Mr. Misunderstood: Your Neighborhood Beaver
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Leave it to beaver— as North America’s largest rodent, they have a hefty amount of influence on our lands.
Second only to humans for their ability to shape the landscape, they dam waterways to create ponds for swimming, foraging, lodging and protection against predators. These dams not only create a better living space for beavers, but for other wildlife and, critically, juvenile salmon that also need spaces to forage and hide from predators.
You may already be well-acquainted with the signs of a beaver nearby. As herbivores, beavers love to chew on almost anything they can get their paws on, leaving a breadcrumb trail of gnawed trees and shrubs. You may also notice high waters or flooding in the area.
While beavers benefit the ecosystem as a whole, there can still be complications that come with these industrious little neighbors. Thanks to a Streamflow Restoration grant from the Department of Ecology, our team can help those living in parts of the Snohomish River watershed to co-exist with beavers on their property.
The grant program, born from the 2018 Streamflow Restoration law, is meant to help restore our streams to healthier summer water flows that can support robust, sustainable salmon populations while also providing water for rural homes. By allowing beavers to live on your property and getting help to mitigate impacts to it, you’re allowing the ecological benefits to flow down the watershed.
“I think it's a great opportunity to have beavers on your property,” said Living with Beavers coordinator Elyssa Kerr. “They’re fun, they're cute. They bring with themselves all these other species through the habitats they create.”
Okay, But How Important Are These Habitat Benefits?
Last year’s WCC crew installing a pond leveler.
Let’s take a deeper dive into the restorative properties of beaver dams.
While beavers are impressive engineers in their own right, their dams aren’t impenetrable barriers to water. Rather, they redirect the flow both outwards and down into the streambed. This downward redirection helps recharge the groundwater in areas that would otherwise be more susceptible to drought in the summer. In turn, the wetland or pond created by the dam acts as a natural water storage area throughout the year.
With climate change causing stronger storm events that lead to flooding and turn rivers into rapids, this slower waterflow acts as a counterbalance. Additionally, pollutants typically carried downstream are captured in the still waters. Sediment settles, rather than disrupting water quality and salmon habitat, and healthy bacteria break down most of the pollutants that may have been flowing downriver.
In the end, the habitat created by beavers helps develop a healthier, more diverse ecosystem for the greater landscape.
Living with Beavers
How do you live with a beaver on your land? How do you protect your home or outbuildings and your trees? It may be tempting to remove a beaver either through hunting or trapping, but know that the break likely won’t last for long. Beaver relocation is a temporary solution if your property is a great habitat. Beavers migrate to empty domains once they mature to adulthood, so if you’ve got a prime spot, you’ll likely see one again soon.
“I think there is this kind of fear surrounding [beavers], but on the flipside, we have these really simple solutions that can help us manage those potentially negative impacts of beavers while retaining all of these benefits,” said Kerr.
In Lake Stevens, our field crew installed a pond leveler when a beaver dam caused water to encroach on someone’s property. This beaver device controls the maximum water level so that flooding is no longer a threat, making it possible for the dam to stay in place. In turn, the neighborhood still gets to enjoy the other wildlife that arrived with the created habitat: pileated woodpeckers, otters, muskrats and a myriad of other birds and insects.
If you have a beaver living near or on your property, the next right step for you to take is to seek professional guidance. If you live within the Streamflow Restoration Grant area (pictured right), we can help you afford free plants for the new beaver wetland, exclusion fencing to protect large trees, and pond levelers.
The grant also supports water storage for small farms and rural homes, as well as wetland restoration. Our staff are available to provide advice specific to your property through a free site visit, regardless of your location. To learn more, please contact Elyssa Kerr at ekerr@snohomishcd.org.
