~~* The Singing Falls Stream Restoration Project *~~
~~* Beavers = Salmon by Leonard and Lois Houston *~~
My name is Leonard Houston, my wife Lois and I are native Oregonians at or near the half century mark in years. We are no strangers to forest industry having spent our honeymoon in a tent fulfilling a BLM contract. We were married in spring 1981, packed our truck and headed for the mountains. Along with our best man, we were off to install shade blocks in front of Douglas fir seedlings.
We have been married over 26 years,and have spent most of those years either contracting in various forestry work capacities or helicopter logging. Over the years we planted trees, piled brush, performed precommercial thinning, noxious weed removal and other forest service related contracts.
We spent many years traveling the Pacific Northwest with Columbia Helicopters, I worked as a hook tender and assistant project manager and Lois was a ticket person.
Before we were married we both grew up in rural Douglas County, Oregon logging communities. Lois' father drove log truck with his daughter following in his footsteps. When I met my wife she was driving a beautiful lemon yellow Peterbilt for Gary Marlin, trucking. My father was a lifetime employee of Roseburg Lumber Company. I consider our cultural roots here very deep stemming back to the pioneering days.
Our weekends were spent in the forest woodcutting for our winter firewood supply and hunting for deer and elk for the winter's meat. Fishing for trout was always fun and provided a welcome meal. Some weekends were just spent hiking, camping or berry picking. No matter what the occasion, we were always in close proximity to our forests and streams. We have passed this legacy of time spent in the outdoors to our children and grandchildren and we have always taught them to appreciate nature and respect nature also.
The forests have changed much over the years. Many towering stands of old growth are now clear cuts. The bubbling brooks have became only trickles between the pools. The gravel beds of the South Umpqua River and the main stems of its tributaries, once spawning beds for salmon and steelhead, are now often barren rock bars.
These conditions have constrained us to give back to the earth that our ancestors have so richly benefited from. As a result we have entered into the exciting field of Ecological Restoration, settling once again in the forest of our youth. It is our childhood memories that empower our vision to restore that which is to that which once was.
While considering what way in which to better serve our new found purpose, we contemplated many options and settled on what seemed to be one of the more critical issues of our day; stream and river quality and water quantity. Looking to riparian restoration and stream enhancement as a means to rejuvenate salmon runs and rearing waters, we needed to look to the historical past for clues. It is said that at one time one could swim a horse across our streams, the pools were so deep. Many of the old timers have said that one could walk across the shallows of streams on the backs of salmon; so abundant were they in our waters during the anadromous fish runs. The streams ran red with coho, silver with steelhead and blue with eels.
The clear-cutting of old growth timber combined with the removal of large woody debris from streams has been widely blamed for present stream conditions. Past management practices are certainly partially to blame, but in looking further back we find there is a missing element which could possibly be even a more significant cause of watershed decline.
In the early 1800's, trapping of beavers was profitable. In fact, it was so lucrative that it led to the initial pioneer settling efforts here in Oregon, “The Beaver State“, and the near eradication of the species throughout the North West. Trapping of beavers was stopped in 1899 and did not reopen until again until1917. One of the significant changes came in 1931 when legislature granted the Game Commission authority to set laws governing trapping regulations.
Historically we did not understand the importance of the role this keystone species plays in watershed vitality. As a result we have relegated Castor Canadensis (the beaver) to the category of a “nuisance species” to be managed as a predator in the State of Oregon. Apart from the damage beavers cause, studies have found that beavers play a significant part in maintaining the health of watersheds in the Pacific Northwest and act as key agents in riparian ecology.
There are impressive examples in the arid climates of the Western United States of streams being returned to a year round flow with the addition of beavers. Beaver dams create special wetlands called 'flowages'. These are natures water reserves for watersheds. Almost one half of the threatened or endangered species of North America rely upon wetlands. iii Wetlands themselves are one of the most, if not the most, endangered habitats in North America.
The benefits of active beaver populations includes reduced stream sedimentation, stream temperature moderation, higher dissolved oxygen levels, overall improved water quality, increased natural water storage capabilities within watersheds and reduced stream velocities.
These benefits improve and create habitat for many other species including endangered salmon, river otters, sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans and the other riparian and aquatic species that sustain them.
Recent studies indicate that coho salmon fry reared in beaver ponds find more food, refuge from flood and predators and may reach twice the size of juvenile salmon that are not raised in beaver ponds. Beaver ponds also provide cool pools in which salmonids find shelter over the long, hot summer.
The live trapping and relocating of beavers has long been recognized as a beneficial wildlife management practice and has been successfully utilized to restore and maintain stream ecosystems for over fifty years throughout the United States.
With all of these factors in mind, Lois and I have formed the Beaver Advocacy Committee. To facilitate our endeavor, we became members of the South Umpqua Rural Community Partnership (SURCP) a South Douglas County community based nonprofit under whose umbrella we are sponsored. We hope to be able to collaboratively work with local watershed councils, agencies and interested groups to effectively accomplish our purpose.
One of the goals of the Beaver Advocacy Committee is to assist in the relocation of beavers into their historic habitats. Especially in places where they are not likely to cause problems but also to private lands that would welcome their presence. This will provide a natural mechanism for improving environmental conditions of Oregon's riparian ecosystems, while helping to offset the cost of expensive publicly funded engineering projects to restore healthy instream conditions. Another goal we are working towards includes aquatic habitat restoration which will re-establish native indigenous food sources in the hope of promoting natural beaver reintroduction.
Finally, we also intend to initiate programs that will educate and inform private stakeholders, State and Federal agencies, as well as the general public about the benefits of co-harmonious existence with the beaver through non-lethal management practices.
Water is our most important resource. Beavers are the ancient and natural managers of this resource in our watersheds. Their genius in this regard is fine tuned and unparalleled and certainly the most cost effective management tool there is.
beavers@surcp.org
TOP
