Show Lowly Beaver W Was First Soil Conservationist r w Y C ij V VS 4 M The lowly beaver who builds dams of logs and mud is doing his part to win the warThe war I The tailed flat fellow cant can't shoulder a gun but hes he's serving serving serving ing the nation by stabilizing the flow of water re reducing time Ule force of oC floods and helping t to control erosion That's the reason the state game game department and the Soil SoU Conservation service have cooperated cooperated cooperated coop coop- during dUlIng the past few year years in iii the planting of beavers on sti streams earns in Arizona Utah and Now New Mexico Jules Renaud district district district dis dis- conservationist of the Soil Conservation service declares Before Defore the white man came three centuries ago there thele were almost as man many beavers as there are people today in the United States But the beavers beaver's fur was prized by man and countless thousands of the animals were wantonly destroyed If people had realized that the beaver Is the first and most efficient efficient efficient ef ef- ef- ef soil conservationist perhaps per per- haps hals they wouldn't have waged such relentless war against him hint the district conservationist said Long before Columbus hun has sighted American shores the beaver was building thousands of dams damns which silted to the brim and formed fertile ferUle mead mead- Many swamps created b by beavers ers grew up to dense stands of shimmering aspen cottonwood cottonwood cottonwood cotton- cotton wood birch and willow After the fertile valleys has had been formed the old and the young beavers beavers' moved to sites where the water ran unchecked un unchecked un- un n- n checked end and nd started the time cycle anew Before DeCore beavers ar are trapped alive and planted on streams the time wildlife specialist must first determine determine determine de de- de- de termine whether there are sufficient sufficient suf suf- food trees such as aspen cottonwood and willow Most of or orthe the beaver plantings in Utah have been successful although occasionally there is the problem problem problem lem of trying to o Induce the animals animals animals an an- to stay in one spot The importance of beavers as erosion control workers was upheld upheld up up- held In a ruling of the Oregon State supreme court in 1939 ina in ina i ia a suit filed b by Lloyd L L. L Johnson against Paul Stewart Beavers Deavers had built dams on Stewart's Stewarts property Johnson thought that the dams were robbing him of water and should be he dynamited Stewart pointed out that dynamiting the dam would increase erosion and not supply any more water for Johns John- John s jn in the long run Nevertheless the case was brought to trial and the circuit court in June 1939 ordered the state game commission to re remove remove remove re- re move the beavers and instructed instruct instruct- ed Stewart to destroy the dams i 1 F Beavers Not Men Bunt Built tho time Sturdy Dam Dani Shown at Loft Hundreds of Beaver Dams Danis Similar to This One Have o Been Built Iu Iii the Western States t I Tells of State Supreme Court Case Where Beavers Won O Decision of Judge The beavers had been given their death sentence Stewart appealed to the state court where the decision of tho the circuit court was overruled The Time supreme court justice ruled that beaver dams are valuable as a means of controlling erosion erosion erosion ero ero- sion and added To den deny our water users the right to control such streams and prevent erosion that would soon take place would mean the utter destruction of oC much of our most valuable lands throughout through through- out the state The case of the beavers beam had been heard in the state supreme court and the they were vindicated Beavers Deavers not only help to control control control con con- serious land erosion but they also provide water and shelter shelter shelter shel shel- ter for waterfowl fish ish fur bearing bearing bearing bear bear- ing animals and song and insect- insect eating birds Their dams create creato ponds around which trees and shrubs grow thus providing an ideal habitat for many kinds of or wild life state State game departments usually usually usually us us- trap beavers in areas where they interfere with irrigation irrigation irrigation gation structures and remove them to mountain streams Ro- Ro naud said In Utah beavers have haY been trapped and planted in Garfield Garfield Garfield Gar- Gar field San Sah Juan and Carbon counties counties counties coun coun- ties through cooperation between the and state fish ish and game commission |