This is a fantastic article by folks who know that keeping their water means keeping their beavers. I’m so old that when I just glanced at the topic “beaver volunteers along the San Pedro River in Arizona” I immediately thought of the old beaver buddy who had taught me soo many years ago.
I wonder how Mike Foster is doing now? Does he still care about beavers?
Beavers and Watershed Management: Volunteers Work Tirelessly to Catalog and Preserve Local Beaver Populations
One of the stakeholders is Watershed Management, an organization of roughly 70 volunteers, some of which are students from Cochise College. Mike Foster, who is one of the chief volunteers of Watershed Management, is a local naturalist. In addition to survey work, he also makes videos of the survey to educate the public. Mike works with Catlow Shipek, a founding member of the organization. They were able to provide me information from the 2022/23 survey.
Ahh there you are Mike! Wow beaver believers are loyal. He was an old hand at this when I was getting started!
In 2002, Watershed Management began its work in Southern Arizona. They monitor beaver populations and advise wildlife managers on relocation efforts. This helps ensure the protection, progress and survival of local beaver populations. Restoring beaver populations is a top priority for watershed managers.
Beavers are essential to watershed management. It is in their nature to enhance wetlands and create habitats for keystone species. When they build dams, this slows the streams and causes floodplains to fill. This forms a cienega, a type of marsh. Surface water increases and this causes water tables to come up. Without the beavers, our wetlands dry up and biodiversity decreases. When there is a loss of biodiversity, the ecosystem is at a higher risk of total collapse.
I just love this paragraph. How rare does water have to be before all of America treasures the animal that keeps it?
In places where beavers have been reintroduced, several species of plants and animals make a significant comeback. There is an increase in willow trees, mesquites and Arizona ash, due to beaver activity. This adds to the food web and restores a healthy ecosystem.
The beavers are brought here from other places when they become a nuisance. Some came from the Yuma area, where they dammed canals, creating problems for agriculture. Others came from urban settings, where they caused problems for water treatment facilities and storm drains. These relocated beavers have made their home in the San Pedro watershed. In our region, they do not interfere with infrastructure. They are given a second chance, starting a new life here, to help save our wetlands.
I guess things have to get pretty bad before folks start to notice that beavers actually improve the watershed.
There is more evidence of beavers living in Northern Mexico. According to Foster, it is a possibility that some of our beavers may have passed through the border wall, while floodgates were open, and went to the other side. This raises a question of beaver migrating along the river. “The border wall doesn’t kill that possibility, but it complicates it,” Foster said. There is a chance that some beavers may have left before the recent construction of the wall.
The world is getting drier. Do you know where your beavers are?
