I am not always excited about stories where people make BDAS and pat themselves on the back for acting like beavers after killing all the real ones. But this story gets it right. Enjoy!
If you’re too busy to listen, here’s my favorite part:
Lush, green vegetation is surrounding the creek. There’s large pools of water. Baby ducks swimming. Fish darting.
“We built a small beaver dam and that was probably a foot or so,” Walrath said as he pointed it out. “Then the beavers have built a four to five foot dam, kind of on top, and now it’s nearly up to grade of where the stream used to be historically.”
Nick Walrath stands in the oasis-like part of the project. This is where they built the first imitation beaver dams and have had success in vegetation growth, stream restoration and beavers moving back in.
That’s the vision: Build the man-made dams. Restore the waterway’s health. Have the beavers take over.It’s a cycle Walrath thinks could play out over the next decade or so.
As long as you promise to let them make whatever changes to your vision they see fit.
Beaver dam analogs tend to be more popular than beaver themselves but I guess that’s okay because after people get the grants and volunteers to install them and they wash out or need repairs and have to be repaired folks start asking “How do we make it last” or “How do we make it look like that” or “Who can we get to make repairs this time?” and there is pretty much only one answer to those questions.
Beaver dam analogs–catching on in Idaho. -Landowners and conservation professionals are excited about a new type of woody structure that mimics beaver dams. The benefits are similar – they store water, slow down runoff in streams, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat. They’re called Beaver Dam Analogs or BDA’s for short. Bruneau Rancher Chris Black worked together with a number of conservation professionals to install some BDA’s on his private land on Hurry Up Creek, a tributary ofDeep Creek.
“I’ve wanted to get beaver in here for years but it is an ephemeral stream,” Black says. “There’s enough willows to make good food for them and everything, but there isn’t enough water for them to stay.” They’ve put in about 10 structures so far, and more are planned in the future.
Hey I’ve got a crazy idea Mr. Black. Maybe if the stream had beavers in it it wouldn’t BE ephemeral. Did you ever think of that?
“It just benefits a whole host of wildlife species and that’s why Fish and Game is really interested in this,” says Chris Yarbrough, habitat biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “It’s a low-cost way to get a lot of bang for your conservation buck.” The Life on the Range crew visited two very different projects on opposite sides of Idaho to learn why BDAs were installed, how they were built, and what benefits may occur.”
Maybe the word ephemeral itself is just a fancy way of saying “A stream that isn’t maintained by beavers yet.”
Many sympathies to Mr. Jimmy Carter this morning who slept alone for the first time in 77 years last night. When I think of Rosalynn’s death I remember the Methodist words of John Wesley.
Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.
Between the removal of the dams downriver that will force colonies of bats to be relocated to allow the salmon to return upstream or the creation of fake beaver dams to inspire the little engineers to help improve water quality and fight forest fires, water is a hot topic in the Klamath Basin. Beavers in particular will change the way our water system works and on Monday we have an interview we shot with Gus Wathen who is in charge of the team on the Sun River building man-made beaver dams to help inspire beavers to return the the region and help restore our rivers. Here is that interview!
We received word yesterday from the city of Martinez that we were awarded a grant for our next beaver festival, which is always nice to know. It’s like a legitimacy stamp on our forehead and gives us the courage to march forth another year. This article from Sonoma by Bill Lynch seems to imply their considering beaver wisdom as well.
I was happy to read in a recent edition of the Index-Tribune that the Sonoma Ecology Center and those concerned with Sonoma Valley’s groundwater sustainability are considering the merit of creating man-made beaver dams on Sonoma Creek as a way to help boost groundwater supplies and other benefits that come from having more water in our creeks.
I first wrote about this idea in May of 2017 after returning from Scott Valley, where the Scott River, a relatively small tributary of the Klamath River, meanders through an area that was once heavily mined for gold and is now mostly devoted to cattle ranching.
Of course you’re aware that having a discussion of the value of BDAs means that you’re quite naturally going to provoke a discussion of the actual BEAVERS themselves right? According to my records Sonoma has killed beavers about 12 times in the past decade and I’m not entirely sure you deserve BDAs until you fully commit yourself to the animals they might encourage.
