Beavers relocated in Sheridan Region

In late September, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, Sheridan Region Aquatic Habitat Biologist Travis Cundy live-trapped several beaver from private property east of Sheridan and relocated them to a site above Buffalo on the Bighorn National Forest.

“We began live-trapping and relocating beaver in the 1990s as a way to improve riparian habitat,” Cundy said. “The goal is to use the dam-building activities of beaver to help detain water longer on the landscape. We are just trying to slow down water movement so it can help build up water tables and create more vegetation.”

Five beavers were trapped over three days. Cundy targets mated pairs when identifying potential trap sites, increasing the likelihood that the animals will stay in the release area. He believes the five trapped in September are a family unit including the mated pair along with kits from this year and last.

Results of a 2014 University of Wyoming study of the Pole Mountain Recreation Area in the Medicine Bow National Forest revealed that beavers can be helpful managers of ecological and hydrological systems.

The study conducted by Matthew Hayes, a spatial analyst with the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UW in 2014, determined that, when beaver numbers increase in a habitat, willow counts improve while aspen and conifer numbers decrease. Beavers forage on aspen and use it to build dams.

As a result of the beavers’ action, trout, amphibian, songbird and moose habitat is increased, and foraging for winter ungulate (hooved animals such as deer, elk and moose) improves. This is due to the beavers building dams. Once the dams are built, the local water table rises.