Pinch me because now I’ve seen everything. Apparently there are beaver believers in the Buckeye state.

RJRD board hears benefits of beavers; board approves a nonprofit application

The Richfield Joint Recreation District’s 3 ½-hour meeting started with a presentation about beavers by Meg Hennessey, watershed coordinator for the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District. Hennessey said the aquatic animals are nature’s engineers and can be beneficial for a park, their dams preventing floods.

She said beavers raise the water table and can help mitigate drought conditions and slow a wildfire, pointing out that more intense storms and climate related threats are showing up in Ohio.

“[Beavers offer] an ecosystem service that we would normally have to pay for,” said Hennessey, explaining that beaver dams improve water quality by removing sediment.

She said that when a problem is created by a beaver dam, flow devices can be added to a stream or pond. Removing beavers from the park is unrealistic because the habitat is ideal for them, and they would return.

Now I know it’s a new day and everything. But OHIO? The state the killed18 Bengal tigers in a single night? where Trump won three elections handily?

No. I shouldn’t be surprised, It’s a new world Heidi. Beavers have friends everywhere?

Beavers built three dams in the park. Hennessey evaluated the area to see if one of the cabins would be at risk for flooding because of the dam. She found that the dams did not increase the risk.

Recently, all three of the park’s beaver dams were washed out in a heavy rainstorm. They are expected to be rebuilt.

Beavers gnaw on tree bark to sharpen their teeth, often killing the trees. Friends of Richfield Heritage Preserve have built cages around some of the park’s favorite trees. They have also applied a sand/latex mix to some trees.

After the meeting Hennessey told the Richfield Times that she has received about $200 in grant funds through the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District to purchase more cages to protect select trees.

She added that her agency helped evaluate drastic erosion of a ravine near Hi Lea Campground, which resulted in a nearby trail and bridge being closed. She said she has secured funds from NEORSD to help investigate and correct the problem.

That’s the way of things. Some brave person starts telling the new truths about beaver and then five more do and then twenty more do and then the entire state changes and its a movement.