beavers in the steens

[baltz526]

i'll start this by saying, i saw no sign of a living beaver in the area i hunted this year. but i saw old sign of beaver activity, everywhere.the steens need beaver to complete the restoration of the watersheds and recharge the marshes and slow down the runoff in these desert mountains.these beaver dams create a lot of feed and habitat to support deer and fish in areas that have very little of either left.the deal is it will take several years of keeping the cows out of the creek bottoms and re-establishing the beavers main food sources. aspen, willows, alders, in these creek bottoms are in sad shape, in most of the watersheds i hunted.between cows and junipers, the beaver prefered foods are in bad shape.

[Salmo trutta]

Baltz, I have a hard time disagreeing with you on this one. The Steens as in Yellwostone will greatly benefit from the toothly ones. The problem is how to get them back.

This could be the big time porject OHA field administrator was asking for in an email not too long ago.

[baltz526]

i think a several year replanting effort would just be the begining. i was talking to a boy scout family man today, trying to put a bug in his ear to get the boy scouts involved in a steens project.the boy scout have been taking part in the last replanting project, just finished this year.the steens needs all the organizations involved.oha, rmef, the bird groups, deer groups, oregon cattlemans assoc.odfw, blm, state lands managers.

[ehunter]

Let me ask you guys this sounds like a good thing but will the ranchers allow those stream to be damed by the beavers or are they going to claim they need the water?

[baltz526]

beavers add water to the system, by slowing it down, and reducing evaporation, and recharging the local marshes and meadows. so of course the ranchers hate beavers.

[Flying Roast Beef]

Thing is the beavers build a dam. It creates a pool and then continues down the mountain. Ranchers really should not have a legitimate problem with this.

[duckboy]

Beavers in the Steens.... Wasn't that a duet that Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers did?

[Flying Roast Beef]

Too funny! Good song but I think using Dolly was actually a remake.

[Prawnasorus]

There were beavers up there several years ago,A freind of mine that worked for the Roaring Springs Ranch was having trouble with too many of them on Skull creek.

[Water Ready]

Hey Baltz,
Did you see much sign of lions while up there? I would think that beavers could be an easy dinner for a lion. We found a coyote, killed by a cougar, a few miles from Fish Lake.

I have seen Beavers down below, in and close to the Refuge, but have seen little sign up high for quite a few years.
Happy Huntn'

[Mad Mikey]

Beavers in the Steens.... Wasn't that a duet that Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers did?

>>>>>>>cleaning spittle off my monitor.......<<<<<<<<< <

[baltz526]

Hey Baltz,
Did you see much sign of lions while up there?

i saw the tracks of two cougar.about ten miles apart. both where hunting rabbits. but there where a few deer in both areas.

[BrianMaguire]

I talked with some of the BLM guys a few years ago and they indicated that the Anklecreek/Mud creek drainages were going to get Beavers reintorduced when they recover some. The willows need some time to reclaim areas and grow big enough so that they can sustain a beaver population. there is still old sign of Beavers but it is very old. This is the type of habitat that is very lacking and I think would be of great help to young deer. A great place to hide in the first few weeks of life. The willow will also provide some decent winter forage.

[Ras]

I chase around quite a bit in another little mountain range wwwaayyyy on the horizon to the S.E. of the Steens. 20 years ago every drainage had them toothy rodents, then they just disappeared . I think they were probably trapped for a little $$. Problem is, now the "resource" does not exist I did see evidence of beavers in some of the lower elevations towards a large ranch in the area, whether re-introduced or remnant, I do not know. I do know that desert range wouldn't be hurt by having a few more waddling around

Ras

[baltz526]

yes the south mountain area of idaho also had beaver, but no longer. they have been gone about the same amount of time that the steens beaver have been gone.

[llama77]

Hey Baltz,
I think I might be with you on this one!!!!!!

[baltz526]

as a kid, i fished beaver damed creeks for trout. they are an amazing storage system for water.and the way a creek grows in a canyon is amazing.these dam's capture and hold a masive amount of erosion and plant life. and the older they are the better they function in this aspect.the reason, i believe, the beavers are gone from cattle country, is that they make traveling these canyons very,very difficult for people, and dangerous for cows. also the ranchers saw the old areas without active beavers,where the canyon had filled up and turned into meadows full of cattle feed,as what it would all turn into, if the beavers where gone.if you look at these areas today, the creeks have washed out these meadows, reclaiming the canyons, to pre-beaver, rocky ditches.

[garyk]

i think a several year replanting effort would just be the begining.

I agree that there is tremendous potential for this kind of effort. Until the trees get established it will be very labor intensive.

With a relatively short growing season, keeping the cows out is a huge challenge. Several year's restoration on the East Canal was severely set back by just a few cows breaking a fence, and then their owner's slowness in responding.

You might also talk to the Elshoff's (French Glen) they head up the volunteer efforts and have been growing nursery stock for restoration plantings.