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KINGFISHER POND - Beavers have been - well - busy as beavers.
Their gnawing on cottonwoods and other trees and felling them to make dams and dens in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area has led to a need to replant some flora.
On Tuesday morning, U.S. Bureau of Land Management employees, adult volunteers and members of the Youth Corps of Southern Arizona worked on an agency Earth Day project of digging holes to plant 50 cottonwoods near the old quarry pond.
 Digging until he hits water, Mike Cain of the Youth Corps of Southern Arizona helps plant cottonwoods along Kingfisher Pond on the San Pedro River on Tuesday. The Bureau of Land Management hopes to create a canopy near the pond, where the local beaver population has chewed many of the cottonwoods in the area. (Ed Honda-Herald/Review) |
In actuality, live green poles from cottonwoods were being put in the ground.
There were no roots on the poles placed on Tuesday. But through the magic of Mother Nature, roots will eventually appear once the pole was put into holes filled with water from the pond. Buds will then begin to sprout as a tree is born.
Trees are favored by beavers. Along the pond and the San Pedro River, Fremont cottonwoods and Goodding willows are the ones the beavers bring down.
BLM Wildlife Biologist Mark Fredlake said the project to restore some of the cottonwood canopy, important for migratory birds and other species, will include planting trees at least 30 feet from the edge of the pond.
"Beavers don't like to go too far from water," he said, pointing out two lodges in the pond's muddy brown water.
The beavers that have stayed along the river bed make dens in the stream's banks.
When the animals were reintroduced in the waterway in the late 1990s, it was hoped that they would build dams to help crate wider and deeper stretches of flowing water.
The more than dozen rodents originally put into the river have now grown to at least 80, Fredlake said. He estimated that between six and 12 call the pond home.
To ensure the animals do not start gnawing on the newer trees, protective fencing was put around them. Cottonwoods normally grow about an inch in diameter each year, and within 15 years can reach a height of 30 feet.
Donna Myers, a crew leader of the Youth Corps of Southern Arizona, said she and two other crew leaders had six corps members with them to do a variety of work on BLM property. The corps members range in age from 15 to 20.
The group's main focus is cleaning up trash left by visitors and illegal immigrants. Tuesday's work gave the group a different focus.
One fortunate aspect of digging the holes Tuesday is that most of it did not have to be done by hand. A mechanical auger did most of the work, with a little additional hand digging required until the hole began to fill with water.
BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner Jim Mahoney said the agency pays $6,400 a week to hire different Youth Corps groups.
The groups, which come to this part of Arizona from as far away as Oregon, really help by doing a lot of different kind of work other than picking up trash, he said. Groups build trails, put up fencing and clean up campgrounds.
In June, Mahoney expects to have a Youth Corps group that will help clear debris out of the river. In June, the stream's water level drops.
Unlike most of the young people with the Youth Corps who work outdoors, he said too much of his job is working in an office cubicle.
"I prefer being a real outdoor recreation planner, and that means working outdoors," Mahoney laughingly said.
Fredlake said the work around the pond is important to providing the correct environment for the species that need the San Pedro River. Returning the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area to a more pristine condition means plant and animal species that were introduced have to be controlled and removed, he said.
The reason the pond is muddy is because carp, a non-native fish species, were introduced, Fredlake said. Carp go along the bottom of the pond, stirring up the mud seeking worms they eat.
"They are like underwater steam shovels," Fredlake said.
The reintroduction of beavers, which was a major species in the waterway, and ensuring cottonwoods thrive is part of protecting the river and increasing its environmental value, he said.
"In 10 or 15 years the (newly planted cottonwoods) will grow and provide a canopy and the beavers will continue to be part of the system," Fredlake said.
When it comes to nature, humans can't be eager beavers, Fredlake added.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
nicole ray wrote on Jun 21, 2009 3:35 PM: