Category: Who’s saving beavers now?

The Beavers of Better Days

heidi08 Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's Killing Beavers Now?, Who's saving beavers now? September 1, 2017

As you will notice by the bold sign in the left margin, the metaphorical cat is ‘officially’ out of the bag. Yesterday we were invited to Kiwanis and went public in the most possible way about our returning beavers. City mogul’s were in attendance, including Leanne Peterson and Cathy Ivers so we know the mayor will know soon, if he doesn’t already. Something else that will likely get his attention is that two not-beaver-friends at the meeting stood up and said publicly how negatively they had felt about the beavers originally, and how surprised they were how much I helped them learn with my patient, positive attitude (ha!) that taught them so much. And how they were truly GRATEFUL for my help in changing their minds and understanding why beavers mattered. No, really.

Jon and I were kind of stunned by that, which was way better than we hoped for.

I came home and boldly announced on FB that the beavers were back, and there are 63 likes this morning, with lots of folks sharing the news. I am counting on the fact that word will spread all through the town because last night I was called by the Gazette about the return. I know its impossible to be sure about their safety, and everything will get harder before it gets easier, but I feel I’ve given it a good initial shot. Even though my instinct is to hide them forever and keep them safe, I know that beavers themselves don’t keep secrets. They’ll make their presence known soon enough to the folks living along the creek. So the best chance we have is to enlist the public support and see what happens.

Cross your fingers.

I saved from yesterday’s glut of good beaver news. We wish there was a little more method to their madness, but we’re very happy they’re catching on, or giving the appearance of it.

‘Beaver deceivers’ a promising solution to Cumberland’s dam problems

CUMBERLAND – Town officials and wildlife advocates say they’ve uncovered a potential long-term solution in fighting destruction from beavers: a wire mesh system that keeps water flowing in local waterways.

But in February, the Land Trust found luck with “pond levelers” that control waterlines behind the beaver dams. Cumberland Highway Supt. Frank Stowik told The Valley Breeze that one day’s work has changed everything in drying out local trail systems and preventing damage.

“An article out of Vermont regarding their beaver problem showed there’s a cage made out of a wire mesh,” he said, describing what he called the “beaver deceiver.” “You put a pipe in and extend it beyond the edges of the trail. The beaver doesn’t go near it.”

The cage technology keeps beavers from noticing the permanent leak through the dam and controls floods. For a couple hundred dollars, Stowik’s team purchased a roll of chicken wire, a pipe and a few pool noodles to keep the cage afloat. A backhoe pulled out 100 feet of chewed logs and forest debris, then the pipe was submerged halfway underwater with the 4-foot mesh box preventing any clogs and disguising the leak through the dam.

I’m having such a mix of feelings right now. We are THRILLED that the Cumberland Land Trust realized that killing beavers wasn’t a real solution. And very glad they learned other ways. But I’m more than a little concerned about this floating box of chicken wire. They can only have researched the issue with both hands over their eyes not to learn that their was an actual DVD to teach them how to do it correctly? My prediction is that the chicken wire is going to plastered with mud very soon, and that the floating cage is going to whip off in the first storm. There are good reasons Mike and Skip use 6 inch wire fencing and anchor it firmly to the bottom of the pond.

Cumberland Land Trust President Randy Tuomisto first examined what he believes is the first pond leveler installed in Rhode Island in North Smithfield. He emphasized the need to cohabitate with beavers rather than trap and kill them. Local licensed beaver trapper Brett Malloy lent his expertise too, noting that only a licensed professional can remove the animals.

“It will keep repeating itself once you have beavers,” said Frank Matta, of the Land Trust. “If you trap them, you have to euthanize them. Being an environmental group, that was not an option we were going to go with. We’ve been trying to do our best to accommodate them, and I think that’s what the town is trying to do with the Monastery.”

Multi-agency monitors now are studying the damage control efforts. For the Land Trust, when another dam rose just a few feet away, they installed another cage. The bog bridge boardwalk at the preserve took shape earlier this month, and has been keeping hikers dry through the first leg of the swamp.

“Right now the two pond levelers are maintaining the level we want and have been functioning as designed,” said Tuomisto. “I’m happy with the success we’ve been having.”

The Monastery’s cage has been in place for a month with the same favorable results.

