Building Artificial Beaver Dams for Land Restoration

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ย. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 93

  • @brianparks440
    @brianparks440 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +18

    Great to see this. This is what I mentioned in comments on an earlier video you posted, utilizing slash to slow and actually reverse erosion. Our forest land in Montana was previously mismanaged in such a way that it increased erosion. I’m reversing the process by creating silt traps and beaver analogues. The beavers seem to like what I’m doing because they’re coming back to help. It feels good to be part of something that is positively improving the health of a forest while also harvesting forest products. Long before we moved here this section of land was logged indiscriminately by Champion International, primarily removing all the merchantable old growth, mostly western larch. I inherited a climax second-growth spruce-choked understory. Gradually, using minimal tools, I’m bringing it back. Your videos are both inspiring and validating. Thanks! Keep up the good work!

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Well done you! Change the locale and logging company name, (it rhymes with Weyerhaeuser) our stories are quite similar.

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      I second that, well done. Just the mention of a place with larch and beaver dams, sounds like a beautiful place.

  • @Twobrothersoutdoors
    @Twobrothersoutdoors 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Wow! You're busy as a Beaver! I would be more than happy to send you some beaver when they attempt to build their next dam in our creek. Persistent Little critters. The only problem I can see is they require water to work. 🤷

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Since we are steeper here they don’t cause as much flooding as they do in some places. Plugging culverts and bridges would be more of a concern here. I only have one main culvert that would be of concern but I think it could be managed. My main creek has water so you can send them to that one.

  • @edwinlikeshistractor8521
    @edwinlikeshistractor8521 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    I chip most everything smaller than 8 inches . If you leave the chip mound alone or turn it with the tractor it will eventually become soil. So all is not lost to the sea. Great basic principles video as usual.

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      A lot of times I lop the slash with the saw so it is low to the ground. Speeds decay and nutrient cycling.

  • @threeriversforge1997
    @threeriversforge1997 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    I tell folks to make Beaver Dam Analogs in every little fold or crease they find. Even if there's no water running there now, you know that little channel will be nothing but a gutter when the next rain comes. By slowing the flow of the runoff, we're giving that water time to sink into the ground, elevating the water table and preventing flooding downstream. Folks might think their efforts won't make a difference, but they couldn't be more wrong. The mightiest of rivers start as tiny trickles way up in the mountains, and those tiny trickles are very easy to dam up with a few sticks and leaves. Beavers are very small and don't have opposable thumbs, so if they can build dams that'll hold back thousands of gallons of water... there's no reason we can't do something similar if we just apply ourselves. Plus, it's just plain fun.

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      SO pleased to hear I'm not alone in preaching BDA's!! Our methods (and madness) are quite similar. Even 18" high by 5' wide BDA's hold back enough runoff to keep my meadows damp and green well into hot/dry summers. Kudos to you!

    • @threeriversforge1997
      @threeriversforge1997 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@lpeterman Hello! Great to meet another BDA enthusiast!
      It's great fun to see something so simple really pay big dividends like that! This year's project is to build a couple BDA across an erosion channel that's part of the drainage here. The culvert delivers tons of water off the road when it rains, so I'll be curious to see how I can manage it without causing issues if the water backs up too much.

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Recommendation: "Eager" the story of Beavers; Ben Goldfarb. Great info, especially on "Beaver deceivers" to thwart them damming up culverts, etc.@@threeriversforge1997

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Not sure I could have said it any better.

  • @alansmith5690
    @alansmith5690 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    I have really been enjoying your videos. I manage an area of woodland here in the South of England where we are busy doing pretty much what you are doing, creating man made beaver dams to manage flood risk and retain top soil. Here there is also a strong push to re-introduce beavers to do the job for us.

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Oh, well done! Hurrah for re-introducing Beaver into the landscape.

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      I recently watched a video about reintroducing beavers in England. They were showing some innovate ways to control the potential damage to human infrastructure. Hopefully more of that will happen in N America too.

  • @davebloggs
    @davebloggs 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    beavers shaped much of what we call prime bottom land over the years. they are a key stone speices and not only do they build amazing dams they thin out all those trees for you as well.

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Sign me up for that, both of those are just what I need.

  • @davidtyorke
    @davidtyorke 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    You may want to rethink ODFW's position on habitat restoration. They have a whole plan and funding to restore beaver habitat. Also Prof. Matt Orr at Oregon State University-Cascades in Bend has a class that teaches habitat restoration. He may be a good resource to contact. Sorry I can't leave links, but he's easy to google.

