I went out to photograph the mist swirling over the lake on a late October morning in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Before I could even set up my tripod, this very determined beaver swam into the shot creating beautiful wave patterns in the golden-hued water. Later in the day I was visiting the Bioneers website and noticed a wonderful article, Beaver Believer: How Massive Rodents Could Restore Landscapes and Ecosystems At Scale . Everyone knows that beavers are very industrious, chewing down trees, building dams and lodges, as well as swimming from here to there. The article is an interview with Ben Goldfarb who grew up in New York State and is the author of EAGER. What I didn't know is that beavers are “one of the primary movers and shakers in North American ecosystems—crucial for conservation and carbon sequestration, for storing water in the face of droughts and creating firebreaks on the landscape.”
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The article is a really good read and ends with these words from Ben, “But the beavers are an amazing ray of light in some ways. They are one of history’s great conservation success stories. The species was basically on the brink of extinction, certainly in the continental United States around the turn of the century, and now there are 15 million of them. They are proof that species can recover.
“Beavers are incredible agents of restoration and positive change on the landscape. They accomplish so much and prove that our efforts to restore nature are not futile, and that positive change really is possible. Beavers are a wonderful, hopeful species at a time when a lot of people need hope.”
Thanks for reading my ramble. I hope you enjoyed it. 🥰 I would love it if you would ...
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