“We go out every couple weeks right now because it’s new,” Stowik said, noting the hundreds of hikers who explore the area daily also share the legwork. “If there’s an issue, usually the phone rings right away.”

Stowik also hailed the cage technology’s humane alternative to extermination. And for the Land Trust, which also examines the beaver’s role in wetland maintenance and storm abatement, it seemed the only solution.

“I don’t believe the beavers are going away,” Matta added. “If you took out a family of 10 or 12, within a year they would be repopulated with their extended family. That’s why we have to learn to deal with them.”

I’m so confused. I can’t decide if they really want to solve this problem humanely and they just made several innocent rookie mistakes or if they are just pretending to want to solve it that way and waiting for it to fail so they have an excuse to trap with impunity. I was so hopeful about Cumberland’s public response when I wrote about it back in 2013. Now I’m not so sure. Obviously these tools are working in the summer because they’re not being challenged by storms. The fact that it’s floating must keep the beavers from plugging the cage for now, but it won’t matter once it gets flung by the storm.

Gentlemen, there is no need to reinvent the wheel here. It’s round for a reason. Buy a copy of Mike’s DVD and watch how this is really done. I may be an old cynic but I predict that when these fail you are going to brush your hands together and tell the conservationists “Well, we tried it your way, but I guess we have to kill them now.”

Just so you know, it’s not considered trying until you use the correct tools, correctly.

GO HERE and learn what you’re not doing.

I just wrote them a note too. I guess we’ll soon find out whether they really want to help or just want cover from those crazy beaver huggers. Poolsnake? Honestly?

Yesterday I saw this on Facebook and had to share. Great work by Methow, once again!

The Bright Fortune of Beaver Friends

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Who's saving beavers now? August 31, 2017

Has there ever, in ALL of history, been a beaver day like August 31, 2017? There are literally 7 positive stories to cover about beavers today, each more wonderful than the last. You dream of a day like this, when you’re just starting out telling folks that beavers matter, but you never think it will happen to you! Obviously I can’t cover them all today, so I will focus on our friends, because if this website is nothing else, it’s an old ~~boys~~ beavers’ club. And beaver friends lives matter.

Let’s start with our good friends at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve in Atlanta Georgia. Founder Nancy Jones trekked to Martinez to visit our beavers and hear the story years ago, and even made it to the festival one year. New Executive Director Kevin Jones came out as well and brought us a beaver chew from Georgia! Nothing could make us happier than to start with this story from WABE in Atlanta. I’m told it was on the radio this morning, and a link the the audio is coming later.

Beavers In Buckhead? Yes, And They Help Restore Nature

When you think of the wildlife in a city, beavers may not be the first animal that comes to mind, but they’re all over the place in Atlanta. And while the big, goofy-toothed swimming rodents can be a nuisance, it appears beavers may also help our environment.

“What I see is just the potential for all kinds of biological processes to be happening,” says Sudduth. “Cleaning the water. The wetland hosts a huge diversity of bird life that you wouldn’t see otherwise.”

Amphibians and fish thrive in Emma Wetlands, too.

What Sudduth is especially interested in is water quality. She’s studying if this creek is cleaner because of the beavers. She’s not quite finished with that work yet, but it has been done in other places.

“There’s more and more research coming out about that,” says Greg Lewallen, a Ph.D. student at the University of Saskatchewan, who studies beavers. He co-wrote a handbook on using beavers in river restoration for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and recently wrote a new chapfocusing on urban beavers. [Eds. note: with a little help. Sheesh]

Lewallen says beaver dams trap pollutants, and wetland plants help clean the water. Out West, in states including Oregon, Idaho and Colorado, there have been some projects that actively try to attract beavers. That can save money on river restoration work that would otherwise require things like backhoes.

Beavers do it for free, with their teeth.

“They’re an incredible species,” says Lewallen. “We can relate to them in a lot of ways as humans in my opinion. They’re incredibly industrious and hard-working, and for a rodent species, they are extremely family-oriented.”

Lewallen says almost all major cities now have beaver populations. We don’t see them much because they’re nocturnal.

Hurray for Greg and BHNP. I am so happy to see urban beavers discussed on NPR, you can’t imagine. Kevin wrote me this morning and was really excited about the news. BHNP is a success story like no other, and I’m so proud of everything they achieved. I’m thrilled that this report included our chapter in the restoration handbook and talked to Greg too. If folks are going to see urban beavers differently success stories need to come from all around them. Congratulations Greg, Kevin and Nancy!

