WELLS, Nevada — Horace Smith blew up many beaver dams in his life.
A rancher here in northeastern Nevada, he often used dynamite to fight animals. He is not out of meanness or cruelty. It was a battle over water. Smith accused Beaver of flooding some of his property, the Cottonwood Ranch, and drying out others.
But his son Azzie, who eventually took over the ranch, makes peace. And he says that having Beaver work the earth is one of the best things he’s done.
“They are still very controversial,” said Smith, who lost his father in 2014. People are waking up. “
Smith has become one of a growing number of ranchers, scientists and other “beaver followers” as global warming exacerbates droughts, floods and wildfires. They see beavers not just as helpers, but as furry, climate-resilient weapons.
When Nevada suffered its worst drought on record last year, Beaver’s pool provided his cattle with plenty of water. When the rains fell strangely hard and fast, a vast network of dams held back the torrents of water down the mountain and protected his hay crop. It spreads over flowing marshes, clearing water, creating new pastures, and creating buffers against wildfires.
Sure, Bieber can be a complicated partner. A wild rodent, about the size of a basset hound, obsessed with building dams. When conflict arises, it probably will, but I can’t talk about it.
Beavers flood roads, fields, timber forests, and other areas that people want dry. They cut down trees without considering whether humans like to stand. Following complaints, the federal government killed about 25,000 beavers last year.
But beavers can also store large amounts of water for free. This is becoming increasingly important in the dry west. And they don’t just help with drought. Reduces erosion and recharges groundwater. And in the wetlands created by beavers, Additional benefits of keeping carbon stash Out of the atmosphere.
On top of all this, rodents have a double duty of the environment. Because we are also tackling another crisis that humans have unleashed: rampant biodiversity loss. Their wetlands are increasingly recognized for creating habitat for a myriad of species, from salmon to grouse.
Bieber might say wait a minute. In Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming, the Bureau of Land Management works with partners to build beaver-like dams that real beavers claim and expand. I hope In California, the new state budget has earmarked about $1.5 million annually to restore animals for climate resilience and biodiversity benefits.
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“We have to get the beavers back to work,” said Wade Crowfoot, California Secretary of Natural Resources. said at this year’s webinar“Full Beaver Employment” (Beaver devotees want to note that animals work for free.)
Farther east, where water and beavers are more abundant, the job market is less hot. But I have a project. In Maryland, a group is trying to lure beavers to clean the water that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. A Wisconsin study found that beavers could significantly reduce flooding in some of Milwaukee County’s most vulnerable areas.
According to two scientists who study beavers and hydrology, Chris Jordan of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and Emily Fairfax of California State University, Channel Islands, instead of killing the beavers, the federal government will kill them. It should be accepted as an important component of climate adaptation. .
“It may seem cliche to say that beavers are an important part of a country’s climate action plan, but the reality is that beavers are a force of 15 to 40 million highly skilled environmental engineers.” , Dr. Jordan and Dr. Fairfax write this year.and Perspective article in the research journal WIREs Water.
Dr. Fairfax’s recent research shows how The beaver complex interacts with wildfire. So far, her findings indicate they’re too wet to burn. But that could change as climate change makes wildfires more intense, she said.
“We can no longer afford to oppose them,” she and Dr. Jordan write. “We have to work with them.”
Caroline Nash, a river scientist at consulting firm CK Blueshift LLC, who published a study on beaver-related restoration, emphasized that projects should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
“It’s all about identifying where beaver survival interests align with human survival interests, and they don’t always align,” Dr. Nash said. “And I think to suggest that they’re always in line is creating a recipe for shattering hopes and expectations and losing trust.”
Before Europeans arrived in North America, beaver engineering helped shape the landscape and hydrology of the continent from coast to coast. By the late 1800s it had been driven to near extinction by hunters. As their numbers increased, so did conflict, partly thanks to a reintroduction program that began a century ago. Canada), the people of the lowlands did not want their property back in the swamp.
Beavers build dams with logs, sticks, stones, and mud to create deeper water and help fend off predators like bears. I stockpile food below. The beaver’s front teeth are orange with hardened iron for gnawing trees.
Experts say that human-beaver conflicts can be resolved without killing the beavers. Paint and fencing can keep the wood from gnawing. Systems like the Beaver Crook secretly undo manual labor with pipes draining water from beaver colonies even as the beavers continue to nest. Proponents say such measures are actually a more effective solution than getting rid of the animals, as new beavers tend to migrate to empty habitats.
When coexistence is not possible, more groups and private companies are trying to move the annoying beavers rather than kill them.
The Tulalip Tribe, a federally recognized tribal organization just north of Seattle, relocates unwanted beavers to land managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
The driving force behind this group was the desire to expand the extraordinary salmon habitat provided by the beaver, a species of cultural and economic importance. When they started working in 2014, the Tulalip had to exercise their sovereignty treaty right to move the beaver. This was because it was illegal in their area under Washington state law. After lobbying, beaver migration is now legal statewide, and the tribe is advising state officials on programs to train others in best practices.
One thing we’ve learned is keeping the Bieber family together.
“If the whole family is there, they’re much more likely to stay where we put them,” Alves said. “Beavers tend to form very tight family ties. there is.”
However, it is illegal to move beavers (and other wildlife) in many states.
And the officially sanctioned Bieber killings continue. Suzanne Bond, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs a program that traps, traps, and shoots tens of thousands of beavers each year, is reviewing the science involved. , “Addressing beaver damage and impacts with non-lethal mitigation techniques.”
One of the reasons Mr. Smith’s father was furious with the beaver was that during the spring thaw, the sides of the beaver’s dam burst, sending harmful sediment into his hayfield. But young Smith decided to try a different approach to cattle management. I moved the cattle around my property and spent less time around the stream. This allowed shrubs and trees to grow along the banks, making the whole area more stable. If the beaver dam eventually breaks, it will break in the middle and the water wave will stay in the channel.
Over time, the beaver expanded the wetlands. A new meadow grew. The willow sprouted from the beaver dam and took root where the animal was anchored. The water is clear. The fish and frogs are back.
“The only time we cross with beavers is when they start building dams on our irrigation canals,” Smith said. “But we’ve learned how to dissuade them from doing that.” Usually pulling the dam out a few times will do the trick, he added.
One of the factors that contributed to the success of this partnership was Smith’s flexibility. For example, Bieber completely rerouted his one section of the stream. But Smith doesn’t see the change as good or bad. The most important thing is how much water they store on the land.
More than ever, he said, “Water is liquid gold.”