Category: Beavers and Flooding

BEAVERS MAKE RESILIENT LANDSCAPES

heidi08 Beavers and Flooding, Beavers and water October 15, 2018

Pensacola beach after hurricane Michael.

There are about a million reasons why wetlands matter. Here’s just one.

Protecting Wetlands Helps Communities Reduce Damage From Hurricanes And Storms

You know what is really good at making wetlands? Yeah, I’m sure you do. If only we would stop killing them long enough to let them do their jobs maybe they would have a chance to help us.

Beavers work hard. Our New Hampshire friend Art Wolinsky posted this yesterday showing the beavers at his condo are hard at work trying to expand theirs. Remember that silly young beaver who was trying to dam a tree last time?

Let’s just say he’s found his niche.

That little snickerdoodle! I love this beaver with a fiery passion. Doesn’t it remind you of those childhood stories where some little hero is too short to reach the water fountain, or play rugby with his brothers but because he is so small it turns out he’s the only one who can crawl for help when the mine collapses or whatever?

He or she turns out to be the unexpected hero of the day!
I’m sure Art will do what needs to be done to manage things safely. There should be more stories like that. Speaking of which, here’s a fine story-time from the Louiseville Public Library.

I hate to break it to you but it’s monday and we always know how that turns out. You are going to need this just to get by. I know it’s not about beavers, but believe me, don’t try and sip your coffee while you watch it. I know you’ll thank me for it.

WYOMING WONDERS IF BEAVERS MIGHT BE ALRIGHT?

One of my favorite parts about reading Ben Goldfarb’s book was coming across delightful and unknown characters I hadn’t ever met before. Think about that. I write about beavers every day – 365 days a year – for the last decade and still these were not names I was familiar with. And of all those wiley wonderful new characters, Dr. Rebekah Levine of Wyoming was one of my very favorites.

Now you get to meet her too.

Once considered the scourge of agriculture in the West, ranchers are now building beaver dams, and welcoming the creatures home

John Coffman learned the value of beaver dams the hard way.

When a beaver was plugging a head gate on a ditch on the scenic Red Canyon Ranch near Lander, he had a ranch hand shoot the animal, as

But the next two years brought heavy flood waters. Banks along the creek with no beavers eroded and the stream bed washed away until the head gate was several feet in the air and could no longer be used for irrigation.

A twin creek on the property that had about 40 beaver dams in one mile stayed together.

“We were talking and thought, maybe these guys weren’t only important for the ecosystem, but also the ag operation,” said Coffman, the land steward for Red Canyon Ranch, a property owned and operated by The Nature Conservancy.

Hey how about that! Beavers do useful things besides just causing problems! That must come as a shock to the frickin NATURE CONSERVANCY. What do you know?

“Beaver activities are not really welcome where humans live because beavers make rivers really messy,” said Rebekah Levine, assistant professor of environmental sciences at the University of Montana Western who has spent her career studying streams and beavers.

“We want them to be very stable, so stable, in fact we use them as borders. But that dynamism in rivers maintains the riparian forest and riparian vegetation that are so crucial to wildlife and critters in the western U.S. where riparian forests make up about 3 to 4 percent of the landscape, and at least 70 percent of wildlife depends on riparian habitat for some portion of their life history.”

Levine provides the science behind thinking about using beaver-like structures in areas where either beavers had been eliminated or where they were no longer desired for restoration. Her main idea was to improve wetlands for natural water connectivity and storage.

Instead of runoff and snowmelt rushing down a stream to its ultimate end in a river or field, the water seeps into the ground and then slowly seeps back out as summer seasons dry.

“We don’t have a lot of control over weather or climate, but can we increase the resiliency of watersheds that have some water now? How can we help watersheds make it through this tough little time?” she said. “Beaver dams are one way that you can naturally store some water.”

Beaver dams can also help maintain cooler water temperatures during warmer months – a necessity for cold-water fish species like trout.

While the work is still relatively new, results are beginning to support the hypothesis that beavers dams, and beaver-like dams, could be a critical part of maintaining tiny pockets of water an arid landscape.

