08/15/07 Beavers and dams

You know, most wildlife can really be interesting. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to talk about an animal people have studied for years. Beavers are busy little creatures and can be constructive or destructive depending which way you look at them. Their dams and lodges are a marvel of workmanship (or should that be workbeavership?). Anyway they are impressive considering they are only made of mud and sticks. But, if you only see the trees they have chewed down, the burrows they make that undercut stream banks, and the inconvenience their ponds present while trying to through an area then they seem pretty destructive. Beaver dams change stream ecosystems so different species of flora and fauna flourish or maybe disappear. But, all in all, most biologists and ecologists agree beavers are beneficial to streams. Beaver ponds improve the water quality of streams by slowing drainage of the land, prevent downstream flooding, and allow sediment to settle out of turbid water. It's just natural. Now, I have to wonder why some ecologists feel the need to tear out human-made dams on our rivers and streams; after all they are designed after beaver dams and aren't humans natural? Beaver dams sometimes impede fish passageman-made dams have fish bypasses and fish ladders. Man-made dams slow the drainage of large land areas, prevent downstream flooding, and allow sediment settling, loose and create habitat, advance or inhibit certain speciesall natural just like beaver dams. Think about it. I'm Jeff Keane. The Conservation Voices Summer 2005