On a perfect September day, a few dozen passionate conservationists are installing beaver dam analogues, or BDAs. In a secluded corner of the Black Hills, it’s a mission in water security, habitat maintenance, and environmental care.
Beavers are a crucial part of the Black Hills ecosystem, but it hasn’t always been an easy path for North America’s largest rodent. Seen by some as a pest, beavers are ecological regulators and water professionals.
The group of volunteers cut sod and wood to build structures that effectively function as a beaver dam in an area that desperately needs them. Imagine shingling your roof, but with blocks of mud and pine.
It’s work that was once done by beavers, which are now rare in the Black Hills.
Steve Kozel is the Northern Hills District Ranger. He explained exactly what this effort will accomplish.
“If you come back a month from now, two months from now, you’re going to see a difference in terms of the water table," Kozel said. "The grasses, the sedges are starting to expand, so you’ll really see some immediate results. Coming back next year, you’re going to see changes in plant composition. Where it has been dry, you’re going to see more water loving plants such as your sedges.”
That is important for stream flow in the interim, as beavers are only gradually being reintroduced to the Black Hills ecosystem.
“Reconnecting water with its previous water table," Kozel said. "If you store in shallow water tables adjacent to streams as we get into drier periods of the year, that will feed the stream and sustain the stream flow for a much longer time than if a stream is not connected to its floodplain and riparian area.”
And while you might feel like you’re on dry land in the middle of the woods, doing just a little digging exposes that water table. Muddy water up to your shins, possibly deeper, lies just beneath the surface, flowing through the earth. After mere minutes of digging, you can already hear the water trickling like any surface stream.
Beavers, and their dams, keep that water moving at a mid-deep level, and in turn these analogues mimic the effects on the surface.
That flow of water through beaver dams, according to conservationist Chris Stover, is crucial for our livelihood in the Black Hills.
“Water quality, quantity, and security," Stover said. "The more water we can retain on the landscape, the more water will continue to flow into Pactola (reservoir) every year, and that’s water security, man. The amount of water (beavers) can hold back on the landscape is immeasurable. It really comes down to water security, for Rapid City and the Black Hills.”
Stover advocates for the reintroduction of many animals to the Black Hills, especially the beaver.
“They work harder than we do, and they work more than just one weekend a month. Right now, the population is way, way, way down," Stover said. "Hopefully, we can help jumpstart that. IF we can create a little bit of habitat for them and give them a better place to live, they can move in and go ‘hey, this isn’t such a bad place’, right?”
However, one of the hardest working volunteers is Lori Brown. Covered in mud from nose to toes, she also might be having the most fun.
“I think for me, working in conservation and then coming out here on a Saturday, it really helps me feel continually inspired by the community we have here," Brown said. "This work is a community effort, really. No one person or one entity could do this alone.”
To that point, Brown, who is the Nature Conservancy’s West River riparian health program manager, just needs to look around. Along with National Forest rangers, Stover is with the Black Hills Flyfishers. The National Wild Turkey Federation is here, and all of the Black Hills National Forest districts are present.
Truly, anybody interested in conservation as a career or hobby can connect at these kinds of events.
“It kind of puts me in awe of all the people who care about our water and watersheds,” Brown said.
People like 67-year-old Randy Gaskins with the NWTF. He said while they’re building BDAs, today is about far more than the humble beaver.
“Water is important for all wildlife," Gaskins said. "Whether you’re talking the elk, the deer, the turkeys, songbirds, and insects. Insects need moisture, and insects are important even if we cuss them at times.”
But Gaskins and his group, with an average age in the 60s, had some concern for the future.
“It’s just getting harder and harder to get young people involved in any of the conservation groups," Gaskins said. "If conservation is going to continue, we need recruits. We need people to get involved. It may be working on a committee helping raise money, or it may be coming up and giving up a day to do a project. This is just as important, and this is a wonderful opportunity.”
All the conservation groups in attendance had the same message – anyone, regardless of age or experience, can get involved somehow in these events. It all begins with personally reaching out.