What an article to come across. It wasn’t even tagged as a beaver article so my alert didn’t pick it up. I saw it by chance on Facebook, which is a perfectly fine way to share beaver news. The Ranch on Nature Conservancy land has started installing BDA’s.

In mid-August, Coffman hosted about 40 people on Red Canyon Ranch to finish building five dams on one ranch creek. The dams will be close to a road to allow anyone interested quick access to see the effects of the structures.

They are created to be impermanent, made of untreated fence posts, willow branches, sticks and mud. Water can then trickle through, working to slow down flows instead of stop them completely.

Another creek, the one that blew out a couple years ago, already has two beaver dam-like structures and another three on the way.

Coffman is quick to say that beaver dams aren’t necessarily always the answer, nor are live beavers tending those structures, but they definitely have their benefits.

“We had a handful of ranchers from here get together, and for the most part people were on board with beavers as long as they weren’t getting in the way,” Coffman said. “There were 10 folks here and they all saw the benefits of beaver for water reasons, but didn’t have good solutions for dealing with them when they caused trouble for irrigation.”

That’s why, in some areas, the structures will be maintained by humans instead of beavers. In other areas, where the creatures don’t interfere with irrigation practices, they could be welcomed back.

Researchers from Syracuse University will be following the progress on the ranch. They took measurements of water levels and channel shapes and used drones to create high resolution topographic maps before the structures went in, and will track them over time, said Laura Lautz, an earth sciences professor at Syracuse University.

There are definitely still issues to iron out, Coffman cautioned. Permits can be tricky, and research needs to continue. But he hopes to build on successes that agencies like Game and Fish have had on other properties to restore riparian areas to an otherwise dry land.

Hmm. I guess that’s progress. “I’m fine with those rodents as long as they give me exactly what I want and nothing whatever that I don’t want”. Baby steps I guess. Looks like Dr. Levine still has her work to do. Good luck!

WELCOME BACK, BEAVERS!

heidi08 Beavers and Flooding July 25, 2018

At this point you might be asking yourself “Is there any beaver news in the world that’s not about Ben Goldfarb’s book?”. And of course there is, so settle in because yesterday was a beaver bonanza day as they released beavers in to Forest Dean in England to help with flooding and biodiversity. It took my English husband forever to pinpoint that the Forest of Dean was North of Devon on the edge of the west coast before Wales. Everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – covered it, the local papers, the national papers, the news. If an entire nation didn’t just hear that beavers help flooding I’d be very surprised.

Let’s go with a nice respectable paper like the Guardian.

Beavers released in Forest of Dean as solution to flooding

Four hundred years after the beaver was hunted to extinction in the UK, two of the mammals have been reintroduced on government land in an English forest as part of a scheme to assess whether they could be a solution to flooding.

Two Eurasian beavers were released on Tuesday into their new lodge within a large penned-off section of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. The hope is that the animals will build dams and create ponds on Greathough Brook, which feeds into the River Wye, and slow the flow of water through the steep-sided, wooded valley at times of torrential rainfall.

In 2012 the villages of Lydbrook and Upper Lydbrook were badly flooded. Hundreds of thousands of pounds has been spent on conventional schemes such as replacing drains to try to keep the communities dry and safe.

The government hopes that introducing the beavers into a 6.5-hectare (16-acre) enclosure on Forestry Commission land will help hold back the waters in a more natural way and improve biodiversity.

This comes straight from the top, the secretary of the environment Michael Grove. So it’s important to realize the significance. Of course they haven’t yet decided the niceties of whether of not the beavers have a protected status in the UK or not – but heck why worry about the little niggling details?

Rebecca Wilson, the head of planning and environment for the Forestry Commission in west England, said: “Beavers are natural habitat engineers, restoring complex wetland habitats and providing habitat for declining species whilst slowing the flow of water downstream.”

As well as having the potential to ease flooding, the beavers may also improve the habitat for other flora and fauna. Greathough Brook was once home to thriving populations of water vole, glow-worms and wood white and pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies, but they have vanished as the trees have blocked out much of the light. The beavers are expected to harvest some of the timber, which could improve the habitat for other species.

