Letter: San Luis Obispo Beaver Brigade is expanding
– Community and statewide support for the San Luis Obispo Beaver Brigade is expanding, as the number of protected beaver dams in the local area increases.
Beaver dams are flourishing in several locations in the county, and recent generous contributions by community members, including Atascadero City Council Member Charles Bourbeau, the Atascadero Kiwanis Club and other “Beaver Believers,” as well as support from the Rose Foundation California Wildlands Grassroots Fund have given the San Luis Obispo Beaver Brigade the tools to extend their efforts to monitor and protect beaver habitat.
Charles Bourbeau states, ”I am happy to support the efforts of the Beaver Brigade to protect beaver dams in the Salinas River and to educate the public about the important role that beavers play in protecting and enhancing the river. The Beaver Brigade’s continuous cleanup efforts in keeping the river clean are greatly appreciated.”
The dams that beavers build in rivers and streams slow the water down, spread it across the landscape, giving it time to sink into the groundwater table. These dams turn single thread streams into lush wetlands which act as fire buffers. Scientific studies have found that even during mega wildfires, beaver wetlands won’t burn. Beaver dams provide speed bumps to slow the effects of flooding and catch sediment before it gets to the ocean, holding it in the river channel. Dams catch pollutants, heavy metals and excess nutrients, and then the water resurfaces downstream cooler and cleaner, benefitting species such as Steelhead trout.
Challenges that beavers in the local Salinas River watershed have faced in recent years include vehicular traffic in the River as well as the presence of high water usage invasive plants. In order to protect beaver dam sites, the Beaver Brigade had recently installed two webcams to monitor beaver activity and ATV use in the Salinas River within Atascadero, documenting damage to two beaver dams and recording wildlife activity at the dams. With this new community and foundation support, the Beaver Brigade plans to install webcams at additional beaver dams in Atascadero and other parts of the county.
This expanded monitoring of wildlife will contribute more extensively to research carried out by eco hydrologist and beaver expert Dr. Emily Fairfax of the University of Minnesota, with webcam footage reviewed by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo College Corps Fellows interning for the Beaver Brigade. The additional funding will also allow the Beaver Brigade to extend the physical protection of the dams through the use of additional caution tape and signage explaining the benefits of beaver dams and asking ATV riders not to enter the areas that are cordoned off. Supplies for invasive plant removal, expanded community presentations, advocacy efforts and beaver habitat tours will all be made possible by the generous support flowing into the Beaver Brigade.
Audrey Taub, Founder and Executive Director of the SLO Beaver Brigade states, “We’ve been so encouraged by the effectiveness of our efforts to protect areas of the river by monitoring dams & cordoning off areas from vehicles. Within 3 weeks of protecting an area from vehicles, the beavers moved in and built a dam. We’re grateful for the off road drivers willing to use our trails instead of driving in the river.”
The SLO Beaver Brigade is a local organization fiscally sponsored by Ecologistics, Inc. The Brigade began in 2020 to raise awareness around beavers in San Luis Obispo County and the work beavers do to combat climate change, create healthy habitat, replenish our groundwater, provide fire refugia and increase the quality and quantity of water in our creeks and rivers. Additionally, the SLO Beaver Brigade brings process-based restoration techniques to SLO County, along with beaver management tools to allow for people and beavers to coexist together.
The SLO County Beaver Brigade showcases the importance of River stewardship through restoration projects, beaver habitat tours, public art, trail signage, and citizen science surveys. The SLO Beaver Brigade frequently offers presentations and tours of beaver habitat on a donation basis to the public. To sign up for a tour, which are made possible by a Whale Tail Grant from the California Coastal Commission, interested persons can visit the SLO Beaver Brigade website at https://www.slobeaverbrigade.com/come-to-a-beaver-pond/. To make a donation to support the Beaver Brigade or to sign up for Beaver Brigade newsletters, visit https://www.slobeaverbrigade.com/
For more information, please contact [email protected].
Dolores Howard
Paso Robles
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