BY KAREN BOSSICK
Beaver?
Old nuisance or new partner?
Seventh Generation Institute and the Community Library will present a free screening of the Institute’s film, “Rethinking Beaver: Old Nuisance or New Partner?” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, at Ketchum’s Community Library.
The film presents interviews with ranchers and others to explore the pros and cons of using beavers as a tool to restore streams, adapt to climate change, improve fish and wildlife habitat, repair erosion and increase forage on ranches and other areas of the west.
The film, presented by filmmaker Cathryn Wild, includes an interview with Brian Bean who presides over Lava Lake Lamb Ranch in Carey. Also, Chris Black of Mountain Home, Lew Pence of Gooding and others.
Terry Mitchell, of the Tequesquite Ranch in New Mexico, Lew Pence, a retired Natural Resources Conservation Service officer, and James Rogers, general manager, of Winecup Gamble Ranch in Nevada will answer questions from the audience following the film.
Seventh Generation Institute connects people to nature and conservation through exploration, travel and volunteering.
Then on Thursday, April 4, Ben Goldfarb will give a talk about “Beavers: Their Landscape, our Future.” The free talk starts at 6 p.m.
Goldfarb has written “Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter.” It discusses the consequences of the fur trade that wiped out millions of beavers from North America, allowing streams to erode, wetlands to dry up and species from salmon to swan lose vital habitat.
And it talks about a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers” who believe that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier for humans and non-humans alike.
Goldfarb’s talk is presented in collaboration with the Wood River Land Trust.