Well, that’s nice. Yeah beavers! And yeah ministry of the environment.

Can you imagine some day our secretary of the interior saying beavers benefit the environment? What am I saying. That could never happen. He’s too busy selling off assets. But this is a great article.

I confess I actually get worried when I see headlines like “Beavers prevent flooding” for the same reason we avoid headlines like “eating kale prevents cancer”. We want the word helps in there somewhere, because nothing is guaranteed and two beavers can’t change the climate on their own, Oh and parts of this paragraph was a concern.

Officials emphasized that the beavers had been tested for disease and a management plan was in place to make sure the enclosure remains secure. They also stressed that the beavers do not eat fish and would not stray more than 30 metres (100ft) from freshwater.

Um……about not leaving the water….ah well never mind.

NOW EVERYONE’S GOING TO WANT THEM…

heidi08 Beavers and Flooding, Devon Beavers, History December 12, 2017

More lovely reporting on the big beaver decision out of the UK this month, this time for all too see in the Guardian!

UK to bring back beavers in first government flood reduction scheme of its kind

A valley in the Forest of Dean will echo to the sound of herbivorous munching next spring when a family of beavers are released into a fenced enclosure to stop a village from flooding, in the first ever such scheme funded by the government.

Chris McFarling, a cabinet member of Forest of Dean district council, said: “Beavers are the most natural water engineers we could ask for. They’re inexpensive, environmentally friendly and contribute to sustainable water and flood management.

“They slow the release of storm water with their semi-porous dams, decreasing the flooding potential downstream. Water quality is improved as a result of their activities. They also allow water to flow during drought conditions. Financially they are so much more cost-effective than traditional flood defence works so it makes sense to use this great value-for-money opportunity.”

The plan for the village of Lydbrook, Gloucestershire, may soon be joined by other schemes. The environment secretary, Michael Gove, has indicated that the government may support other schemes to restore the beaver four centuries after it was driven to extinction in England and Wales.

Well, how about that for re-branding! Instead of whining that beavers can cause flooding get an entire country to broadcast that they actually can prevent flooding. And some great data to back up that claim. We are all thrilled to see the excitement accompanying this new release. The value of beavers is being shouted from the the rooftops and you know that always makes me happy.

The Forestry Commission will monitor the impact on wildlife – shown to be hugely beneficial – as well as recording the water flow in the brook. “The beaver has a special place in English heritage and the Forest of Dean proposal is a fantastic opportunity to help bring this iconic species back to the countryside,” said Gove. “The community of Lydbrook has shown tremendous support for this proposal and the beavers are widely believed to be a welcome addition to local wildlife.”

Ahhh that’s so wonderful. I’m almost jealous thinking what it would be like to start here, with the science behind you, the papers and public support, and almost everyone on your side. Can you imagine what a wonderful beaver festival they could pull off? Folks all over the country could come, there could be deals with the local B&B’s. With tours that teach proper beaver watching – maybe you could earn a badge that says your a qualified beaver observer – and everywhere wildlife education, music, beaver games. Maybe include local crafts, beer and sausage rolls? Jon would be in heaven.

Closer to home, our own beaver research has changed at least ONE mind in the Sierras. Thanks to Sherry Guzzi who sent this article yesterday that I somehow missed. The article mostly talks about how beavers make their way in the winter, but as you can see,it starts by covering the sierra nativity of everyone’s favorite topic.

Getting Ready for Winter

The beaver has long been thought to be non-native to the Sierra, but new evidence proves otherwise. As winter approaches, we will be working right alongside this “native” resident as it too gets ready for the cold, hard season.

ARE THEY, OR AREN’T THEY?!

First, let’s get the controversy out of the way. Despite the claim that the beaver is non-native to the Sierra, 2012 research proves otherwise.

“The beaver was trapped out a long, long time ago, which lead to early naturalists erroneously assuming that beavers weren’t native to the Sierra,” said Will Richardson, co-founder and executive director of Tahoe Institute for Natural Science. “This got passed down as dogma among agency personnel.”

