I Hate Beavers

[spinner1]

Found this NEW dam from last fall on one of my favorite streams.
Have already forwarded a photo to the local warden.

[redietz]

I've caught a lot of nice fish in beaver ponds.

[spinner1]

so have I. This one is new and I caught 5 behind it this morning.
Long term they are bad for the stream. This is brookie water and
the dams mess with the stream temperature eventually and it needs
to come out better sooner than later.

Len

[mashtom]

Thats nature for ya!

[Silver Creek]

I agree with Spinner. In Wi, beaver dams are trout stream killers. In high grade mountainous area streams they can create good water but not in our state.

[Flyfish4troutguy]

Great looking water, and even more amazing that a creature can even build that. Maybe contractors should hire some beavers to do some building.

Thanks for sharing!!!

Mike

[redietz]

so have I. This one is new and I caught 5 behind it this morning.
Long term they are bad for the stream. This is brookie water and
the dams mess with the stream temperature eventually and it needs
to come out better sooner than later.

Len

Agreed. My only point is that you might as well take advantage of it while it's there.

[pharper]

I like beaver dams and I think in the long run they are very beneficial to trout habitat, especially brook trout habitat.

They remove sediment.
They moderate flow and temperature.
They raise the water table.
They provide over wintering areas plus cover.
They build riparian areas.
They crreate healthy floodplains and wet meadow habitats.
They provide aeration at the dam.

[redietz]

I like beaver dams and I think in the long run they are very beneficial to trout habitat, especially brook trout habitat.

They remove sediment.
They moderate flow and temperature.
They raise the water table.
They provide over wintering areas plus cover.
They build riparian areas.
They crreate healthy floodplains and wet meadow habitats.
They provide aeration at the dam.

They also raise the water temperature, which, in my part of the world is the primary difference between trout streams from non-trout streams. They also release a lot of sentiment when they collapse, as they inevitably do.

[Silver Creek]

I like beaver dams and I think in the long run they are very beneficial to trout habitat, especially brook trout habitat.

They remove sediment.
They moderate flow and temperature.
They raise the water table.
They provide over wintering areas plus cover.
They build riparian areas.
They crreate healthy floodplains and wet meadow habitats.
They provide aeration at the dam.

A dam is a dam whether man made or beaver made. Very few dams are beneficial to trout and beaver dams are not bottom draw. They raise water temps and do not lower temps.

They kill trees in the flood plain by drowning their roots. This happens in a little as 6 months. This removes overhead shade, further warming the water.

They prevent upstream migration of trout to their spawning areas in feeder creeks. Less spawning areas = fewer trout. Any increase in trout biomass is temporary until thermal pollution and spawning losses take over.

They build riparian areas? If you mean by "riparian" a pond then yes. If you mean a river, then, nope! What they do is widen the and destroy rivers. Dams increase still water not moving water.

They do build a flood plain - great for ducks and water fowl, bad for trout in the long run.

The improve aeration at the dam? Really? Does that make up for the aeration lost over the expanse of the dam? Nope. There is a net loss in aeration when running water is replaced by still water.

Only in high gradient (mountainous) flows or where the average water temperature remains too cold (high altitudes) are there benefits to a beaver dam. Here they can form areas of trout water where there is little and delay runoff to even out the runoff. At high altitudes the warming of ice cold runoff by a beaver dam can benefit trout by increasing insect life in the pond and the water below. But in Wisconsin and the eastern USA, beaver dams are a net negative as the following body of research shows.

See the following Cold Water Fisheries research from the Wisconsin DNR and the University of Wisconsin College of Natural Resources on the effects of beaver on trout streams:

Research paper by Ed Avery of the Wisconsin DNR Cold Water Fisheries Research Center:

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/es/science/pub..._RS_731_91.pdf

http://www.amazon.com/temperatures-n.../dp/B0006DBYD8

"Much of Wisconsin's current trout stream habitat management focus on implementing in-stream structures and bank stabilization, beaver dam removal, and streambank debrushing even though these activities have resulted in questionable success rates in trout habitat improvement."

http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/wicfru/Research/Cross.aspx

"Beaver (Castor canadensis) dam building activities create many longtern affects on stream ecosystems. Beaver dams may negatively influence trout fisheries by creating physical barriers to spawning areas, increasing sediment retention, and increasing water temperatures. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Animal Damage Control (ADC) program in Wisconsin, entered into cooperative agreements with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) on the Nicolet National Forest from June through September,b1988, to remove beaver and beaver dams from priority classed trout streams."

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/vi...context=ewdcc4


"One of the biggest challenges facing stream restorers now is the overabundance of the beaver. With trapping rates lowering over the past few years, the beaver population keeps growing, as do their dams.

Monitoring is really helpful is getting information reported about beaver dams, which devastate the trout streams, Hlaban said. I'm sure there are a number of dams we wouldn't have discovered if it wasn't for stream monitors being in there and understanding what to look for."

Trout Unlimited Chapters receive special written permission from the state DNR to trap on public land or permission from the owner of private lands to trap beavers during the offseason."

http://watermonitoring.uwex.edu/pdf/...utdoorNews.pdf

http://www.wisconsintu.org/LinkClick...bid=58&mid=372

"Since the trout stamp began in 1978, the DNR has restored more than 750 miles of trout stream, kept more than 700 miles free of beaver dams and maintained the good condition of many miles of trout streams throughout Wisconsin."


http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Artic...kup.asp?id=459

"Beaver dams cause trout streams to become silted and warmed. Dams prevent trout migration and result in a lowered trout population."


http://www.timberwolfinformation.org...web/beaver.htm