More great news about our beaver buddy in Napa, Rusty Cohn who’s fabulous photos appeared in an Essay on the beavers of Tulocay Creek. I’m not going to post every photo here, just a few favorites, but GO LOOK AT THE ARTICLE it’s well worth your time.

Photos: Life at Napa’s Beaver Lodge at Tulocay Creek

The Tulocay Creek beaver pond is located next to the Hawthorne Suites Hotel, 314 Soscol Ave., Napa. At the creek, you’ll find river otters, mink, muskrats and herons as well as beavers. Here are some photos of the critters taken by local photographer Rusty Cohn.

“Since Beavers are nocturnal, the heat doesn’t seem to bother them,” Cohn said. “They come out a little before sunset and are mainly in the water. During the day they are sleeping either in a bank den in the side of the creek bank under a fair amount of dirt, or inside a lodge which is made of mud and sticks mainly.”

Go look at the whole thing and I PROMISE you won’t regret it. Wonderful work Rusty, Napa beavers are so lucky to have you.

And wait, there’s more, this from the big glossy magazine of the center for biological diversity. Guess who finally got the memo that beaver help salmon?

To Restore Salmon, Think Like a Beaver

Manmade “dam analogues” could help beavers recolonize former habitats — and help fish in the process.

In one project landowners and public-land managers have started building structures called “beaver dam analogues,” which are essentially starter kits designed help beavers recolonize rivers.

The premise is simple: Drive a row of narrow logs into a streambed and then weave the pilings together with cuttings sourced from nearby trees. The structure slows the pace of the water and traps sedimentation, allowing a small pond to form and creating favorable conditions for nearby beavers (Castor canadenis) to move in. Then the beavers can build their own homes and continue to modify streams to meet their needs.

Their use has spread. In California Brock Dolman and Kate Lundquist, co-directors of the WATER Institute at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, facilitate the effort to introduce beavers to watersheds. Because the animals provide ecosystem services, Dolman and Lundquist see them as underutilized allies in watershed recovery efforts. Their handiwork transforms the landscape, creating a mosaic of habitats. First, beaver dams modify streamflow, creating slow and fast-moving bodies of water. This leads to an increase in the types of streamside habitats available to a variety of wildlife, boosting biodiversity in the process.

Lundquist says the North American beaver is the continent’s original water manager, renowned for storing and caching water for future use. Since beaver dams are temporary and permeable, she explains, the structures allow water to flow, thereby reconnecting mountain streams with the floodplains below.

As California looks for ways to become more resilient in the face of climate change and the prospect of prolonged droughts, the construction of these dams may prove to be advantageous. They could even buy more time for stressed aquatic species such as oceangoing salmon and steelhead trout, which have been left high and dry by California’s prolonged droughts, deforestation and water-diversion projects meant to help farmers.

What remains unchanged is the beaver itself. “They are highly adaptable animals and able to persist,” Lundquist says. “What limits beaver are water and wood — period.” And that combination may be a damned good way to restore streams and solve water woes in California and other parched states.

Hurray for Brock and Kate and writer Enrique Gili[s for the wonderful article. It is great to see the benefits of beavers get discussed specifically in California. We all need to start having more serious conversations about water storage and beavers in our state, so I’m grateful for this push. It is great to have this issue noticed at the upper levels.

One thing that’s not clear in the article is that actual beaver relocation in California is still illegal. Unlike many other states who understand that value of sending in beaver to work their magic, our state still thinks of them as a pest and you aren’t allowed to relocate pests. Unless you’re on tribal lands, and then you can do anything you want. I’m happy the center for biological diversity came to the party, but wish they had clarified that one nagging detail! It’s hard to organize a campaign to change the law if the folk think the law already allows it!

Stonewalled by the Quarry

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beaver Behavior, Beavers and water, City Reports, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? August 29, 2017

I had an indescribably beaver day yesterday, if it pans out I’ll fill you in on the details. Let me just say that it started at dawn with a phone call from Karen Corker of Maine WildWatch, who is testifying tonight and wanted to learn what was most helpful in Martinez. We had an epic chat about how to enlist support without alienating potential allies. We also talked about how folks get numb or hostile to the animal rights message, and how to frame arguments differently for the maximum effect. I stressed the importance of pragmatic solutions and talked about the art of the possible.

