In 14 years, we've had beavers visit twice. Both times, trappers have shown up and set their traps under the bridge, which is apparently legal-- the bridge butts up to our property line. Both times I enacted a campaign of sabotage, but the beavers moved on, probably on account of all the human activity. A couple years back, I read a book called Eager, by Ben Goldfarb. Really great read, it's all about beavers. They're probably the most trustworthy engineers you can find.
In Ireland we have something called the Arterial Drainage Act: "The Arterial Drainage Act was introduced after World War II to create more serviceable farmland and requires the Office of Public Works to continually re-dredge and drain 11,500 km of rivers. Again, this is designed to protected grazing pastures for livestock, not people or their homes." (https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/storm-chandra-nature-based-solutions-6946724-Feb2026/). Flooding events continue to increase, but nature-based solutions are a hard sell.
Thanks for sharing this, Feargal. Interesting, and a bit dissappointing, to see similar issues in places that I perceive to be more likely to think critically about their impact on natural systems than the US.
I'm interested to hear what you do with your birch sap, if you get any! I don't have the right climate for sugar maples (much to my disappointment) but there are lots of birch trees around here and I was going to try tapping a couple this year.
Very interesting to learn there is maple sugaring outside of Canada and New England. It is a deliciously inefficient process. I once toured a maker in New Hampshire two decades ago and they were already concerned about the climate.
In 14 years, we've had beavers visit twice. Both times, trappers have shown up and set their traps under the bridge, which is apparently legal-- the bridge butts up to our property line. Both times I enacted a campaign of sabotage, but the beavers moved on, probably on account of all the human activity. A couple years back, I read a book called Eager, by Ben Goldfarb. Really great read, it's all about beavers. They're probably the most trustworthy engineers you can find.
In Ireland we have something called the Arterial Drainage Act: "The Arterial Drainage Act was introduced after World War II to create more serviceable farmland and requires the Office of Public Works to continually re-dredge and drain 11,500 km of rivers. Again, this is designed to protected grazing pastures for livestock, not people or their homes." (https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/storm-chandra-nature-based-solutions-6946724-Feb2026/). Flooding events continue to increase, but nature-based solutions are a hard sell.
Thanks for sharing this, Feargal. Interesting, and a bit dissappointing, to see similar issues in places that I perceive to be more likely to think critically about their impact on natural systems than the US.
I'm interested to hear what you do with your birch sap, if you get any! I don't have the right climate for sugar maples (much to my disappointment) but there are lots of birch trees around here and I was going to try tapping a couple this year.
We'll see if I get any… pretty rough season so far.
Very interesting to learn there is maple sugaring outside of Canada and New England. It is a deliciously inefficient process. I once toured a maker in New Hampshire two decades ago and they were already concerned about the climate.
"Neither crooked trees or winding waters care for human measure." 🔥
Inquiring minds want to know: do you have beavers?