Give A Dam - Restoring Water

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to read about Give A Dam - restoring beavers' sacred role within the web of life.

In SW Colorado we face water shortage, pollution in our waterways, forest fire, and loss of sacred species. After the Gold King Mine Spill on the Animas, I began a dialogue with the earth asking what I could do to help heal her waters.

The earth's answer was, "Beaver."

What I discovered was that beavers were the guardians of the waterways.

As I researched more I learned that before the late 1800's when beaver were nearly trapped to extinction in America for their pelts to make hats, there once were 60-400 million beavers in America.  Killing beavers led to the degradation of streams and naturally made dams that beavers once created. America's waterways looked very different than they do now.  There once were beavers (and their wetlands) every quarter to half a mile on rivers/streams. Currently, there are beaver families every 50 miles of streams. The impact of this for humans (and other sacred species) is that there is less water to recharge the water table, loss of natural filtration systems that beaver ponds provided for purifying water, loss of fire resiliency, and habitat loss for many species. (https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/74008)
 
Did you know that wetlands make up 2% of the landmass in America, but house 80%of the biodiversity for plants and animal species?

At Give A Dam we trust beavers' ability to restore water. So we have set out on a mission to raise awareness about this sacred animal. Beavers are a solution to many of the environmental issues we are facing. 

Support Give A Dam with your donation today!

Your donation will go to:

    ~    Educate a landowner whose land contains beavers on why they would want to keep them and not kill them.
    ~    Further beaver and water education with students at Fort Lewis College.
    ~    Educational tours of beaver wetlands to raise awareness of these special animals' benefits to the environment.
    ~    Creating educational videos about beavers.
    ~    Working with public, private, state, and Federal Agencies to relocate beavers that would otherwise be killed.
    ~    Coordinating non-lethal solutions to beaver conflict, i.e. fencing of trees and installing flow devices.


For donations over $100 you choose a gift:

 ~Wooden birdhouse for our special Mountain/Western Bluebirds or 
 ~A handmade aspen wooden box with a handle from beaver chewed stick!!

Breakdown of expenses:
~2 live traps at $425 X 2 (for live trapping and relocating)
~2 interlocking cages for holding and transferring beaver families $100 X 3
~beaver bait (yes beaver bait!) $30
~cost to print pamphlets
~logo design
~PH meter to measure water at beaver ponds to see how they are filtering pollutants.
~Gas to all the wonderful beaver waterworks for tours, relocating, and research
~maybe pay me some time for all the work!

Here is a short video on what beaver do in winter to eat when their ponds are frozen.

Thank you again for reading and watching Give A Dam on Gofundme. I appreciate your support!!

In Beavers We Trust,
Nichole Fox