  • @HaleBopp
    @HaleBopp 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    It would be great if you could get some footage when you eventually do get some heavy rain, you know, see how well it worked :)

  • @HardRockVermont
    @HardRockVermont 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Beavers are a pain in the butt on my family farm here in Vermont. They flood out areas of the property, and chew up valuable timber. A few 330 Connibears does the trick....lol

  • @lpeterman
    @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Well done, sir!
    Now, drive a dozen stakes into the ground on either side (upstream/downstream) of the BDA (sorry, Beaver Dam Analog) and you've got the makings of a Wilson-sized beaver dam, Jr. grade!!
    Your land is steeper than mine and my BDA's are lower in height, but erosion is erosion and any efforts to curb it are laudable.
    (Plus, it uses up slash in a perfectly acceptable way.) Another likeroo.
    Cheers and enjoying the content on a stormy/blustery morning up in Linn County.

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I would think the stake method would be good to more efficiently use slash where it isn’t as abundant as it was in that spot. Winter finally arrived here. 4 inches of snow a couple days ago.

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      So, you received our snow... Ok then; our order must be delayed in delivery. 😁@@WilsonForestLands

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I will make sure to look at the address on the next snow that arrived. I will make sure it wasn’t addressed to you.

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Actually, when all is said and done -- you can have it(!) Just as long as we get some in the uplands for Spring melt!!@@WilsonForestLandsBTW: Great Topic!! You really set the viewers going. Well done.

  • @davidmushal7862
    @davidmushal7862 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Would you be able to drive some of the sturdier branches into the bed of the gully to reduce the chance of washing out the whole dam?

    • @threeriversforge1997
      @threeriversforge1997 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      That is usually recommended. Slope and the amount of water will determine how much reinforcement is needed. Sometimes, you can get away with just piling stuff up like he's done because the water never really gets much power behind it. Or, if it's the easiest thing and you know the dam will be trashed.... but all that material will just float down the channel until it creates a new blockage all on its own. Nature usually finds a way if we give a little help.

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      threeriversforge said it well. In this case the upper dam especially is too big and heavy for the flow of this size gully to move. As it builds up with sediment it will get even harder to move.

  • @southernadirondackoutdoors
    @southernadirondackoutdoors 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    We'll ship out a few beavers from here to help you out. We had some move in back in the spring and they have caused a lot of damage but also an equal amount of good and Fenway loves the water.

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      And let's face it; if Fenway is happy, then Everyone is happy!

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Since my streams are steeper, the water wouldn’t spread out so much and wouldn’t flood as much land. So send them out, I will take them. I have to admit I had some mild jealousy over your beaver situation. Another way I am living vicariously through your channel.

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Hear, hear! I too was envious of Fenway's new swim-pond and its creators.@@WilsonForestLands

  • @bobsethbroc
    @bobsethbroc 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    My new favorite channel. If I would have had you as a teacher in high school the out come would have been better. I was wondering what size saw and bar do you use? How old is your saw? Thanks for explaining what you do!!

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Thanks you, kind of you to say. I never became a teacher, maybe because the experience I had with high school teachers was, let’s just say, not inspiring. Or even very educational. This one is a 462 with a 32” bar. I have commonly used a 362 and equivalent over the years with a 24” I used for this kind of work. I wore out the latest one and haven’t got around to replacing it. Particularly because after they came out with the light bars, I have been using the 32 for just about everything.

  • @L46C3
    @L46C3 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I'm watching and learning. We will be moving to a 106 acre spread come next December to live out the rest of our lives. I've only had 5 acres before.. Is thinning really helpful? What do you do with the downed trees? Most of them appeared to be dead?
    OH! We have beavers! Southern Ma on the CT border.

  • @jamesfogerty3044
    @jamesfogerty3044 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Looking at the slope of the gully, i think you should keep the far side (from the road) a little lower, with the thought that you will direct the flow away from the road

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      It probably doesn’t show up on camera but it is lower on that far side. Not so much by design, more because it just ended up that way because it was the opposite side of where the slash was. You make a good suggestion.

  • @TheOldManAndTheSaw
    @TheOldManAndTheSaw 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Except for being tongue-tied it was a good video.
    The tongue-tied part was great.

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      It seems like talking should be easier than it is sometimes.

    • @TheOldManAndTheSaw
      @TheOldManAndTheSaw 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      You have no idea how many takes I do for EVERYTHING I say.

