CENTRALIA — The Cowlitz Indian Tribe plans to inventory existing beaver habitat in Southwest Washington on private and public timberlands that are located on the aboriginal lands of the tribe.
The project will include field surveys to gather data on beaver habitat sites, evaluate the habitat on the ground, determine the quality of the habitat and map the resulting classification of it.
Beavers are a keystone species in Southwest Washington. Their presence in nature affects watershed functions and all other wildlife species around them. Releasing beavers has great potential for ecological improvements. Construction of dams and ponds by beavers improves habitat for various aquatic and wetland-dependent species.
Beaver dams also help raise the surrounding water table, reducing water temperature and helping maintain flows during dry periods in the summer.
Fish species, namely salmon and trout, benefit when beavers create dams, and there are a number of other organisms, such as the threatened Oregon spotted frog, that rely on wetland and slow water for various stages of their life cycle.
Beavers have historically played a significant role in maintaining the health of watersheds in the Pacific Northwest, and act as key cogs in the functioning of riparian ecology. Live trapping and relocating of nuisance beavers has long been recognized as a beneficial wildlife management practice, and has been successfully utilized to restore and maintain stream ecosystems.
Cowlitz Indian Tribe Chairman Phillip Harju said beavers are important to the Cowlitz peoples.
“Our culture and members depend upon a healthy ecosystem,” Harju said. “Beaver are a key species that enable the ecosystem to function properly. This project will lay foundational work for strategic beaver relocation to suitable habitat within the aboriginal lands of the tribe.”
