How to give a beaver dam:

(0:00) From Kboo Community Radio and the Old Mole Variety Hour, (0:04) you are listening to How to Give a Beaver Dam. I am your host, Artemisia. (0:10) Today on our program, we’ll explore the work of a local environmental organization, (0:15) their efforts to save a keystone species, and how in that process, they become like one.

(0:26) By definition, B.A.R.K. means to make known by persistent outcry. (0:32) B.A.R.K. is an environmental non-profit that acts as a watchdog for Mt. Hood National Forest.

(0:38) Akin to the town barker, they alert the communities around Mt. Hood to the many (0:42) things happening on the mountain. B.A.R.K.’s mission is to transform Mt.

Hood National Forest (0:47) into a place where natural processes prevail, wildlife thrives, and where local communities (0:53) have a social, cultural, and economic investment in its restoration and preservation. (0:59) 

They operate two branches, the Forest Watch Program, which tracks timber sales on Forest (1:04) Service land. Using ground data, aka ground truthing, they collaborate with the public (1:09) to protect the forest from destructive projects.

The other branch is the Restoration Program, (1:15) which focuses on Mt. Hood’s water storage by preserving wetlands via beaver habitat. (1:20) Most wetland mapping in Oregon was done in the 1980s, and given the technology at the time, (1:26) many wetlands were mapped improperly or missed entirely.

By exploring wetlands on Mt. Hood, (1:32) the team is able to track where is safe for potential beaver implementation, (1:36) and properly map the wetlands for informed forest utilization. (1:41) B.A.R.K. hosts programs for the Portland community to get their feet wet with volunteer (1:45) opportunities like ground truthing, wetland mapping, willow planting, and habitat surveying.

(1:51) Signups for all of these and more about B.A.R.K. can be found at B.A.R.K.out.org. 

(1:58) Today, we will be following along a habitat survey day. (2:03) Place yourself into the forest. Our journey begins with B.A.R.K.’s fearless leader, Meg, (2:13) a beaver enthusiast and wetland facts extraordinaire.

Meg analyzes aerial imagery (2:19) of the forest and leads us on a wetland bushwhack to discover its potential as a beaver habitat. 

(2:26) We can just kind of go like, on the edge of this wetland area and kind of go (2:30) straight this way and then eventually we’ll get to the open area. 

(2:35) The forest is bathed in sunlight, but in the understory below, we bask in the shade.

(2:41) Other folks on the survey come from all walks of life, retirees, students, (2:47) business owners, and craftswomen alike. One student, Ash, collaborates with B.A.R.K. for (2:54) their final project on wetland ecology. 

For my G.I.S., and what if, do you guys have like the (3:00) maps for timber sales and then what you’ve I.D.ed as your like wetland like boundaries (3:06) because then I could make that like what impacts did B.A.R.K. have on the environment? That would (3:12) be awesome.

There’s a G.I.S. student at O.S.U. who just did a project looking at some of our (3:17) sites in the riverside area and found that the N.B.B.I.’s like the greenness and the moisture (3:22) content were like much higher in the beaver occupied areas which I was like obviously but (3:27) it was cool to see the research. 

Another volunteer, Josh, uses B.A.R.K.’s expeditions as an opportunity (3:33) to explore the forest again like he did as a kid. He is an expert bushwhacker and guided (3:38) us on game trails for the path of least resistance to the wetland.

I grew up outside of Napa (3:45) on Mountain George in a mix of redwoods and chaparral and oak and manzanita. (3:53)

 That’s one of the things I admired most about these survey walks. Due to the economic (3:57) accessibility, B.A.R.K. hosts the opportunity to connect with people outside of our most (4:01) frequent circles.We all came to have reverence for the natural environment together.

(4:13) Bushwhacking deeper into the forest, we come across a complex life form (4:17) dotted with bright oranges and purples, a symbiotic partnership between two organisms, (4:24) fungi and algae. (4:31) It kind of almost seems like it’s the normal lichen that’s just rotted in a weird way.

(4:39) We start to see signs that we are getting close. (4:43) It’s a swamp cabbage or skunk cabbage aka swamp lantern. (4:49) Skunk cabbage grows low to the ground with large ovular leaves and yellow flowers, (4:55) most easily recognized by its foul smell used to attract its pollinators, (4:59) flies and beetles. As a wetland obligate, if you see a skunk cabbage, even if the ground is not wet, (5:07) you know you are in a wetland. 

As we approach the potential beaver habitat, (5:12) you can start to hear the river that feeds it. The canopy opens up, so we stop for a grass chat (5:21) and a quick snack of wood sorrel, a small clover-like plant with a delightfully sour bite.

