Finding a new home for a lone beaver
A rancher knew it was either the beaver or his detention pond. He could shoot the animal, but there had to be a better way. Before any drastic action was taken, ecologists with a Spokane non-profit came to the rescue last week to live-trap a young beaver near Addy, Washington.
Recently exiled from its previous beaver colony, the young guy or gal was finding its new home in a rancher’s pond. A restoration ecologist with The Lands Council, Joe Cannon, says it’s part of their job to find problem beavers in the region who are encroaching on human infrastructure by damaging property.
Hurray for Joe! And hurray for the Lands Council! And hurray for a beaver that’s just starting out! Honestly reading a story like this after several doses of beaver-stupid is like having a sip of cold champagne from a silver flute in the desert. You think I exaggerate? Trust me, it gets even better!
The land belongs to Rep. Joel Kretz (R) who hopes the beaver will help store spring runoff on his property about ten miles north of Wauconda. Kretz is also running for reelection in the 7th legislative district. “If this is successful, and it’s not guaranteed he’ll [or she] stay, I may lose some grass from flooding, but I think it will benefit the environment. I think the water release will keep the stream flowing better and put more moisture in the basin,” Kretz said.
To make this happen, Kretz sponsored the recently passed legislation called the “Beaver Bill”. The bill, signed into legislation on June 7, improves state management of the species and make it easier to relocate nuisance beavers.
Got that? The beaver is going to a stream on 1400 acres of Ranch property that happen to belong to the senator that sponsored the beaver bill that just unanimously passed into law! I can’t even imagine such a tangle of good news, but there it is. Washington State is in the not only at the head of the class when it comes to beavers — its doing post-graduate work!
When they arrive on Kretz’s ranch property, they’ll get their hands dirty by laying down branches in the stream to back up the water a bit, giving the beaver some over night coverage. From there, the beaver will hopefully do what it does best and build a dam.
Kretz calls his neck of the woods “dry country” with low annual rainfall. Water retention in spring will improve water flow during the summer on his property. “I think there’s a double benefit. You’re removing problem beavers and putting them where they’re appropriate,” Kretz added.
And that is what happens when people truly understand beaver benefits and believe in solving problems instead of killing them. I am in awe. Way to go Joe, (who often seems to slip into the background and let his photogenic partner Amanda do the talking!) What an excellent debut onto the media field! We wish your bachelor (or bachelorette) all the luck in the world!
And if you want to learn more about what Joe does and his background, listen up:
