In mid-November, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released the draft of its “Beaver Management and Conservation Strategy” (“Beaver Strategy”) study and invited the public to review and comment on it. As stated in the document’s Executive Summary, the strategy’s purpose “is to increase and sustain the prevalence of beaver and beaver-influenced wetlands in suitable habitats for the benefit of Colorado’s stream and wetland ecosystems and the array of wildlife species that utilize them.”
Beavers are recognized as a keystone species, what the document calls, “hav[ing] a disproportionate influence on an ecosystem, relative to their abundance.” It continues, “By constructing dams and lodges, and excavating ponds and canals, beaver slow the flow of water, create aquatic habitat, connect streams and rivers to their floodplains, and collect sediment and organic matter in the calmer water upstream of dams,” in addition to other factors.
Beavers were once widespread across the state, including the mountains and eastern plains. However, white settlement eventually dramatically reduced their population through depredation and habitat loss. Only in recent decades have researchers investigated the extent of their absence on the degradation of the streams and wetlands they once occupied.
Dallas May, a rancher in eastern Colorado and CPW commissioner, told The Sopris Sun, “When I joined the commission, beavers were considered a nuisance. I wanted to show how beneficial they can be.” He has done so by managing beavers on his property by “stay[ing] out of their way.” The result is a 4,000-acre wetland on Sand Creek before it joins the Arkansas River that has greatly improved water retention and storage in a dry landscape and weathered recent wildfire and flooding incidents.
CPW’s change of heart was echoed by Joseph Livingston, its statewide public information officer, who told The Sun, “A broad spectrum of folks are becoming more interested” in developing a strategy to constructively manage beavers.
Initially, several internal CPW groups met last fall and winter, after which a broad spectrum of external organizations and interest groups were engaged in discussions. Included among those were representatives of the two Ute tribal communities in Colorado. This was followed by a public comment period in August.
Finally, the draft Beaver Strategy document was written during the fall “by the core team and reviewed by designated CPW staff members … before being released for public feedback” in November. Links to the draft document and to the public comment form are at the end of this article. Comments will be accepted through Dec. 17.
Ecologist Delia Malone, of Redstone-based ColoradoWild, was one of the external stakeholders involved with formulating the document. Although she felt that, “We need [beavers] everywhere,” she would “focus on the Western Slope” on public lands and “the remaining natural habitat.”
While much of the Beaver Strategy document is focused on reintroducing and managing beaver populations into “suitable habitats” (per Livingston: “improving habitats where it’s beneficial to the ecosystem”), it also addresses issues of beaver-human conflict, notably in rural communities where roads may be flooded or drainage ditches blocked through beaver activities.
Both Livingston and Malone agreed that beaver-human conflicts need to be resolved through nonlethal methods. These can include protecting trees from beaver cutting, installing flow devices to reduce flooding and, when necessary, relocating beavers using live traps. Trapping can be used in conjunction with reintroducing animals into areas they previously occupied. Malone participated in one such project on the North Fork Gunnison River watershed this summer, saying, “We had a nice introduction of beavers on private property.”
Crucial to the success of the new management strategy will be improving data on beaver populations. Until now, much of the information on the animals’ whereabouts has been through hunters. (CPW allows permitted beaver hunting annually from October through April). Although the department got some idea of beaver numbers, Livingston pointed out, “We don’t get any location data.” He continued, “Data collection will be a really big part” of the management strategy going forward.
Likewise, identifying suitable habitat — especially degraded areas of former beaver occupation — is also a high priority. Malone recently undertook a survey of Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument with the goal of “restoring the ecosystem” that was significantly altered in the former military installation. The original stream channel through the camp will be restored, which will raise the water table and reestablish the meanders and wetlands — all, of course, with the help of reintroduced beavers.
The survey document can be found at www.bit.ly/CPWbeaver-survey and the public comment page is at Beaver Conservation and Management Strategy | Engage CPW