Dunawi creek is near Covalis Oregon and prides itself in being a little more ecofriendly than other creeks. In 2012 it reported there was a beaver dam flooding out its ball-fields so it responded by installing a pipe to drain the dam!
(No, really)
Now they brought in an expert to do it even better, This year I’m told the 
lovingly named “Beaver strike team” partnered with Jakob Shockey of Beaver State Wildlife Solutions and the Benton County Public Works Department to install a flexible leveler. (Is it just me or does this photo look kinda like the cover of an epic romance novel?)
On January 17th, the Benton County Agriculture and Wildlife Protection Program (AWPP) partnered with the Benton County Public Works Department to fund the installation of a beaver pond leveler on Dunawi Creek. The device should help reduce flooding of 53rd Street near the Willamette Pacific Railroad overpass while allowing beavers to continue to provide important ecological services.
The device was installed by Jakob Shockey of Beaver State Wildlife Solutions with help from members of the Benton County Beaver Strike Team. Oregon State University Productions filmed the installation for inclusion in a future documentary film about beavers.
Whooo hoo! Hurray for the good folks at Dunawi creek, and hurray for Jakob Shockey, who met up with Mike Callahan at the last beaver conference I attended and decided to start a career. Let’s hope this conference sees many more such inspirations blossom across the west. All of a sudden I’m remembering a certain flow device installation that was helped out by our own public works crew lo, these many years ago.
Ahh memories!
Beavers were discussed briefly on the radio yesterday, not with much attention to their ecosystem services, but still in a mostly charming way. I thought you’d be interested in this report from WXPR Morning Edition.
A Glimpse into the Life of a Beaver
Different animals have different strategies for surviving the winter. In this week’s Wildlife Matters, the Masked Biologist gives us a glimpse under the ice to examine the habits of the beaver.
