Beavers, the animal that doubles as an ecosystem. — Ben Goldfarb
On July 16th, we hosted our first Ranch Talk at our spacious Lambing Barn. We were thrilled to have Ben Goldfarb speak on one of the most-talked about nature books of the past years. Ben is the author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, the winner of the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and named one of the best books of 2018 by the Washington Post. Ben spoke like he wrote, with eye-opening and entertaining stories about beavers and the landscapes they create. Following a lively question & answer exchange Ben led us to the ranch’s largest beaver pond (see the slide show above).
By the end of the day we had a new appreciation for riparian landscapes, and why beavers are such an important keystone species. The ripples from their eager work at the ranch continues to cascade outward from the banks of the South Platte’s Middle Fork.
In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers” —including scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens—recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them.
“A marvelously humor-laced page-turner about the science of semi-aquatic rodents… Goldfarb has built a masterpiece of a treatise on the natural world.” — The Washington Post
Our thanks goes to The Summit Foundation and to Park County’s Land & Water Trust Fund for their support!
Visit our Bonfire Fundraising Store for Beaver Believer Tees. Available in many styles and sizes including Tees for Kids!
Rocky Mountain Land Library 