We basically revisited these ideas, which is so fun to do again. Especially without the personally impending dire consequences. It was like going to your high school reunion without any snobs. Very fun. I am wishing Karen all the luck in the world today.

Accidental Advocate

Then my copy of The Knotty Pine Mystery Series arrived! I was so excited I couldn’t wait to settle down in a comfortable chair and read the adventure. On the very first page Mr. Beaverton looks up at the wall of his lodge where he sees the portrait of his grandfather who had “always walked with him along the banks of Cobble Creek and explained how the land was healthy because of their dams“.

Ha! Do you think I’m going to keep reading? Go ahead guess!

I was so interested in the origin of the tale I asked artist Sara Aycock about it. Did the illustrations come first or the story? She wrote back,

“It was actually my artwork. A little over a year ago I decided to paint animals dressed in Victorian clothes. My very first painting was Mr. Beaverton and I was in love. I saw his personality and profession. (I actually finished him on August 24, 2016 and exactly a year later on August 24, 2017 we released our book!) As I continued to paint the characters, I named them, came up with their jobs, and wrote up the personalities. I decided to feature North American animals (except our hedgehog, which book 1 explains how he got to North America). In September 2016, I approached my sister-in-law (who lives clear across the U.S.) and asked her if she would be willing to write a children’s chapter book based on my characters. She said she’d love to! She was amazing to work with and took the characters and town that I had envisioned and gave them a lovely story. We have 8 books planned and have made a list of problems that animals may experience in the wild and made a long list of things to teach about nature that we hope to sprinkle throughout the series. It’s been such a fun project and I’ve learned even more about nature as I study different animals and whatnot.”

Sara Aycock

What an adventure! And I’m so grateful that it worked out our festival got to be part of it. I love the idea of the image of Mr. Beaverton starting the whole thing. Beavers do change things, you know. Maybe you haven’t ordered your copy yet. But you REALLY SHOULD. I’m already very curious who has been stealing things around the forest and am relieved Mr. Beaverton is on the case.

Too bad the folks at Ruby Construction in Vermont didn’t have a similar appreciation for the animal’s work.

Wells quarry operators fined $9K for excavating beaver dam, cleanup required

Montpelier – The Agency of Natural Resources announced today that Ruby Construction, Inc., former owner of the hilltop property containing the Mammoth Quarry in the Town of Wells, and the company’s lessee Royal Harrison, were jointly held responsible for a massive discharge of water and sediment into Lake St. Catherine. They have been fined a minimum of $9,000 and are required to appropriately remove the deposited sediment from the lake.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon in April 2014, neighboring homeowners on West Lake Road, a residential road along Lake St. Catherine and downhill from the Mammoth Quarry, were outside enjoying the weather when an enormous discharge event occurred. The homeowners described witnessing a wall of water that rumbled down the forested hill, quickly overwhelmed an intermittent streambed, blocked a culvert and overtopped West Lake Road. The Wells Fire Department and road crews responded to close the road and assist in diverting the water away from the two homes, one of which had water flowing into the basement. The water moved swiftly for several hours, ripping up and dragging slate flagstones across one homeowner’s property and gouging out new pathways into the lake on the other. Debris and sediment flowed well into Lake St. Catherine. The event temporarily cut off road access to residents of both Wells and Poultney on the northern portion of West Lake Road, which dead-ends.

One homeowner followed the water up the hill behind his property in an attempt to investigate the cause of the release. He followed the rushing water up the steep hill and identified recent excavator tracks around the area. While the excavator was no longer at the site, there was clear evidence of unnatural excavation of a beaver dam at its downstream point, which was now draining the large reservoir of water. Later that day, Town of Wells officials retraced the flow of the water, which had subsided but not stopped by the evening, and tracked the excavator marks away from the draining pond. They followed muddy tracks to a full-size excavator, parked, and with a warm engine.