(5:27) They have that kind of sour flavor. It’s because of the oxalic acid. 

You know how to tell the (5:34) difference between a sedge, a grass and a reed? This is on the bingo card last night. (5:48) Grasses have joints when the cops aren’t around. (5:51) Or grasses are hollow all the way to the ground if you’re in a family setting.

(5:55) But yeah, sedges have edges. They come straight out of the center. They have sort of, if you look (6:01) at them straight down, they almost have like a triangular shape, very minorly, but they’re (6:06) flat.

There’s no joints or anything. Sedges really enjoy the wetter soil and stuff. (6:14) Reeds or rushes, they can be interchangeable in some cases, are perfectly round.

They’re (6:19) like tubular. Tubular, dude. And then grasses will be sort of like a reed canary grass or a lot of (6:26) lawn grasses will come up and then have a joint.

And grasses actually, despite colloquially they (6:35) are all called grasses, grasses don’t like wetlands. They don’t prefer to have their feet wet. (6:42) And so when you go sometimes from like a really grassy area to a really sedgy area, you’re like, (6:47) oh, we’re in the wet spot now.

Beaver-created wetlands are a hot spot for biodiversity. (6:54) This is why beavers are known as a keystone species, one whose effect is disproportionate (6:59) compared to its population. They holistically nurture a forest through the creation of these (7:05) wetlands.

These wetlands are essential in dampening the havoc caused by forest fires, (7:11) not only acting as a safe zone for fleeing animals, but as a seed bank for enhanced forest (7:17) recovery. They act as a water filter, storing, slowing, protecting from drought and flood, (7:23) while reducing sedimentation and pollutants. These wetland nurseries increase the complexity (7:30) of plant life, allowing the wetland area to become a hub of activity, essential for tiny aquatic (7:36) bugs to bats, birds, wolves, and elk.

In Oregon, 39% of threatened or endangered species rely (7:44) directly or indirectly on beaver-created wetlands. So by reinforcing beaver populations, (7:51) we in turn strengthen a multitude of threatened and endangered species. 

(7:59) Each potential beaver habitat site needs some key components in order to support beavers and (8:04) the amazing work they do.

Meg likes to say, sort of like you have to be a beaver to get a beaver. (8:10) Most sites need more woody food. Beavers prefer willow, vine maple, and cottonwood trees.

(8:15) They also need ponded water at three feet year-round to stay safe. Barks volunteers (8:21) go into a site and add those key components by doing willow plantings or building beaver dam (8:27) analogs to increase water accumulation. This will then entice beavers to recolonize the area (8:34) on their own, taking up the mantle of maintaining and increasing the beaver habitat that is so (8:40) essential to supporting a flourishing forest ecosystem.

Understanding the wetland topography (8:47) of our forests to entice the beavers begins with data collection. Meg enters what she sees (8:53) into a statewide beaver wetland database. So yeah, I’m just going to start up our data sheet here.

(9:01) Then we can start looking at like, okay, what kind of beaver habitat are we working with? We know (9:05) it’s a wetland. We’re looking at water cover. We’re looking at woody food.

We’re looking at (9:10) herbaceous food and some like smaller parameters. Human beaver conflict is not something we have to (9:16) worry about a whole lot in our area just because we’re on the national forest. We’re not really on (9:21) the boundary at all either.

We’re like right smack in the middle, but so far we’re seeing kind of (9:25) like the open grassy area, which I was kind of hoping it’d be a little bit wetter. It’s not (9:31) immediately like, oh my god, this is perfect beaver habitat, but it’s promising. We’re in the center (9:38) of a small valley in the middle of the forest, a marshy field freckled with bush-like trees, (9:44) and a thin river winds into a pond at the base of the wetland.

There is a downed tree, bird songs, (9:51) and the most newts I’ve ever seen in one place. Meg continues to point out the details that make (9:57) up this vast and complex ecosystem. Oh, that’s a female.

They do the most classic wetland sounds. (10:06) Yeah, I like that. It’s like the squelching and the red-winged blackbird.

It’s supposed to be the (10:11) sound of the squirrel. Oh, I see that. Oh, yeah.

And then it looks like a female red-winged blackbird (10:17) on that log walking across. 

You know what the newts are doing when they’re like, let’s get it on? (10:25) It’s the male holding on to the female and rubbing his scent on her forehead. (10:30) It comes from his chin, so he’s like rubbing his chin on her forehead, (10:33) and then his scent is being the indicator.