  • @robinhall3347
    @robinhall3347 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Good stuff. Love seeing this, but as an old environmentalist I'm wondering why that year-round creek's not being repopulated with Beavers, seems a logical, cost effective improvement for climate change problems, what's reason the Dept of Fish/Wildlife have not done this yet?

  • @grant3062
    @grant3062 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I recently subscribed, and it has been well worth it! Your videos are great. I have a question: In other areas where you have excess slash but do not need to use it for any erosion applications, what would you do with it then? Would wood-chipping them be a viable option? Or just letting it rot?

    • @threeriversforge1997
      @threeriversforge1997 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Wood chipping might be a great idea because it speeds up the rotting process while also helping to retain moisture in the soil if you use it as a mulch. You could even offer it for sale to locals who need chips on their property. There's already a thing called Chip Drop that the arborists use to find local homeowners who might like the chips that landscapers and arborists usually have to pay to dump.
      Additionally, I would suggest that you use them to make Beaver Dam Analogs like seen here in this vid. You might not have erosion problems, but all those little folds and creases in the land are acting like gutters whenever it rains. By putting small BDA's across them, you're helping to slow the flow and give that water time to sink in. It might not seem like you're accomplishing much, but it will absolutely help revitalize your land by raising the water table. Plus, you're likely helping to stop flooding downstream. Those little rivulets you can step across add up the father downhill you go!

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I concur, also, you could take the smaller than merchantable tops/limbs etc. to make "Bio-dens" for the terrestrial critters. Think: slash-piles with structure -- stacked like "Lincoln-logs" we played with as kids; (well I'm old, I played with Lincoln-logs, but you get the idea of stacking.) Good for Salamanders/Newts, Squirrels, 'Possums, birds, etc. etc.@@threeriversforge1997

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Many good points mentioned above. In a lot of cases I lop the slash up with the saw so it is low to the ground. It reduces the wildfire hazard, holds more moisture close to the ground and rots faster. In places I want to clean up I sometimes pile and burn. Sometimes make wildlife piles. I forgot to mention in this video, some things will likely use these as habitat.

    • @threeriversforge1997
      @threeriversforge1997 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@WilsonForestLands Something I've been looking at recently is called a "dead hedge". While it's just a brush pile of little stuff, these guys are taking it to a whole new level so it's functional and attractive. It doesn't work for every site, but when you've got brash close to the house.... a 'dead hedge' is a very good option.

  • @joeyrector1015
    @joeyrector1015 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great job. Plus that's a good idea on the dams. I'll have to do that

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yeah you should try. Let us know how it goes.

    • @joeyrector1015
      @joeyrector1015 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@WilsonForestLands ok I will

  • @stefflus08
    @stefflus08 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    As thought out as you are with your forestry, are you sure you wouldn't get annoyed by Beavers? Here they have a tendency to venture far away from the creek to ruin the biggest, nicest Pines.

  • @MsdMakingSawDust
    @MsdMakingSawDust 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    You know I did the same thing here at my place. I got rid of all the beavers. Now I regret that. I have to manage everything around are swamp, before they took good care of it. All I had to do was enforce there square footage of living space. Looks like your getting it cleaned up little by little.

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Maybe you can swing a deal with Paul and Andy and get a few beavers from them.

  • @mrMacGoover
    @mrMacGoover 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I believe the technological term for what your creating is a "leaking weir."

  • @domtweed7323
    @domtweed7323 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Would it be easier to acquire a pair of beavers?

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Considering beavers aren’t typically for sale or made available for the taking, I don’t have access to any beavers, I’m not quite sure how to catch them if I did, it would take a lot of time figuring out how to trap them and then actually do it, it would be very illegal to catch and transport them, that gully doesn’t have water in it enough of the year to support beavers anyway, it probably wouldn’t be easier. And it wouldn’t solve the problem of I needed to move the slash anyway, which is something beavers wouldn’t be interested in.

  • @charliesaul729
    @charliesaul729 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Nice work! Except my chainsaw doesn't run near that long even on a full tank. Is there an adjustment I can make?

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I think the adjustment is done in the video editing. It probably looked like it went longer than it did. 😁 I didn’t have to do much cutting in the dam building part. And the thinning was only a few minutes of actual work, aside from moving cameras. Since I was mostly just cutting the trees down and not processing them. That is one of my biggest complaints about that saw, a tank doesn’t last long.

    • @charliesaul729
      @charliesaul729 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      😂😂

  • @andysmith8544
    @andysmith8544 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    We were surprised by the elevation change of the beaver dams we found on our property, one in particular is probably 5-6'. You have deciduous trees with their leaves on still? Oregon is confusing...

