For years I’ve been saying that Washington state was the very best place to be a beaver because people understood more about your benefits and knew better how to deal with you. I guess that’s not always the case because this news report made me chuckle, especially the part about the beaver driving away the salmon.
I guess nothing is ever perfect when it comes to beavers.
There were once 400 million beavers in North America until trapping nearly wiped them out. Miles O’Brien travels from a Wyoming ranch to a Minnesota lab tracing the rebound of these industrious rodents. Rancher Tom Chant is a “beaver believer” after seeing his dry and dusty creek turn lush once beaver dams moved in, proving nature’s original engineers may be the West’s best hope against drought. Dam it; Beavers to the Rescue | Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien
I was happy to see this recent letter-to-the-editor.
Beavers are essential to the health of rivers and their surrounding habitat. By building dams, beavers form deep, slow-moving pools that provide the perfect habitat for fish, especially during periods of extreme heat like the one we have been experiencing. Creating these deep pools lowers the water temperature, making the conditions ideal for many of New Mexico’s native fish species such as cutthroat trout and chub.
By slowing the water, dams reduce the risk of flooding, providing fish with a safer environment. With less flooding, sediment and organic material can settle to the bottom of the river, improving water quality and promoting insect life, thereby increasing available food. Additionally, beavers create wetland environments along rivers by dispersing water over a larger area and expanding the riparian zone. This stimulates the growth of more wildlife while also reducing the dangers of wildfires and drought. Beavers are returning across the state, but for them to fully resurge, more people need to adopt their presence.
Elison Quirante-Bonnell Santa Fe
Santa Fe
