Pity the poor beaver

It's no wonder we're known as The Beaver State; aside from the coyote and wolf, no other mammal - including cows - have figured so dramatically in the commercial history of the state of Oregon as the North American beaver. Wars were fought over beaver, and much of western Oregon was impacted by the trapping of beaver and the sale of their fur. So much so that by the mid-1800s they were almost extinct from over-trapping.

Our native American beaver is the largest native rodent in North America. Adults tip the scales at about 40 pounds, measure more than three feet in length, including the tail, and their nose and ears seal out water. They are semi-aquatic, have webbed hind feet, very large incisor teeth and a broad, flat tail.

The beaver's sharp incisors - used to fell trees and peel bark while eating - are harder on the front surface than on the back, therefore the back surface wears faster, leaving a sharp, hardened front edge, enabling them to cut through wood like it was butter.

It's not an exaggeration to say that Oregon - and most of the Northwest for that matter - was built on the back of the poor old beaver. Right from the beginning of man's interactions with wildlife, native peoples trapped beaver and manufactured warm, sturdy coats from the fur.

When Captain Robert Gray sailed over the bar of the Columbia River (then known as the Oregon River) in May of 1792, the life of the beaver, the river and the Northwest changed forever. The river was renamed the Columbia after Captain Gray's ship, the Columbia Rediviva. But that was nothing compared to the impact on the economy of the Northwest after Gray spent nine days on the river bartering for fur pelts with the native people before sailing away to England.

All it took was one look at those beautiful fur coats, and the local merchants sent trading ships off from Britain for Oregon. Beaver robes were traded for beads, baled up and sold to hat-makers in Britain and Europe.

Fur hats were shipped to the newly created United States of America by the millions. In Europe the demand for beaver fur was so intensive, European beavers were exterminated in Russia, with only a small population surviving in Sweden and Norway. That put the demand for raw material on the North American beaver, who, by the mid-1800s, were almost wiped out as well. The only thing that saved them from extinction was the difficulty of finding beaver and the evolution of the fashion and clothing industry.

One of the leaders in a quest to find things beaver do other than give up their lives for fun and profit is Suzanne Fouty, hydrologist with the Whitman Ranger District of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in Northeastern Oregon. Fouty conducted a beaver workshop in July of 2010, and her findings are illuminating:

• Beaver dams create ponds of varying depths, add wood to stream channels and create side channels.

• Beavers help to create viable riparian habitat and maintain water levels for healthy vegetation, increasing species diversity.

• Beaver ponds elevate groundwater tables and bring about irrigation of valley floors, thereby shifting vegetation from drought-tolerant species to more diverse water-dependent species.

• Beaver ponds reconnect streams and meanders to a more abundant water supply and increase riparian species diversity. The result is that the valley floor becomes an active flood plain, decreasing flood magnitudes.

• Elevated ground water from beaver ponds lowers water temperatures and creates better conditions for anadromous fish populations.

• Stable beaver ponds will lead to increased woody riparian vegetation that stabilizes stream banks and makes the resulting habitat resistant to stream erosion.

• Nutrients are recycled within the mineral and carbon cycles more efficiently because of stable beaver ponds.

• Water quality is improved through elevated water tables and cooler temperatures because of stable beaver ponds.

• Water quantity - essentially controlled by the function of precipitation and snow packs - is greatly influenced by beaver ponds that elevate and store water.

• As water levels and quantity increase because of beaver ponds, summer base flows will increase and be cooler.

• Beaver ponds increase water stored in the ground and in plants that will slow the rate at which water leaves a watershed.

• Ecosystem stability will be maintained through stable beaver ponds, even under climate change. Flood damage is reduced, and as a result, a more stable ecosystem will supply greater biodiversity.

Go Beavers!