Finally!

There’s been such a pack of good beaver news lately that I’ve been waiting to share this lovely guest-post forever! It’s from Dr. Dougald Scott whose on the board of the Salmonid Restoration Federation, and  past editor of the River Mouth, the newsletter for the Northern California Council Federation of Fly Fishers. It shouldn’t surprise you to learn that he’s also a member of the California Working Beaver Group, and a believer in the cause of beaver streams everywhere.

This will delight you.

The attached a photo shows how beaver had rehabilitated the tiny creek on my property in Western Colorado. Rick Lanman admired the photo and asked if I had fenced out the cattle. It turns out this is an interesting story regarding cattle and beaver on our land.

Basically we lucked out. There was no way that we could afford to fence our 160 acres to keep cattle out; so up until 2001 we leased grazing rights to our neighbors whose cattle were already there and going to graze anyway. Living so far away and lacking in resources, there was little we could do to further manage the situation.Through the late 80’s and 90’s, all the land up and down the canyon was terribly overgrazed. The resident beaver were finally extirpated in the late 80’s due to the overgrazing.

In 2001 a wealthy hotelier from Florida purchased 23,000 acres immediately down canyon from us. He intended to make it into an upscale hunting and retreat lodge, and as part of his plan he ended cattle grazing in our valley. None of the other landowners seem interested in cattle, so we’ve been cattle free since 2001.

The small creek running through our property quickly responded to the absence of cattle by sprouting riparian vegetation, especially willows and cottonwoods. In the spring of 2008 I had arranged with the local game warden to introduce a pair of beaver into our creek. When I arrived in Grand Junction to be on hand and welcome the beaver, the game warden told me he was swamped and wouldn’t be able to bring the beaver up to our place for another month.

I was disappointed, but when I arrived at our camp, I was pleasantly surprised to find the beginnings of a dam… the little buggers had found their own way to our place! In the seven years since, the number of dams has fluctuated with the drought, but this summer there were more that 10 dams. The beaver have also moved downstream and made an impact there, although not always positive for the lodge people. However they are learning to appreciate the beaver for their ability to restore riparian habitat in semi-arid locations.

Needless to say, we now have a thriving wetland community and are thrilled – rehabilitation of our tiny creek over time thanks to beaver.

Thank you, Dougald, for sharing this important story first hand! What a fantastic illustration of a very crucial axiom!

Keep the cows out of the stream and the willow will come.

Let the willow grow and the beaver will come.

When the beavers come back, the stream is restored.

Here endeth the lesson.