Don’t you wish folks everywhere were so excited about beavers building dams that it was in the news every day? I can see it now. “Our top story tonight, Dad beaver starts another secondary dam on Wilson creek. Will he use poplar or Willow? Turn in at ten to see our exclusive report!”
Well a girl can dream can’t she? Until that day arrives we can just enjoy headlines like this.
Forest of Dean beavers build their first dams
Excitement has been growing in the Forest of Dean and across Defra, the Forestry Commission and our partners as the beavers introduced during July have completed construction on their first dams in the Greathough Brook!
Evidence from the trail cameras positioned around the enclosure shows that beavers have set up home close to the release point, in a burrow in the bank of the brook, and this is the area where the most significant evidence of feeding is in terms of gnawed willow trees and feeding debris on site.
Further downstream from this point three significant dams have been created from woody debris lying around the site but ingeniously engineered through packing with a variety of material including vegetation and mud to create permeable dams that are already holding back large volumes of water.
Before the release, the brook could be easily crossed in wellies – now the water is thigh deep in places, simply as a result of the beavers’ dam-building actions.
Oh my goodness! Beavers saving water! It should be in the news EVERYwhere!
Camera evidence shows that the beavers have explored the whole site and created smaller exploratory dams in other areas further up and down stream.
Trails through fool’s water cress beds lower down the site also provide evidence that they are not simply remaining within one spot – allowing people visiting the site good views of their activities.
The public are backing this project and there is a voluntary group of fence checkers and positive interest from numerous visitors to see the beavers.
As it should be. Beavers being beavers should make headlines EVERYwhere. They are amazing and we’re lucky to have them. Defra sure has changed their tune. Amazing what an election and a little flooding can do. Beavers are wonderful.
Even Trout unlimited thinks so.
The Beaver Believers
Throughout North America beavers play a significant role in creating ideal salmonid habitat. They are the perfect example of an ecosystem engineer, which is an organism that creates and modifies entire environments. Beavers construct dams using trees, mud, stones, and just about anything they can get their paws on. Woody debris helps to roughen a stream channel. Ponds provide protection from predators and sustain water supplies during dry summer months. Riparian vegetation and bird habitat are also improved by the increased water storage in beaver ponds.
Unfortunately, the ecological benefits of beavers were not always understood. Before European settlement, as many as 400 million beavers are estimated to have lived in North America. Demand for hats made of felted beaver fur started a boom of beaver trapping. By the end of the 1800s, beaver populations were decimated.
Today, beavers and humans do not always engineer ecosystems with the same goals in mind. These rodents have a reputation for damming culverts, flooding properties and chopping down trees. When conflict arises, beavers often end up with the short end of the stick and are lethally removed.
But there is a growing movement to coexist with beavers so we may reap the ecosystem services they provide. This summer, Trout Unlimited joined the group of beaver believers and started a new fisheries habitat enhancement program in north-central Washington. The Wenatchee Beaver Project relocates nuisance beavers from developed areas and agricultural lands to remote tributary streams. Relocation sites are selected based on beaver habitat suitability, high fish-enhancement potential, and minimal risk of human conflict. We also install beaver dam analogs, offer tools to landowners struggling with beaver problems, and engage the community about the many benefits of beavers.
Ahhh! Nice article Megan Euclide. Of course I’d rather you were installing a flow device than taking a beaver away from his chosen pond, but this is nothing but good news as far as I can see. I can’t wait for the day when all trout fishermen, salmon fishermen and duck hunters argue vehemently for beavers. Their voices will motivate the politicians and bureaucrats better than ours do. Don’t ask me why. But they will. Just put them at the head of the line for now.
Shhh after the revolution we can talk about the value of letting things live afterwards