However, in a California Fish and Game article authors Richard Lanman and Charles D. James debate the assumption that beavers are not native with evidence from 1988 when several beaver dams were re-exposed at Red Clover Creek, approximately 60 miles north of Truckee.

“Radiocarbon dates from the different portions of the remnant beaver dam were AD 580, first construction; AD 1730, dam was reused; and AD 1850, repair of a significant breach occurred,” Lanman and James reported. “After 1850, the dam was abandoned and buried beneath sediment. In 2011, another beaver dam was exposed in Red Clover Creek; its radiocarbon analysis dating at AD 182.”

Sherry Guzzi of the Sierra Wildlife Coalition summarizes the results of the study: “This is not to say that today’s Tahoe beaver is from the original Sierra Nevada population, but there were beavers in Nevada’s Humboldt River and other locations in Nevada from where they could have migrated. Some of today’s beavers are definitely descended from when beavers were re-introduced to Sierra Creeks by California Fish and Game in the ’30s and ’40s, specifically to restore watersheds.”

Hurray for beavers! Hurray for Rick and Chuck and hurray for Sherry! It’s so nice to see that our research actually stuck to some of those more stubborn minds like one of those burrs you get in your socks in the summertime. I love to think of these things falling into place over the years. It feels like a eons ago we were working on the Sierra paper, but I guess its very much still news to some.

Lanman et al. The historical range of beaver in the Sierra Nevada Calif Fish Game 2012 98(2)

VICTORY FOR BEAVERS

heidi08 Beavers and Flooding, Beavers and water December 8, 2017

Now that’s what I call a good beaver news day! Sunday Times, Yahoo, Huffington Post and Politico. All with headlines about how beavers help the environment. I’m pretty ambitious, and am reminded of a very old joke that went something like this

“What do you call 50 politicians at the bottom of the ocean?”

“A good START,”

If all this news follows the decision to reintroduce a single family of beaver back into the Forest Dean, I can only hope the success is trickled out over decades city by city, farm by farm so that we have this news cycle every month. Don’t rush into anything England. We in the beaver community want this to last a good long time!

Beavers returned to Forest of Dean as solution to flooding

Beavers are to return to the Forest of Dean after an absence of 400 years under a plan to use their dam-building abilities to reduce flood risk. Michael Gove, the environment secretary, has approved plans to release a family of two adult beavers and two kits into a 16-acre enclosure on Greathough Brook near the village of Lydbrook in the spring.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that many more beavers could be reintroduced in other areas. It is publishing guidance today to help organisations to make applications for “further trial releases across England”.

Scientists have said that the beavers could help to protect Lydbrook in a “nature-based solution” to the flooding. In 2012 Lydbrook’s town centre was flooded up to 4ft deep, despite being almost half a mile from the River Wye.

A pair released a few years ago into a stream in Devon built 13 dams that increased the amount of water stored behind them by more than 200,000 gallons. Beavers build dams to create ponds in which they feel safe from predators.

This is not only great news for beavers, its pretty dam good news for science. Researchers at Exeter studied the issue closely, published their findings and the right people listened. How often does that happen honestly? Imagine how proud you would be if you were the grad student working on this research!

Derek Gow, a beaver expert who has worked on other reintroduction trials, said that water took ten times longer to flow through beaver-generated wetlands than in rivers and streams without them. “Beaver-generated environments therefore not only regulate flows reducing flood peaks but also function as storage facilities for water, which can also assist in the alleviation of drought,” he said.

They also help to restore other wildlife, including insects and amphibians, by creating new wetland habitat, he added. “Reintroducing the beaver is therefore a very good idea from an ecological perspective at a time when many studies demonstrate life in intensively farmed western European landscapes dissipating at a bewildering speed.”

Wonderful Derek! This is a great day for beavers, and your work on their behalf has done good in places you might not even consider. Headlines are still pouring into my mailbox as I type this. I know we’re supposed to root for the final decision to be made, like waking up on Christmas morning with everything glistening and in place – but eeking it out is sooo good.

Let’s stay ‘Beaver Eve” for ever, okay?