Ben Goldfarb is in Colorado this week, and in Idaho last week. You would think that if a book was doing well enough to hock copies all across the beavered United States that the author would at least make it to Martinez for the festival, wouldn’t you?

But no, Capybaras and South America  await. Too bad for beavers. Benny’s got a brand new rodent.

Learn all about beavers April 11

In his book “Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter”, author Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong – distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. The consequences were profound: Streams eroded, wetlands dried and species lost vital habitat.

Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers,” including scientists, ranchers and passionate citizens, recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are often far healthier for humans and nonhumans alike than those without them.

Ben Goldfarb will present, “Beavers: Their Landscapes Our Future” on Thursday, April 11, 6:30 p.m. at the Salida SteamPlant. In his presentation he will describe beaver biology, ecology and history; detail the many environmental benefits provided by beavers, including habitat creation, water storage and pollution filtration and discuss how landowners and municipalities around the country are learning to coexist with these keystone rodents.

That presentation was last night, I wonder how it went. I’m going to imagine their are tens of new beaver believers walking around Central Colorado. As I’m sure there are in California, I keep get letters from them, Like this one from Wyoming.

Letters like these make me feel like I accidentally slid into something very important, although I’m still not sure what happened or how to tread this particular water. No matter how many ‘Ellens” there are, we could always use more.

But I’m sure Capybaras are nice too.