event

Beaver Ecology and Restoration Part 2: In the Field

Mature beaver crouching in the water, snacking on a willow branch. The water is clear and you can see the river rocks clearly.

This field day is part 2 in our Beaver Ecology and restoration series. Building on what we covered in Part 1, we’ll head into the field to get hands on experience identifying beaver sign, assessing forage and water cover, filling out data forms and more. This event is open to anyone although we highly recommend attending Part 1 as it lays the foundation for our work in the field.

Everyone is welcome and no experience necessary! Beaver habitat field days are moderate to high physical activity days with plenty of stepping over logs, wading into wetland areas and pushing through shrubs. We’ll collect data from all over our site and assess our site for presence of woody building material, herbaceous foods, hydrology, beaver sign (like chew or old dams) and more! This is the first year Bark will be utilizing the Survey123 Beaver Activity Survey Form, created by Vanessa Petro. This data form allows us to better assess sites for future restoration projects and more accurately log any beaver activity we find. The data in the Survey123 form will be automatically uploaded into a shared statewide database, accessed by Forest Service, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, graduate students and more. While this survey form is relatively new, in the future it will be used for myriad different research projects and so by adding to it, Bark is directly adding to future beaver knowledge across the state!

For every field day, we will all meet at Gateway/NE 99th Ave. at 9 am. Make sure to meet us at the entrance to the parking garage! From there we will coordinate carpooling to our secondary location. This location will vary depending on the final survey site so keep an eye out for an update/reminder email a few days before the event. At the secondary location, I will share the coordinates for our final destination, and we will caravan together to the site. At the final site, we will share safety info, talk about the site and then head into the field for some surveying! While in the field, we will stop frequently for breaks, water, snacks and lunch. We will survey for approximately 4 hours, depending on the length of our drive, and return in time to be at the Gateway/99th Ave. Park and Ride between 5 and 6pm.

Check out our website for more info: Typical Field Day, Field Day Packing List
Questions?  Email Meg@Bark-Out.org