Fun post yesterday from our beaver friends at Wyoming Untrapped
Our goal is to educate the public about coexisting with beavers as well as their benefits to any ecosystem. Over 80% of all Wyoming wildlife species use wetlands. Beavers construct new, and enhance already existing, wetlands. Beavers were nearly trapped to extinction in Northwest Wyoming and are struggling to rebound due to pressure from continued trapping, conflicts with landowners, and habitat degradation. The Beaver Awareness and Restoration Project will include an educational component in which area students will work alongside Bridger-Teton National Forest hydrologists, wildlife biologists and land managers to learn about forest management, ecology, wildlife-human conflict, environmental science, and appreciation for beavers.
The program also received a 10,000 dollar grant allowing it to relocate beavers from areas where they were causing problems to higher up stream in uninhabited areas. No other Wyoming organization is advocating for the small, but mighty, beaver which brings numerous beneficial components to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. WU believes that beavers, and all wildlife, should be valued for their contribution to our wild world!
Yesterday the post had more info about the relocation program, but I commented that it will be wonderful when beavers get to stay where they like and people learn new tools for managing them, and now it’s changed to what I’ve posted here.
I guess I cast kind of a beaver-shaped long shadow. Go figure.
