2010 Kit Photo: Cheryl Reynolds
Guest Blogger and watershed wizard Brock Dolman writes:
Now as to the question: “Can one logically say that beavers are wetlands engineers?” Not sure logically what part of the phrase & semantics does not work for you? Is it that how the moniker “engineer” would appear to be anthropomorphizing or deterministic in a way held only for Hominids? Hmmm….???
Definitions of engineer as found on google:
-design as an engineer; “He engineered the water supply project”
-a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems
-mastermind: plan and direct (a complex undertaking); “he masterminded the robbery”
It has been said by a number of authors that after humans no other animal is known on the Planet to modify and manipulate more of its habitat to create conditions conducive to its survival, than beaver. Countless other lifeforms, will also gratefully acknowledge this behavior of the keystone beaver. If you have ever spent time surveying and assessing the strategic modifications that intact beaver colonies perform at scale to create their world – the best word I know of to describe their skills would be engineer – a wetland engineer, a flood control engineer, a groundwater recharge engineer, a erosion control engineer, a riparian habitat expansion engineer, a salmon habitat engineer, a biodiversity keystone engineer and climate change/watershed resiliency engineer, and an inspiring engineer at mitigating nature deficit disorder! (to name a few.) I was thinking that I want to imbue the beaver with a better CV title than simply wetland engineer – maybe Environmental Services Czar? River Architect?
Ahhh! Brock, everything you write about beavers makes me feel like I’m kicking off my shoes, curling up on the couch with a favorite book and sipping something that’s almost too good to share. Thanks a million!
