A volunteer examines the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area for signs of beaver.
The 3rd Annual Binational Beaver Survey
[March 2nd & 3rd 2024]
“Beavers are cool.” - Paul Strong, MS Student, WMG Intern, and Lead Organizer of the 2024 Beaver Survey
“Beavers weigh 60lbs? Are you serious? That’s more than my dog!” - Max Wingert, WMG Communications & Outreach Manager, and Amateur Beaver Enthusiast
Do you know how big a beaver is? Just, you know, off the top of your head. How much do you think a beaver weighs?
If you had asked me on March 1st of this year, I would have said 10lbs, maybe 15 – like, a heftier-sized raccoon, you dig?
As it happens, I was way off. They average 40-70lbs. That’s bigger than my dog.
That’s when I realized I had never actually seen a beaver before. Not in person. More importantly, I had never even begun to consider the impact of beavers on their environment – not only the rivers in which they take up residence, but the entire riparian area that surrounds it, and even the bigger watershed beyond that.
Turns out, beavers are pretty dam important. (That’s the only time I’ll make that joke, I promise).
That’s why, this last weekend, I took part in the 3rd Annual Binational Beaver Survey, along with 70 other intrepid individuals who volunteered their weekend to assist with a vital community science survey. This survey is organized through WMG’s River Run Network, led by staff, WMG interns, and local beaver enthusiasts, as well as supported by partnerships with the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and The Nature Conservancy. The survey is part of our bigger Release the Beavers campaign - with the goal of helping beavers regain healthy populations in the Santa Cruz and San Pedro watershed to help restore groundwater levels and enhance surface flows.
Our mission? Hike, splash, and bushwack our way across 40 miles of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (“SPRNCA,” for short), carefully searching for signs of beaver activity. RECENT activity, we hoped.
“What are the signs of beaver activity?” – Past Max, Aspiring Beaver Tracker and Late Reader of Important Emails.
So glad I asked. Signs of beaver activity include: Tracks. Scat. Dams. Lodges (see photo on the right). Chews (i.e. teeth marks on tree trunks and branches, fallen or otherwise). Slides (i.e. think Slip-n-Slides, but with mud). And “scent mounds” (i.e. musky muck – Think Monty Python).
Oh! And beaver. If you see a beaver, that’s a good sign there’s recent beaver activity nearby. They are, however, nocturnal. I am not. Not since my mid-20s.
And so our adventure began. 70 humans, split into 14 groups, each tasked with carefully surveying a designated section of the 40-mile stretch of the currently flowing San Pedro River and its adjacent beds & banks.
We all downloaded the Survey123 App for recording our discoveries. We all drove the long and winding road through the sprawling, breathtaking hills and valleys and mountains and arroyos of the Sierra Vista. We all donned hats, sunglasses, and closed-toed shoes. We all packed our bags with sunscreen, water, lunch, and an extra pair of socks & shoes to change into after wading in and out of the water and sand and debris. We did NOT all forget that extra pair of nice, dry footwear in their car when we made room for our hummus. Only some of us did that. I won’t say who.
And so I spent my Sunday with a handful of lovely folks weaving along the winding waters of the SPRNCA, looking for clues. The water was cold. The sun was warm. The cottonwood trees were staggeringly tall. The occasional man-made structures we encountered were invariably huge, and old, and seemingly forgotten by the modern world.
We saw a few javelina scurry away, a few small birds skip along, and one gorgeous great horned owl swoop above our heads. But we saw no signs of beaver activity.
Correction: we saw no signs of RECENT beaver activity.
Correction #2: Ok, I saw no signs of beaver activity. Fortunately, other members of Group 12 had keener eyes than me. About 3 or 4 hours into our journey, they spotted teeth marks on the trunk of a distant tree and decaying stump. They looked just like all the other scratches and scrapes we had seen along the way. It wasn’t until I got closer, MUCH closer, right up next to the tree on the far side of the muddy river bank that I could finally tell the difference.
You know. Kind of.
With their direction, I took photos of our First Real Signs of Beaver Activity. They were not recent signs. These were old, dry teeth marks. But after a long day of searching, it felt good to contribute to the cause.
I felt like a scientist. A hummus-eating, wet-shoe-wearing scientist. But a dam scientist nevertheless. (Ok, fine, I’m going to use that joke twice, you got me).
Although our particular reach of the riparian range proved barren of beavers, I have heard word from other groups that they found encouraging evidence elsewhere: a beaver slide, wet chews, and a bank lodge that beavers were residing in.
Thus, the 3rd Annual Binational Beaver Survey was concluded. The data was collected. The photos were uploaded. The volunteers went home. The shoes are still damp and sandy.
A century ago, the San Pedro River was referred to as “The Beaver River.” Due to the drive and determination of a dedicated community, there's still hope we can restore that title.
And thank goodness for that. That’s way better than “SPRNCA.”
There’s more to come. More to do. With seeing less beavers every year, we need your help to bring a cute, curious, and surprisingly crucial critter back to our creeks, our rivers, and our watershed.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter. Join the River Run Network. Chew on a tree stump. And don’t forget that change of shoes.
