Stewarding Barney Lake with Help from Beavers

December 10, 2024

Many of us have good meals on our minds as the holidays approach and the weather cools – and the beavers at our Barney Lake Conservation Area are no exception. In the fall, these industrious creatures prepare for winter by storing food underwater, near their lodges. While some of us may prefer holiday turkey or ham, beaver are strict vegetarians. They eat aquatic plants such as water lilies, sedges, rushes, and cattails, as well as the inner bark, twigs, and leaves of deciduous trees like willow, alder, cottonwood, aspen, maple, and birch.

A young dogwood shows signs of beaver snacking.

Although they do not find coniferous trees as tasty, beavers do sometimes fell young conifers (as well as deciduous trees) when building dams. Unlike some deciduous species, young conifers do not usually survive being cut by beavers. This creates a conundrum at Barney Lake, where Skagit Land Trust’s (SLT’s or the Trust’s) stewardship team and volunteers have been planting species such as spruce and cedar to grow a natural, treed shoreline that will cool and shade the water that salmon rely on. Thus we have been installing temporary fences to protect the young conifers we replanted along the edge of Trumpeter Creek, which feeds into Barney Lake.

These plantings are part of a larger effort to support a riparian zone along Trumpeter Creek. Before the area came into the care of Skagit Land Trust, the creek had been pushed into a straight line and used as an agricultural drainage ditch. Several years ago, SLT and partners took the opportunity to re-meander the creek to restore water quality and fish habitat.

Since then, we also have replanted the area to create shade and habitat. At a recent work party in September of this year, two great teams of volunteers helped prepare fencing materials to protect our conifer plantings from those impressive beavers.

No need to worry, however – the Barney Lake beavers still have plenty of choices for snacking and dam-building. The area has some deciduous tree species like willow and dogwood, which often survive beaver activity by resprouting with multiple new stems. In fact, beaver activity in the fall often leads to greater growth the following spring as beaver-pruned trees can grow back bushier than before.

Beavers are a keystone species that create wetlands – an especially important ability now when we have lost an estimated 80%-90% of historical wetlands in the low-elevation areas of Puget Sound. Beaver activity enhances watershed resiliency by adding complexity to rivers and streams, storing sediment, and increasing groundwater retention. By slowing down water movement, beaver dams serve as refuges where fish such as juvenile Coho salmon can forage while saving energy. The dams create pond habitat for plants and invertebrates that attract amphibians and fish, which then attract birds and mammals.

The Trust’s stewardship team takes inspiration from the beaver and all the other wild beings who belong here in the Skagit. At Barney Lake and elsewhere, we do our best to work with beavers and other species and natural processes to create balanced ecosystems where all can thrive.

Stewardship work takes time and resources, but it is central to Skagit Land Trust’s mission. We are grateful to care for this land for the benefit of all of the wildlife who live here and the people that benefit from these healthy natural resources.

Volunteers put up temporary fencing to protect seedlings at Barney Lake.

Go to our Barney Lake Conservation Area property page to learn more about this special wetland.

Stewarding Barney Lake with Help from Beavers

Property Photos