Books & Beavers - Eager Beaver Walk & Talk on May 30

By Nathan Ward, Upper Arkansas Watershed Partnership Coordinator

For millions of years, beavers inhabited the waterways of Earth, chewing sticks, building dams, raising beaver families in peace, and providing the planet with a huge variety of benefits. These beaver benefits include reducing flooding, improving water quality, creating habitats for other species, and raising the water table which in turn creates healthy riparian areas that serve as fire breaks for wildfires. Beavers did all this for free. Then humans discovered beaver fur makes good hats, and we trapped them almost to extinction. Today we’ve rediscovered the magic and myriad benefits of this big flat-tailed rodent, and in recent years, our interest in beavers as a keystone species in watershed restoration has skyrocketed. We are now in the time of the beaver again.

Well almost. Outside of the river and wetland restoration community, negative perceptions of beavers exist because their dam building can inadvertently flood roads and fields, and clog irrigation ditches and culverts. Beavers chew down trees for food and lodge and dam building. It will take work to change minds, from viewing a beaver as a nuisance species, to positive ecosystem engineers. 

One man leading the charge to promote and protect beavers is Salida-based environmental writer, Ben Goldfarb, who penned the book Eager - The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. Although there are other good beaver books, Eager quickly shot to the top of the list of beaver tomes with glowing reviews in National Geographic, the Washington Post, Outside Magazine, Scientific American, and a slew of other top publications. It’s an entertaining, fascinating read all about the history, life, benefits, and rebirth of the beaver movement. 

On May 30th you’ll have the opportunity to meet Ben Goldfarb yourself at our Books and Beavers event co-sponsored by the Conservancy and Book Club Salida. This “Eager Beaver Walk and Talk” is an afternoon and evening event featuring a visit to a beaver complex near Salida where Goldfarb will lead guests through the features of an active beaver site. Afterwards we’ll gather at A Church (419 D Street) for a delicious dinner from Kalamata Pit, a short talk by Goldfarb, followed by a lively book group discussion led by Book Club Salida. 

Your ticket includes a copy of Eager, the field trip, dinner, and the book discussion. Tickets are $50 per person, or $75 per couple (includes one book), and can be purchased online here -  www.bookclubsalida.com/events. 

Tickets are selling fast so get yours soon. As soon as you purchase a ticket, you can pick up a copy of Eager so you have time to read it before the event. Believe in beavers.

“This witty, engrossing book will be a classic from the day it is published. No one who loves the landscape of America will ever look at it quite the same way after understanding just how profoundly it has been shaped by the beaver. And even the most pessimistic among us will feel strong hope at the prospect that so much damage can be so easily repaired if we learn to live with this most remarkable of creatures.” - Bill McKibben after reading Eager.