Come and sit by my side if you love me
Do not hasten to bid me adieu
Just remember the Red River Valley
And the one that  has loved you so true

Back in 1982 all the beavers in Red Butte Canyon were killed because officials said they caused ‘beaver fever’ in the drinking water. There were folks at the time who argued that this was a silly thing to do because any animal including the human ones can cause giardia, and beavers were actually maintaining the riparian and helping the wildlife they were studying in the ‘study area’, but nevertheless they persisted and got rid of all those dam beavers.

Now a smart woman wants to bring them back.

More than 30 years ago, all of Red Butte Canyon’s beavers were killed. Some Utah professors say now is the time to bring them back.

Now some U. biology faculty members led by Pat Shea, a Salt Lake City attorney, hope to re-establish beavers to restore natural processes and conduct research into how the environment would respond to new beaver dams that slow the passage of water and create wetlands.

A former head of the Bureau of Land Management in the Clinton administration, Shea holds an associate research professor appointment with the U. biology department and teaches a course about the canyon titled The Biography of an Urban Stream.

“Interestingly, here they have seen over 250 species of birds because subtropical migratory pathways go through the mountains,” Shea said. “If the little birds are out in the open in the valleys, the raptors come and get them, whereas here they can fly in and out, and there are water holes.”

Whatever risks arise from the beavers’ return would be outweighed by the restoration benefits and research opportunities, Shea contends.

“After the colonel killed all the beavers, the flora populations dropped from from 552 to 500 plant species because the riparian areas all but disappeared,” he said. “I am interested in seeing the progression of what native riparian plants do when [beavers] are reintroduced.

Something tells me Pat and I would be friends for life – a sensible woman who understands the good that beavers can do for urban streams. I can already predict we have some colleagues in common.

“Beavers do all this stuff for free. There are certain places where they can do good, but it’s complicated. It’s tricky to get them to stick,” said Wheaton, a beaver expert who has consulted on the Red Butte project.

Today, monitoring equipment, solar panels, bird nets and cameras occupy the canyon as part of long-term research into its hydrology and wildlife. Would the sudden reappearance of beaver dams disrupt this data gathering? The beaver proposal gives some researchers pause.

Hi Joe! We were just talking about you! (Hey I sure hope your sister and her children are planning to come to the next beaver festival!)

“Perhaps there is an appropriate place for beaver in upstream areas. We need to have a holistic conversation about it,” Bowen said. “If we are already seeing them in the canyon, is there a benefit of intervening at this level?”

Yes yes yes, you folks just talk amongst yourselves, don’t worry about me. I’m just going to move right in under your noses and get down to work.

Looking at the line of that beaver in the photo, whose bottom floats up nearly as high as his head, I would guess that’s a dispersing yearling, checking out new territory and thinking where to put the ottoman.

It is usually the height of folly to think that we can decide where beavers should return and where they shouldn’t. They have their own plans and will usually find a way to get there themselves, But it’s always to good to have people talking about their benefits and making a welcoming committee for when they show up.

I have every faith in the great beaver minds of Utah, one way or the other they’ll figure this out.