Cranberry Pond
Once upon a time, this property was part of the large Wadsworth Estate in Hiram, Maine. The area surrounding the pond (that white streak across the middle of the photo) was a productive cranberry bog you could walk across. Now inhabited by beaver, the property destruction is obvious.
And yet…
Beaver, brought to near extinction because of their pelts and their territorial difficulty living along side man, are extraordinary environmentalists. They create wetlands that support numerous species of plants, fish, birds, wild animals, and micro-organisms. Importantly, these wetlands safely isolate and store carbon both in plant life and in the debris of the felled trees they drag through the waters for their dams and lodges.
It is estimated that globally the “total carbon storage of wetlands is 225 billion metric tons, or the equivalent of carbon emissions from roughly 189 million cars every year.”
Unfortunately, beaver do not manage all those wetlands. Most are mismanaged or not managed at all, left to dry up and release that carbon back into our atmosphere. On the other hand, wetlands controlled by beaver are masterfully managed. Beaver guard and maintain them to support the life that depends upon their waters. And while you certainly do not want beaver in your yard, we need them in our wetlands.
Because of the Maine drought, I thought that this year Don and I would be able to walk across a somewhat soggy marsh to the pond, something we have never been able to do. Because of the beaver, we could not. The water in Cranberry Pond and its surrounding marshlands had not receded one single inch while a nearby lake was down significantly.
Cranberry Pond
Once upon a time, this property was part of the large Wadsworth Estate in Hiram, Maine. The area surrounding the pond (that white streak across the middle of the photo) was a productive cranberry bog you could walk across. Now inhabited by beaver, the property destruction is obvious.
And yet…
Beaver, brought to near extinction because of their pelts and their territorial difficulty living along side man, are extraordinary environmentalists. They create wetlands that support numerous species of plants, fish, birds, wild animals, and micro-organisms. Importantly, these wetlands safely isolate and store carbon both in plant life and in the debris of the felled trees they drag through the waters for their dams and lodges.
It is estimated that globally the “total carbon storage of wetlands is 225 billion metric tons, or the equivalent of carbon emissions from roughly 189 million cars every year.”
Unfortunately, beaver do not manage all those wetlands. Most are mismanaged or not managed at all, left to dry up and release that carbon back into our atmosphere. On the other hand, wetlands controlled by beaver are masterfully managed. Beaver guard and maintain them to support the life that depends upon their waters. And while you certainly do not want beaver in your yard, we need them in our wetlands.
Because of the Maine drought, I thought that this year Don and I would be able to walk across a somewhat soggy marsh to the pond, something we have never been able to do. Because of the beaver, we could not. The water in Cranberry Pond and its surrounding marshlands had not receded one single inch while a nearby lake was down significantly.