And if the female is like, oh, you smell like a good mate, (10:40) then she’ll go and put her egg packet somewhere, and the male will go and fertilize it. (10:45) I just listened to Ame explain this to two 13-year-old boys the other day, (10:49) because they were like, they’re having! Like, no, technically they’re not.

(10:55) And we were like, technically they’re just flirting. And they were like, oh, okay. 

(10:59) Having determined this wetland site usable, we follow aerial imagery back into the wooded area (11:05) to find another wetland.

There are forested wetlands, but they’re way harder to find, (11:12) because on the map, on the aerial imagery, they just look like a forest. Yeah, totally. And they (11:17) can be really deceiving.

Even people that don’t really know wetlands will show up to an emergent (11:23) wetland and be like, oh, this seems kind of like a wetland. But forested wetland, (11:28) I think it’s a little, defies the average person’s expectations of what a wetland is going to look (11:34) like, because usually it’s like trees or wetland in people’s minds. It’s not actually always the (11:39) case.

But yeah, forested wetlands, you will see these broadly with alder, cottonwood at lower (11:46) elevations, birch maybe, aspen, not really on our side of the mountain, but versus like, (11:54) you’re not going to see a forested wetland that has conifers, maybe some like cedars, (12:00) potentially some lodgepole pines, just because they are the pine in our area that does the best (12:05) with sort of wet feet, as I like to say. But primarily, you’re gonna see these like broader (12:12) leaved deciduous trees. 

The need for bark to do this kind of work has been around even well before (12:18) the recent layoffs and increase in timber quotas in the forest service.

When bark was formed in (12:23) the 90s, the forest service had a much heavier hand focused on cutting down mature and old growth (12:29) trees, much to the detriment of the forest ecosystem. Bark stepped in as a grassroots (12:34) organization against those destructive processes. Their work has protected tens of thousands of (12:40) acres of trees from decades of destructive logging.

More recently, the forest service on Mount Hood (12:46) has had more science based reasons for cutting timber, but ultimately their bottom line is tied (12:51) to how much timber they can sell. So bark will continue to be a necessary force to protect the (12:57) forest from economically motivated projects. Because Mount Hood Forest Service does not have (13:02) the budget to employ a single full time wetland scientist, wetlands are rarely ever properly (13:07) delineated, which is the only regulatory way to protect them.

Additionally, the Forest Service (13:13) does not actively manage animals, only their habitat. Some of the Mount Hood staff are beaver (13:18) believers, but they are unable to survey for beaver habitat as part of their job. Although (13:23) beaver work has been done in the past because of the recent layoffs and increased timber quotas, (13:28) restoration work has been put on the back burner.

Bark is in a unique position to be able to do this (13:33) kind of work and is focused on maintaining a close relationship with the Forest Service for the (13:38) combined interest. Although bark and the Forest Service are in opposition sometimes, they primarily (13:43) work together. The Clackamas, Hood River, and Wasco collaborative groups are composed of Forest (13:49) Service staff, Warm Spring Tribal members, state agency staff, private landowners, recreation and (13:56) tourism members, and environmental nonprofits like bark.

These public collaboration groups discuss (14:02) upcoming Forest Service projects. Invested parties come from different backgrounds and have different (14:07) ideas of what’s best for Mount Hood, but they all come to discuss the fate of the forest together (14:12) to find what’s best for everyone. We near a clearing and immediately see signs of beavers.

(14:19) A long stick that has been chewed to a small point at the end is being rushed over. (14:32) Finally! Check it out. (14:36) And if someone wants to use that as a walking stick, there you go.

So we got the 45 degree angle. (14:41) It’s a little bit bigger, so they came at it from two directions, and you can see the teeth marks. (14:47) It’s a little wet, so it’s kind of curved on the end, but yeah, good find.

And if you can kind of, (14:53) if you kind of stand back and look at the bigger picture from where we are, there’s like a distinct (14:59) increase in the water level over there. I think that this is a really long, very old dam. (15:04) So we’re gonna poke around.

Yeah! We traverse along mats of plant matter that hold us above (15:11) the water table. As we approach the dam, we can climb up and are met with a pond rich with ducks (15:17) and water lilies. Why would there be two dams? Oh, they often make more than dam, more than one dam (15:23) rather.

It’s like more common than people realize. Usually it’s just they’ll make one dam and kind of (15:30) realize the hydrologic need for multiples, like five, ten, like a bunch of smaller dams. In a really (15:36) wide open floodplain like this, it is more common to see a lower number of dams.

It takes a lot of (15:41) work, you know, so they’re not going to build dams unless they really need to. But yeah, it’s very (15:46) common to see more than one. Meg leads us through the bog while pointing out aspects of her dam (15:51) survey.

This will be used to assess the wetlands potential for beaver implementation. So dam ID, (15:59) slide, creek. The first question is, what is the dam status? So the options are nascent, intact, (16:08) breached, or blown out.

Any guesses what we got going on? Intact. And then we’re going to measure (16:16) the height of the dam with my beautiful walking stick, aka my $10 broom handle with marker on it. (16:23) And we’re going to put that in our survey sheet, and it’ll tell us not only that there’s a dam, (16:28) yes or no, which is what our previous data sheet said, but also how much water is it impounding? (16:34) How big is it and how tall is it? You can roughly estimate how much water is puddling up behind it.

(16:41) I mean, this is deep enough water that they might have done a lodge in the past, but a lodge is a (16:47) lot of work. And if you’re not going to stick around for like generations, it’s like not usually worth (16:51) the work. But I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a bank den around here somewhere we can poke around, (16:56) see if we can find it.

They’re really hard to find. Very rarely find those unless the water (17:02) table drops and you can see them. But at that point, they’re not being used.

So TBD. We’re (17:08) going to go to this end, eat a snack, and then start our measuring tape. We’ve got some water (17:16) lilies here and some of the pond plant, and I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s in the (17:22) water lily family, I want to say.

Two different kinds of water plants, basically. We also have (17:26) this water mint, and I’m not sure if it’s native or not, but they’ll eat all of that, all that sort (17:31) of like herbaceous food. They’ll eat these sedges.

But then also over yonder, we see some trees, some (17:38) like smaller shrubby trees. Those are kind of the size that beavers like, that smaller thinner stuff. (17:43) We’ve got some cattails.

They’ll eat the roots of those sometimes. (17:48) It’s really cool to stand on the top. We can see that, you know, the water’s flowing over, (17:52) which doesn’t, isn’t a bad thing.

Dams are pretty watertight, but they’re, it’s not made out of (17:58) concrete, you know, so the water does seep through to the bottom, and it’s not like we’re stopping (18:03) to flow downstream if we beaver dam upstream. So that’s something that we make note of right there. (18:09) It’s kind of, it’s an old one, but you know, one of the things you’re looking for is that it’s made (18:13) out of beaver chew sticks, of course.

So would this be a good place to relocate a beaver too, (18:20) potentially? Our first question, of course, is, is it good beaver habitat? The second question is, (18:25) are there already beavers here? Because if there’s already beavers here, we would not want to put a (18:29) new family here because they’re super territorial, and they will kill each other. So we’ve established (18:35) that it’s pretty dang good beaver habitat. It could use some more woody food.

This is not a (18:40) huge amount of woody food, but you know, it’s a decent amount. There’s plenty of water, which is (18:46) great. There obviously was beaver activity here, which is telling us that it was excellent beaver (18:51) habitat at some point in the past.

The question now is, like, are there current beavers? My hunch (18:58) is that no, there are not current beavers here, but we would want to make absolutely sure before (19:02) we did any reintroductions, which would be doing further surveying up and down the creek, (19:07) and then also potentially putting wildlife cameras out. As we complete our work in the wetland (19:12) and journey back to the van, a group of self-proclaimed beaver believers rejoice over (19:18) the day together. Beavers cultivate a space for all kinds of critters to thrive and are present (19:24) in the face of catastrophe, making them critical to a prosperous forest.

In a way, BARC’s mission (19:30) to save a keystone species has made them akin to one. They foster connection between people from (19:37) all walks of life, building the groundwork of resilience to environmental disasters. (19:45) BARC serves our built and natural environment alike as a critical watchdog organization, (19:51) protecting and preserving what is not ours to take.

Environmental organizations hold us and (19:57) accountable when things slip through the cracks. Meg leaves us with this final thought. Action (20:04) is the antidote to despair.

Making a big splash is not required to still make an impact. Donating (20:11) and volunteering with local organizations is a great way to start. Find the thing you’re most (20:16) excited about, whether it’s wetlands or birds or removing invasives, and I bet there’s a group (20:21) dedicated to that very thing.

When everyone works together, change is made. If you would (20:28) like an outlet for all this newfound beaver stoke, please donate or volunteer with BARC (20:34) via their website barcout.org. You have been listening to How to Give a Beaver Dam from (20:41) Caboo Community Radio and the Old Mole Variety Hour. I am your host, Artemisia.

Thank you for (20:48) lending us your ear today.