damaged by cattle grazing that beaver could never be reintroduced because there isn’t enough soil to support willow. I suggested he take look at this and maybe rethink that position: