I found this very inspiring. Quite a way to 
spend a ‘gap year’. Abelino Fernando Leger has a fine environmental career ahead of him I think.
In New Mexico, beavers and people aren’t so different
In fall of 2020, I worked with Trout Unlimited and Defenders of Wildlife and River Source — a small company specializing in watershed restoration, education and research in New Mexico — on a beaver habitat assessment survey in northern New Mexico. The project goal was to find rivers where beavers could be relocatedand where beavers could do the work to restore riparian water tables, wetland vegetation and in some places, improve the health of trout habitat.
Can you think of a better job description or something you’d rather be doing? No you cannot. I cannot either. Trout Unlimited is one of the few places on the planet where beaver wisdom doesn’t come as a surprise. They know what their fishes need.
Over the course of a few months, I worked with Rich Schrader, my mentor and River Source founder, on what he aptly described as our “dream project.” Rich and I completed the surveys with the help and teaching of former a wilderness guide, David Fay, and River Source water scientist and Cochiti Pueblo member, Carlos Herrera. We did both ground and drone surveys to discover as much as we could about the impact of cattle, riparian geomorphology and the vegetation present to determine if it would be a good beaver relocation site. It was also our job to determine what part of their historic range any beavers were still occupying.
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Can I get an amen? You hit the proverbial nail on the head Abe. I think the rest of your education is going to fall easily into place now that you’ve learned the beaver lesson.
This is not the only common goal we share with beavers. In one ephemeral creek we hiked along, private landowners had built a series of rock berms and grade controls in an attempt to retain surface water on their property. In Ponil Creek, another ephemeral waterway, the beavers we found had managed to keep several large, deep pools behind their dams in spite of seeing four weeks with no rain.
When doing this work, I learned so much about hydrology, riparian ecology, and, of course, the beavers themselves. After hiking along the rivers where beavers were present, I came to really appreciate the animals. They may not be the cutest rodent out there, they are awesome creatures. Hard-working, family-oriented and constantly molding the environment around them to their needs, beavers are not so different from us in the end.
I have to agree with you, Abe. Beavers can teach us most of what we need to know about hydrology, ecology, community and responsibility. You see beavers and humans are pretty different.
Beavers are better,
