Oregon is going to KEEP writing letters about beavers until every member of the fish and game department knows how gosh darn upset they are about the decision to allow trapping. This one is from Judith Berg, the author who donated to our festival a few years back.
Revere the beaver
Thank you for Ernie Niemi’s guest view, “Beavers and the Twisting of Sustainability.” That trappers and hunters get permits to kill our ecosystem engineers “for fun” sends a chilling message to future generations of humans!
I spent most of the 1990s researching river otters in the Colorado Rockies. During that project, beavers emerged as an important player. I showed, as have other researchers throughout the country, that good otter habitat is a cascading consequence of beaver activity. In fact, through complex science, these ecosystem engineers provide habitat for many species of plants, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and fish — including Oregon’s beloved salmon. Research conducted in Oregon, Alaska and British Columbia show that juvenile salmon have higher survival rates in streams with beaver ponds.
Researchers continue to discover benefits bestowed by the work of this hardworking, family-oriented species on watersheds throughout the country. With climate change upon us, beavers can help solve many of the problems that affect shifts in wet and dry seasons and wet and dry regions.
Ahh Judith, what an excellent letter! If you haven’t read her many books you should visit them now.
Beavers should be revered for their many contributions to sustainable ecosystems, not killed “for fun” by humans whose existence may ultimately depend on them.
Judith K. Berg, Eugene
Ahh Judith, we couldn’t agree with you more! Very well put. You obviously have given this matter a great deal of thought. As we ALL SHOULD.
