I can’t get this tune out of my head for reasons that will become obvious. In looking for some youtube to share it I remembered this. This was filmed the morning after the beavers lodge washed out in the big flood of 2011. We were sure the three motherless kits were dead or cast to the open waters. But of course, we were wrong. Looks like this hero nibbled down somebody’s loquat tree and kept right on keeping on.
Hit the “PLAY” button for the perfect background music when you read this headline. You will need to repeat. It’s a deliciously lengthy article.
Beavers—Once Nearly Extinct—Could Help Fight Climate Change
When National Geographic caught up with Goldfarb by phone in New York, he explained how beavers are playing a crucial role in the American West, how a beaver named Jose set up home on the previously poisonous Bronx River, and why the only way to tell a beaver’s sex is to sniff its butt.
You call beavers, “ecological and hydrological Swiss army knives” and “one of our most triumphant wildlife success stories.” Elaborate on those two statements, and showcase some of the economic and even medical benefits of beaver restoration.
Classic beaver behavior, which every third grader can identify, is building dams. By doing this, they create ponds and wetlands that turn out to be important for many reasons. The first is biodiversity habitat, providing places to live for fish and wildlife. In the American West, where things are pretty dry, wetlands cover just 2 percent of the total land area, but support about 80 percent of the biodiversity. Any creature capable of creating wetlands becomes immensely important. Imagine being a frog that breeds in a pond, a juvenile salmon that grows up in one, or a duck that nests near one. The number of species that depend on these beaver habitats is virtually limitless.
Beavers provide all kinds of great services for us humans, too. Beaver ponds filter out pollution, store water for use by farms and ranches, slow down floods, and act as firebreaks or reduce erosion. One study in Utah found that restoring beavers to a single river basin produced tens of millions of dollars in economic benefits each year.
That’s right. Ben and Beavers in National Geographic. Call David Attenborough and George Monbiot baby because they won’t want to miss this. Of course the article follows through with Methow, Salmon and Wyoming adventures, but for some strange reason I’m partial to these two paragraphs myself.
You meet a colorful cast of characters along the way. Tell us about Heidi Perryman and her organization Worth A Dam.
Heidi is a fascinating person, a child psychologist who didn’t know much about beavers until 2007, when beavers showed up in downtown Martinez, California, where she lives. It’s in the Bay Area, the former home of John Muir, and when beavers showed up there the response of the city was to kill them because landowners downtown were worried they were going to cause flood damages. There’s no evidence supporting this, but the reflexive reaction was to get rid of them.
Heidi spent a lot of time going to the streams of Alhambra Creek, where the beavers lived. She filmed them and organized a campaign to save them. In so doing, she became one of the most knowledgeable beaver advocates in the country. She now organizes an annual beaver festival in downtown Martinez. As a result of her campaigning, the city has let beavers live with many generations of offspring and now Martinez is regarded as a leader in beaver coexistence.
Suddenly thinking of that scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where they are trying to work for the old man in Bolivia.
Percy Garris : I’m not crazy; I’m just colorful. That’s what happens when you live 10 years alone in Bolivia: you get colorful…
A lot of the foremost beaver authorities are self-taught people, like Heidi. I met former real estate agents and physicians working on beaver issues—all kinds of people who aren’t trained biologists, but come into contact with these amazing animals and get transfixed. There’s a group called The Beaver Believers, an informal designation that beaver-lovers give themselves. You don’t have to be a wildlife biologist to be a beaver believer. You just have to be a person who spends time with these animals and experiences their power to transform lands.
Stay humble heidi, the universe is reminding me. Just as I was typing this paragraph the power went out and shut down everything in my house. It’s dark at 5:30 in the morning I can tell you. It came back just like that beaver. So I’m getting bolder. I gotta admit this feels pretty good. Not only seeing my name and the name of Worth A Dam in the revered pages of NG, but also seeing the description “child psychologist” which is oddly affirming in ways I cannot hope to understand.
When life sends you into the wilderness looking for answers it feels like everything scatters and you are clutching at slivers to find your way back. Saving the beavers was just something I tried because I care about them. Worth A Dam was just something I thought of at 3 in the morning. None of this was planned or recommended.
I always feel like since I made all this up it’s not really happening. But apparently, it is.
On my travels, I saw beavers in wilderness areas, like Yellowstone. But I also saw lots of beavers in places like downtown Martinez, California. I even visited a colony of beavers next to a Wal-Mart parking lot in Utah! [laughs] These are animals that do pretty well in close proximity to humans, and if we let them they can provide many wonderful services. As one beaver scientist put it: “We have to let beavers do their work, to help us solve some of our most serious environmental problems.”
Ahhh that is so wonderful! And such good news to help beavers get the respect they deserve. I heard from Ben that he is feeling a little dazzled about this too. Jon and I had champagne last night to celebrate our part and the recognition of beavers everywhere.
I didn’t think to offer the mayor a glass, do you think I should have?