Following the event and investigation, the Agency issued notices to Ruby Construction, Inc. and Royal Harrison alleging the violation of an illegal discharge into a water of the state, and outlining the process to clean up the damage. Ruby Construction, Inc. and Royal Harrison never admitted fault for the discharge, and requested a hearing in front of the Vermont Superior Court, Environmental Division. The two-day hearing was held March 2 and 3, 2017, and the Court issued a decision on the merits and judgment order on July 28, 2017 affirming the Agency’s position. The Court’s order requires Ruby Construction, Inc. and Royal Harrison pay a penalty of $9,000 and apply for a permit from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s Lakes and Ponds Management and Protection Program to appropriately remove the sediment from the Lake by next fall. All sediment removal and lake restoration is to be paid for by the respondents, and an additional penalty of $3,000 will be assessed if compliance is not achieved by October 31, 20

The damn dam-wreckers! I guess we shouldn’t be surprise that when they were confronted with their own wrongdoing the Quarry owners stonewalled, but I’m glad the authorities tracked them down anyway. I personally wish it was MORE money they are being fined but I’m sure the 9000 will sting a little. I love the idea of the homeowner following the excavator tracks and laying his hand on the engine to find it was still warm. I actually did that myself once in Martinez at the secondary dam. Ah, memories.

Maybe that should be the next knotty pine mystery!

The Watch of the Wild

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Chewing, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? August 24, 2017

Fantastic column today from Karen Corker, the director of WildWatch in Maine. I’m guessing she attended Skip’s lectures last year in the state. Or maybe she even made them happen? Either way this is exactly the kind of writing we want to see everywhere.

Maine Voices: Beaver Deceivers allow people, nature’s engineers to go with the flow

At the end of each summer, Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife determines the fate of thousands of beavers. August is the month the department sets the trapping season dates for beavers across Maine’s 29 wildlife management districts. Towns and private property owners may request that specific areas be closed to trapping, but the closures represent a tiny fraction of the vast territory that is open to trappers to kill beavers in Maine without limit for five to six months a year.

Approximately 10,000 beavers lose their lives each year as a result of this aggressive, expansive approach to beaver management. The number of other, non-targeted animals killed in traps set for beavers is not generally reported, but the department admits that otters are frequent victims because they share the same wetland habitats.

Now I just have to interject and say how on earth does she know that the number of beavers trapped? I’m guessing she’s citing the numbers that come from the USDA stats for Maine, but is USDA the only folks allowed to do nuisance trapping? In California APHIS is responsible for a very small fraction of beavers killed by depredation permit, which can also be used by private trappers. I assume that’s true for other states as well.

There are two primary justifications for such extensive trapping. The first is that beavers have historically been regarded as “nuisance” animals, largely because of their damming behavior. When beavers clog culverts, the channels that run under roads, it often results in the flooding of roads and other properties.

The second justification derives from the department’s embrace of trapping as a recreational activity and primary wildlife management tool. In 2015, trapping proponents persuaded IF&W’s legislative committee to rewrite Maine statute to require the department to use trapping as a key basis for managing the state’s wildlife.

Another correction based on our reviews of depredation permits, is that the vast majority of depredation permits are sought for damage to landscaping. In fact there’s even a comment to the article that mentions tree damage. There are far more landowners who own trees than culverts I guess. So it’s a more common complaint. In California the deniens of beavers killed as ‘nuisances’ dwarfs the fur trapping numbers. That may be slightly different in Maine, but I doubt it.

A rapid evolution in our understanding of beavers and their value is eroding these justifications. Beavers are a keystone species; they create ecosystems that nourish a multitude other animals and plants. The marshes and meadows they build create ecological stability. With more than a third of freshwater fish and amphibians in the U.S. either extinct or at risk of extinction, the wetlands beavers produce have unrivaled potential to reverse these accelerating losses.

Along with the evolution in understanding of beavers’ contributions to healthy habitats, high quality flow devices – Beaver Deceivers, for example – have also evolved in recent decades.

When these devices are well-designed, well-constructed, and professionally installed, they prevent flooding, keep beavers and their benefits on the landscape, and offer long-term solutions to human/beaver conflicts at significantly lower cost than road repairs and beaver trapping. When such devices are not employed at conflict sites, beavers have to be destroyed continually. This approach is not only costly, it precludes the formation of the fertile habitats that support a rich and diverse assortment of wildlife and plant life.

In short, removal by trapping is not a lasting, economical, or ecologically-smart solution; any emptied beaver habitat is soon resettled, and the never-ending cycle of conflict and killing simply begin again. IF&W is not unaware of the benefits and effectiveness of flow-devices. The department has, in fact, stepped up its promotion of non-lethal solutions to beaver/human conflict through their use.

