The US Department of Fish and Wildlife has always been ahead of the curve when compared to CDFW in the matter of beavers. The pacific region was reintroducing beaver on tribal land long before Chuck Bonham came along and thought it was his idea. They even talked Sheridan into letting the rodent do the work for this photo op.
It used to be left to the good intentions of a few bright lights. Now its company policy,
Beaver Conservation Strategy
Using Beaver for Climate Change and Conservation Benefits
Beavers play an incredibly important role in our world, altering and shaping the landscape. As nature’s “engineers,” they build dams that provide deep water that protects them from predators, gives them access to plentiful food, and provides underwater entrances to their dens. Their tree-felling and dam-building activities create wetlands that provide homes for many other fish and wildlife species. Wetlands support almost half of the species on earth and nearly 50% of North America’s threatened or endangered species rely upon these aquatic environments for their survival.
Beavers mitigate the impacts of climate change , helping conserve water during periods of drought and enhance wetland carbon storage. They are one of the most cost effective and sustainable solutions for ecological restoration and climate change resilience.
Now that;s federal policy I can get behind. No word on how they can get away saying beavers help the thing which apparently according to our president doesn’t exist but they have so I’m going with it.
The article ends with a reference to the Beaver Restoration Guidebook of 2015. With the lovely photo by Cheryl Reynolds on the cover of one of our famous Martinez beavers carrying a felled tree. I wish everyone who admired this photo heard in their heads when they beheld it a loud voice shouting COEXISTENCE IS POSSIBLE.
But I do. And it is.
