A project reintroducing beavers into the Southern Sierra Nevada's ecosystem in Tulare County hopes to improve water quality and wildfire resistance in the drought-stricken region.
Beavers play a critical role in the ecology and stewardship of the land, according to California Fish and Wildlife Department officials. The animals build dams that retain water on the landscape, extending seasonal flows, improving drought and wildfire resilience, and better conserving the Tule River Tribe’s drinking water supply, of which about 80% comes from the Tule River watershed.
The State of California Fish and Wildlife Department and the Tule River Tribe in Tulare County recently placed a family of seven beavers in the Tule River.
“We’ve been through numerous droughts over the years. Going through these droughts, we were wondering how we can conserve, save water, and get water here on our lands,” said Kenneth McDarment, a Tule River Tribe member and past tribal councilman. “The answer was in our pictographs.”
Those pictographs—between 500 and 1,000 years old—can be seen at Painted Rock next to the South Fork Tule River on the 55,356-acre reservation. Some tribal elders recall beavers living in the high-elevation meadows, but before this release, beavers had not been present on the reservation for decades.
What happened to beavers in California?
The beaver population in California and the rest of the nation was estimated to be around 200 million. But in the 1800s, the animals were widely hunted or killed for their pelts by settlers or farmers who viewed beavers as pests. Today, the beaver population is estimated to be about 12 million.
In 2022, the CDFW started the Beaver Restoration Program, designed to restore the beaver population and support conservation efforts.
How many beavers were released into the Tule River?
The initial release included three adult beavers and four younger animals, CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham said. Two additional beavers were released into Miner Creek on the Tule River Reservation. More will be reintroduced in the coming months and years to reestablish a diverse population in the area.
CDFW wildlife biologists monitored the beavers’ behavior after the release. According to the latest report from the field team, the family group has remained together at the release site on Eagle Creek.
“I’m very happy to see (the beavers) come home, and it’s going to be wonderful to watch them do their thing,” McDarment said.
Most Popular
Comments / 0