This is obviously my FAVORITE part of the letter, and the best wording I’ve seen on the subject. Good job Karen, you hit all the right notes. And it sounds a lot like Skip so I’m assuming they know each other. The column goes on to talk about the humane concerns about trapping, but in my considered opinion THIS is the power part. Just leave out the compassion next time Karen, and go straight for the economic value. People are inherently selfish and listen closer when their pocket book is involved, I promise.

Any Maine citizen who would like to share comments or concerns about the proposed beaver trapping season can express their views at a public hearing on Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. at the Augusta Armory, Room 209B, 179 Western Ave., Augusta. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is also accepting written comments on the season until Sept. 8. Comments can be emailed to becky.orff@maine.gov.

That’s a formal cue to send some comments about how well flow devices work and how beaver problems can be managed. You know I will! Right after I send Karen a note to thank her for this nicely written reminder.

Nothing succeeds like beaver succession

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? August 21, 2017

Pond succession is something you hear discussed a fair amount as pond bottoms become more rich with plant material and ultimately turn into forests – but it all happens better with beavers of course. Apparently Ducks unlimited is teaming up with USFS and Fish and Game to look at how it all plays out. Because studying something nine million times always produces different results, right?

Pacific Northwest – More Information

Background information on DU’s Pacific Northwest conservation priority area

Importance to waterbirds

These systems have traditionally been used as spring staging areas. Cook Inlet and the Copper River Delta are among the most important wetlands to the world’s populations of western sandpiper and dunlin. The Stikine is also a traditional fall staging area for Wrangel Island snow geese. Common wintering shorebirds include black oystercatchers, rock sandpipers, black turnstones, and surfbirds. Seabirds (murres, murrelets, auklets) are common breeders throughout Prince William Sound. Southeastern Alaska has over 2,800 important anadromous fish streams, and over 15,000 bald eagles use this habitat.

Goals

Complete successional vegetation modeling for the Copper River Delta and analyze pond succession related to beaver activity.

Now we both know that there are a lot of places where Ducks Unlimited does a lot of good in the world. Buying up habitat for duck hunters is useful in populated areas or areas that have been degraded by industry. But buying hunting grounds in Alaska is probably not high on the list of good deeds for the environment. And you can tell they’re clutching at any research straws hoping to justify it their presence – installing pit tags on salmon and measuring where molting is most likely to occur in geese.

But looking at the role beavers play in pond succession is soooo soooo reinventing the wheel the Alaska Parks department even has a unit on it for 4th graders. Hear that? Nine year olds know more than DU. Because it’s old news, baby.

4-6, Unit Four, Activity 5<br>”Beaver Succession Mural”

Students will discuss the concept of succession and describe beaver pond succession as one example of the process of change in natural environments. They will apply an understanding of the concept of succession by drawing a mural showing stages of beaver pond succession.

Grades: 4 – 6
Time: 1 – 2 hours
Life science, visual arts

When beavers dam a stream, they set in motion a form of succession. The resulting backwater floods lowland near the creek. Trees are soon killed, creating an opening in the forest canopy. Water-associated plants and shrubs quickly invade the pond and shoreline, creating favorable habitat for waterfowl, moose, blackbirds, amphibians, fish, insects, muskrats, wading birds, warblers, marsh hawks, and a score of other animals. After many years the water becomes shallow, filling in with silt and plant debris.

Stimulated by the nutrient-rich mud, grasses, sedges, and shrubs begin to choke the water with their accumulating debris. The ground begins to firm as more silt is trapped.

As years pass, the trees near the lodge are cut down by the beavers for use as food and shelter. The beavers must move on and find a new spot to support themselves. Without the beavers to keep it strong, the old dam collapses, draining the pond. The area becomes meadow, supporting grasses, sedges, and other flowering plants. Trees begin to re-invade the drier ground and eventually the meadow reverts to forest. Centuries may be required to see this process completed.

What can we expect next for the exciting research teams at Ducks Unlimited? One can only speculate they’ll be looking into what bears do in the woods and why ducks float instead of sink on water. The curious scientific community will have to be patient.

In the meanwhile we can respect the work that really teaches us about beavers habitat, mostly coming out of NOAA fisheries. This morning there is another lecture on beavers and salmon offered by the Alaska Public Radio station. KTNA. I promise if you listen to the easy three minutes you’ll soon know more than any duck hunter.