    • @HubertofLiege
      @HubertofLiege 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Evergreen hardwoods and deciduous conifers

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Our winter, (in Oregon) has been extraordinarily mild. No snow accumulation, just rain. Yet another example of the changing Climate.

    • @HubertofLiege
      @HubertofLiege 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@lpeterman climate is changing this week with snow and cold

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Still no snow for my altitude: Higher in the Cascades, for certain.@@HubertofLiege

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I am guessing the madrone is what you saw. It is a broadleaf evergreen. They have leaves year round. Evergreen broadleaf trees are common in many parts of the world. Just less common in colder temperate climates like the northern US.

  • @geezerindawoods
    @geezerindawoods 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Beaver is among my favorite things!!😂

  • @MrHern2430
    @MrHern2430 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    So does the Oregon G&F try and do any repopulation efforts of beavers? I agree, there is no substitute for a real beaver dam, but we do what we can with what we have.
    Thanks for the bloopers! I'm still laughing (with you of course, not at you).
    And thanks for the video, as always.

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ODF&W (Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife) does repopulate potential streams, (or at least encourage beaver to move back in.) The problem isn't with the beaver -- it's the humans with the knee-jerk reaction to instantly trap and kill them as "pests."
      I'll take plenty of incoming artillery for it, but there needs to be a reversal of 170+ years of Euro-American thinking regarding living with the natural world (and beaver especially ) on this warming and droughty planet.

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      They do in some parts of the state but I haven’t heard of them doing it in this area. You can laugh with me or at me. As long as people are laughing.

  • @Wheelloader__
    @Wheelloader__ 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Cool video Wilson. You make a pretty convincing 🦫 😁

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I may make a convincing beaver but I am not sure I would be able to convince a beaver.

    • @robinhall3347
      @robinhall3347 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@WilsonForestLands Hilarious!

  • @michaelmeyers1827
    @michaelmeyers1827 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    We’re supposed to get 5 to 8 inches. Of snow come this next Monday into Tuesday in eastern nebraska

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      We got 4 inches of snow the day after I recorded this video. The first real winter weather of the season. More rain and snow expected in the next couple days.

  • @terryk3118
    @terryk3118 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Sometimes it looks like you need an assistant. But then I see you work and you put the six million dollar man to shame! Looks like you'll be getting a bunch of rain in the next few days. Will you give us an (after) view of your dams?

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Winter has finally started here. Finally getting a little snow and rain the past couple days. More to come in the next few days. I plan on showing results of the dams. But who knows when that will be. It’s been a few years since we have had the kind of normal wet weather that would put them to the test.

  • @arnoldschmidt2753
    @arnoldschmidt2753 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    That was excellent for me as a novice. To bad you had to quit using your sawmill. I've been doing research on the different makes and models but still have not decided which way to go .
    Lots of variables to consider. But like you said in a previous video, it's more efficient to just buy lumber from the store. And who has $10 ~$15 grand sitting on the table all lost and confused wondering why no one wants to pay attention to it enough to exchange it for something useless built in China.😅

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I only quit for the rest of the high wildfire danger this summer. I am using it now a little, mostly as a hobby mill as I originally intended. The LT15 Start model was only $4,500 for the base model when I bought it. A bit more now I imagine.

  • @johnfahey7215
    @johnfahey7215 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Believe it or not, I found evidence of beavers in southern NY state. At a state park, the Mahwah river/creek, Kakiat state park! I varnished a piece of wood I found, call it a beaver chew toy 😂👍

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Now I am wondering if there is some angle to get people to buy genuine beaver chewed sticks. 😁

    • @robinhall3347
      @robinhall3347 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@WilsonForestLands 😂

  • @digger413
    @digger413 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Normal video makes cents what you do

  • @Bushman9
    @Bushman9 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Lots of beaver in eastern Ontario.
    Remember fondly a day up at the hunt camp where myself and a friend went at a big beaver dam. All we wanted to accomplish was some big enough holes to drain it. Man, it took two of us several hours.
    Flat-tailed engineers they are. 🦫

    • @WilsonForestLands
      @WilsonForestLands  10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      My beaver story sounds like it could be similar. Hopefully you were smarter than we were and didn’t do it to the one upstream from your camp. 😁

    • @Bushman9
      @Bushman9 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@WilsonForestLands All good where buildings were concerned. But we were right at the edge of a road, so we couldn’t open the dam more than the culvert could handle.