Back down the mountainside after a dynamic presentation, good conversations with enthusiastic rangers followed by a cheerful lunch and drive swapping stories. This is an excellent picture of my traveling companions. I would be disappointed that the one of me didn’t take, but I have this slide as a token of my treasured adventure, which is much, much better. Look closely, this was presented by Dr. Pollock and summarizes research he did comparing the benefit to smolt production (baby salmonids) from large woody debris (LWD) placed in a stream bed versus the benefit of a beaver dam in a stream bed.
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Take a moment to truly let these numbers sink in. We go from a benefit of tens of fish to more than a thousand fish. Not to mention that ‘replanting’ woody debris in ponds is expensive and time consuming. Beavers do it for free and do it vastly better. A powerful sermon in the growing beaver gospel!
When I got home there was an email from Glynnis Hood pointing me to this radio program. It’s a lovely interview and describes her excellent research and upcoming book. Go here to listen. I’m off to sleep for a couple hundred years. Wake me when we have new kits.