While we were there for the fishing in the ponds, the property owners told us that they were working with a local organization to restore fishing in the nearby Scott River. They said that the river is slowly being brought back to life thanks to a small, but determined, group of local residents who formed the Scott River Watershed Council (SRWC) in 1992.
The river, which dried up during most summers like Sonoma Valley’s creeks do now, was no longer suitable for trout and salmon fry (nor are our creeks.)
The more I heard about the project, the more I wanted to learn.
Fortunately, Dottie and I were able to meet with Betsy Stapleton, local chairman of the SRWC. She told us that several years ago, the group began constructing “beaver dam analogs,” which are human-made structures that mimic natural beaver dams, store water and create habitat for all kinds of local species, including steelhead trout and Coho salmon. Over time, these natural-looking dams create pools where fishcan survive.
I agree Betsy is admirable. She has done years of hard work trying to coaxe her neighbors to see the value of saving water by saving it’s stewards. In fact there’s even a movie about her…
Betsy took us to the river and showed us some of the work her group has done on the creek, including putting in dams. The results are impressive. The beaver analog dams are actually working. There’s lots of water and all that it supports, including fish in places that were once bone dry all summer.
Betsy said that she and the SRWC committee receive a lot of support from local residents, including the ranchers, who see the benefit of having a healthy watershed in their area.
They understand that these man-made virtual beaver dams are able to preserve large areas of fresh, clean water in which Coho and trout fry are surviving. Every season, the fish count goes up.
Just remember that there is just one thing that builds perfect BDAs over and over without grant money or fundraisers. And it has a flat tail.
It seems to me that our local grape growers would feel the same way about Sonoma Valley’s watershed. Fortunately, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Beaver analog dams have already been built in other places like Scott Valley, with measurable success. I hope this idea turns into real action here.
We all know the wonderful story of Jay Wilde and his work with Joe Wheaton to bring back beavers in his farm. But did you know there are others? This story has a fantastic video introduction to Jason Fellows and his appreciate of beavers but I can’t embed it here. Click on the headline and watch it for yourself. I promise it’s worth it.
When beavers and their dams disappeared in the 90s, the land around Jason Fellows’ Idaho farm started losing water because the stream was moving too fast down the hill. Jason remembered where those dams were and has built Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs) to bring sustainability to the soil, and the water, and to attract beavers back into the area.
Did you go watch the video? It’s worth it just to hear a man say “Crick” and “Riparian” in the same sentence. I’m telling you.
Four years ago, the Fellows noticed a decline in stream flow on their property. It was a concerning trend that led them to reminisce about days past when beavers inhabited the creek, and their presence had a positive impact on water retention.
The brothers decided to install BDAs in their creek to address the issue, aiming to replicate the beaver’s natural water management.
“Our goal in doing the Beaver Dam Analog projects was to make our place more sustainable,” Jason said.
This innovative approach to water management proved to be prophetic during a year with a high snowpack and intense runoff. The BDAs, filled with sediment, showcased their effectiveness in preventing soil erosion and maintaining creek stability. In contrast, other creeks in the area without BDAs experienced significant erosion and deepened channels.
BDAs conserve water as well as foster biodiversity. Riparian areas along riverbanks where water dissipates are critical for wildlife. Beaver presence in these areas—or the implementation of BDAs—significantly reduces the risk of wildfires, as they remain moist and act as natural firebreaks.
I always get a little nervous in these kind of articles because I’m not sure how they feel about ACTUAL BEAVERS but Jason is our kind of man and he reassured me:
However, while implementing this man-made fix was vital, Fellows also recognized the larger goal of the project as a way to attract beavers back to the area.
“The big thing about a BDA is you want to attract a beaver back in,” he said. “But if you don’t have a pool of water where a beaver feels safe, the beaver won’t come.”
For Fellows and his fellow farmers and ranchers, sustainability is not an abstract concept. It is a daily practice rooted in the land and its future.
“As farmers and ranchers, we focus on providing for future generations and taking care of the land,” Fellows said.
