Biologists, environmental experts, authors, filmmakers and the staff at Bud Werner Memorial Library are teaming up to help community members become more eager fans of Colorado native beavers.
The education series this winter circles around the One Book Steamboat reading choice for 2025 called "Eager: The Surprising Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter" written by award-winning environmental journalist and Salida resident Ben Goldfarb.
According to the Colorado Beaver Working Group, the beaver is a keystone species that plays a critical role in holding together ecosystems because the large rodents are engineers that build dams that raise water levels, slow water speed and change water direction.
"Beaver ponds and wetlands are biodiversity hotspots hosting many species including freshwater fish, aquatic mammals, waterfowl, migratory birds, shorebirds, amphibians, reptiles, plants and invertebrates," according to the working group.
Although some area farmers and ranchers do not relish the extra work that beavers may cause for their operations, biologists say beavers can increase valuable wetland areas, species diversity and water quality.
Wildlife Biologist Jeremiah Psiropoulos from the Routt National Forest office in Steamboat Springs said beavers have been engineering the Yampa Valley for many years with dam building and tree felling that create wet meadows and riparian corridors that host a myriad of species.
"Whether your interactions with beavers are positive or negative - a destructive nuisance depriving your fields of water, or the excitement of a fleeting encounter in a high mountain stream - they are a creature that demand our respect," Psiropoulos said
Beavers once numbered in the many millions and lived in almost every year-round stream in North America, according to experts. As demand for beaver fur skyrocketed with American colonization, beavers were trapped almost to extinction, and their disappearance dramatically altered the landscape.
"Despite reintroductions and natural expansion, beavers have yet to return to many places where they used to live, and many areas could use more beavers to restore crucial wetland habitat and water resources," according to the working group. "The American beaver is a native Coloradan (species) that used to be found in waterways around our state. The plants and animals of Colorado co-evolved with the beaver and depend on the diversity of aquatic habitats they provide."
The library staff are encouraging readers to request a copy of "Eager," which is available in print, digital and audio formats. The library staff is promoting the viewing of the short film "Beavers in Paradise" that shows beavers as they make a comeback in London through a community-urban beaver project.
Librarians created a new outdoor Story Walk that features the children's book "The Lodge that Beaver Built." The family-friendly walking and reading opportunity is located in intervals along a side path off the Yampa River Core Trail near the Stockbridge Transit Center.
Up next in the beaver education series is the screening of the award-winning feature documentary "The Beaver Believers" at 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday at Library Hall including a conversation with filmmaker Sarah Koenigsberg.
A Tween Book Club for readers of "Rescue at Lake Wild" is scheduled for 5-6 p.m. Feb. 25 at the library to discuss the adventure book about friends rescuing orphaned beaver kits.
The science talk "NASA and the Beaver Believers" is scheduled for 6:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 in Library Hall featuring a conversation with landscape ecologist Nick Kolarik about using NASA Earth observations to monitor impacts of beaver-related conservation efforts in dryland systems.
A panel of local environmental experts will come together 6:30-8 p.m. March 6 in Library Hall to discuss "Beavers in the Yampa Valley." Educators from such groups as Community Agriculture Alliance, Colorado Parks & Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service and Friends of the Yampa will discuss beaver encounters, drought resiliency, fire mitigation, biodiversity and co-habitation with beavers across the Yampa Valley.
Readers can register to participate in a community book discussion about "Eager" at 6:30-7:30 p.m. March 12 at the library.
The finale for the educational series and One Book Steamboat 2025 will be an author talk with Goldfarb at 6:30-8 p.m. March 18 at Library Hall. With a master's degree in environmental management, Goldfarb covers wildlife conservation, marine science and public lands management and has written for such magazines such as Science, National Geographic, Outside, Smithsonian and Audubon.
The full programming schedule and a link to "Beavers in Paradise" is online at Steamboatlibrary.org/one-book-steamboat.