One of the age-old arguments against beavers is that their dams block salmon passage. And even for the rare folks who begrudgingly admit that coho can jump and make it over most dams most of the time they still argue that “chum” do NOT jump and won’t possibly make it over unless the dam is notched or broken. In fact fish experts have persuasively argued that if chum run into an obstacle they will just stop swimming entirely.
Well some friends in Washington State have this to say about it.
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Watch the end of the video slowed down to .25 if you want to see it in up close. Those salmon make it thru the dam and they don’t much care for the experts who tell them they can’t. Chum aren’t dumb. They insist. And beavers help them by keeping water there for them to navigate.
Perfect timing because this just released in response to the New Mexico beaver summit.
New Mexico Beaver Summit Captures Excitement, Momentum Around Beaver Restoration
This was the impetus that inspired the New Mexico Beaver Summit that Defenders cohosted with WildEarth Guardians, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, New Mexico Environment Department and other partners in October. Originally, planned as an in-person event with field trips to tour habitat restoration sites, translocations and coexistence tools in action, the pandemic forced the summit to go virtual.
Broken into four separate sessions – Why Beavers?, Living with Beavers, Return of the Beaver and A Vision for the Future – the summit sought to take a comprehensive approach to exploring the different dynamics that must be understood and grappled with if we want beavers to achieve full recovery.
I’m so glad your vision and hard work made this happen. And not only because it made OURS roll into motion. It was wonderful watching and listening to your presentations.
Defenders’ Aquatic Ecologist, Aaron Hall, based in Colorado, talked about our work on beaver coexistence, and tools and techniques available to landowners to minimize beaver conflicts. In addition to Aaron, panelists throughout the summit included Ben Goldfarb, author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter; biologist and educator, Kai-T Blue-Sky; acequia commissioner and organic farmer, Ralph Vigil; staff from New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and Bandelier National Monument; Utah State University professor, Joe Wheaton; and Mary O’Brien who was integral to the development of Utah’s beaver management plan. Each speaker offered a unique perspective and attendance was robust with many questions and a good running conversation in the chat each day.
What about the relocation effort and bandilier national monument who had to backpack beavers down one at a time to the water at the bottom of the canyon to reintroduce them. That was pretty exciting!
Shhh…here comes the part about US.
The summit closed on high spirits, generating the kind of excitement and momentum we wanted. And already, we are seeing some of that eagerness translate into action. In addition to generating further conversations in New Mexico, groups in Colorado and Wyoming expressed renewed interest in all things beaver, and there was discussion about holding possible “beaver summits” in these states and others, including California.
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