Beaver Habitat Survey 9/22/2023
Given the scale of degradation within streams and wetlands and throughout the West, we need all partners mobilized to restore these systems. Beavers are our greatest ally. But for this ecosystem engineer to successfully create resilience against drought & wildfire, they must be able to safely build and maintain their natural infrastructure while expanding their numbers and distributions across the state.
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 along 0.5-1.5 miles of the stream channel (when we have one) and assess our site for presence of woody debris, herbaceous foods, hydrology, beaver sign and more! Our beaver scorecard will allow us to rank the sites suitability for potential future beaver reintroduction. This data will then be shared with the Forest Service, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Institute of Natural Resources, Portland State University students and others.
We will all meet in Portland, OR at 9 am, coordinate carpooling to the site location from there, and return in time to be at our meetup location between 5 and 6pm. Our final destination will be sent out via email prior to the volunteer day.
This is an in-person event and will follow Bark’s COVID-19 volunteer work safety protocol.
Before registering: Everyone interested in participating in Bark’s wetland mapping efforts is welcome! If you have wetland mapping training, we’ll send you into the field to get started. If not, please review Bark’s online beaver habitat survey training video (start at 48:30).
Questions? Visit Bark’s page on what to expect on a volunteer day and what to pack for a field day for more information or email Meg, Bark’s Field Survey Coordinator, with additional questions.
Join us in finding suitable habitat to introduce beaver so we can get this amazing ecosystem engineer back on the landscape!