Take action this week to help beavers

Beavers have had it rough. During the 18th and 19th centuries, they were almost wiped out by widespread trapping for their fur. More recently, they have been targeted for the damage they sometimes cause to trees and the problems their dams sometimes cause, such as blocking culverts and irrigation ditches and flooding roads and private property. In addition, some people still hunt and trap beavers for recreation and the small amount of money paid for beaver fur, which is still legal.

Meanwhile, scientific research increasingly shows that beavers and their dams play a crucial role in maintaining watershed health. By slowing water flow in certain areas, the dams contribute to the formation of active floodplains that retain water for gradual release during dry periods and foster vegetation growth that shades streams, helping to maintain the cooler water temperatures that many fish need. The dams also filter other pollutants from the streams.

For these and other reasons, beavers have become increasingly popular. More and more people and policy makers want to protect them from being killed for sport and fur, and to find nonlethal solutions for the problems beavers sometimes cause.

This Year's Bills to Help Beavers

Efforts to treat beavers better include two bills in this year's Oregon Legislature. HB 3143 would create a fund to help pay for nonlethal solutions to the problems beavers sometimes cause. HB 3932 would prohibit commercial and recreational hunting and trapping of beavers on public land in and along streams with identified water quality problems, including water temperatures that get too high for fish. HB 3143 has been passed by a House committee and is now in the hands of the Joint Committee on Ways & Means and its Natural Resources Subcommitte. HB 3932 has been passed by the full House of Representatives and has another public hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire.

What You Can Do

Please help us help beavers by showing your support for the beaver bills in this year's legislature.

Take action this week to support HB 3932.

The most immediate need for help is for HB 3932 (the bill to prohibit killing beavers on public lands near streams with water quality problems), which is getting significant opposition from some hunters and trappers. Here's what you can do to help support this bill:

Email your senator and ask your senator to support HB 3932. Be sure to say you are a "constituent," which means you live in their district and vote on whether they are elected or not. If you don't know who your state senator is, go here to find out and get their email address. Your email will be especially helpful if your senator is on the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire. It's best if you use your own words, and share any relevant personal experience, but here is a template you could use:

Dear Senator ____________,

As a constituent, I hope you will support HB 3932, which is now in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire. HB 3932 would prohibit killing beavers for sport or fur on public lands in and near waterways with identified water quality problems. Protecting beavers in these areas is important because the dams beavers build improve water quality by creating healthy floodplains and filtering pollutants. Given all the benefits beavers provide, it does not make sense to let people hunt and trap beavers in these areas for recreation and fur.

Thank you for considering my comments.

You can also submit written comments directly into the public hearing record on HB 3932. To do that, go here. You can either type comments into the online form or upload a document from your computer. It helps to get your comments in before the hearing (1 p.m. Tuesday, May 6) but comments will be accepted up to 48 hours after that (until 1 p.m. Thursday, May 8). Your comments do not need to be long. Again, it's best to use your own words, but here is a possible template:

Chair Golden, Vice Chair Nash and Members of the Committee:

I urge your support for HB 3932. HB 3932 would prohibit commercial and recreational killing of beavers on public lands in and near waterways with identified water quality problems. Protecting beavers in these areas is important because the dams beavers build improve water quality by creating healthy floodplains and filtering pollutants. Given all the benefits beavers provide, it does not make sense to let people hunt and trap beavers in thse areas for recreation and fur.

Let Your Legislators Know You Support HB 3143.

Please also tell your state legislators you support HB 3143 (the bill to fund nonlethal solutions to the harm beavers sometimes cause). Your email will be especially helpful if one or both of your legislators are on the Joint Committee on Ways & Means, and even more so if they are on its Natural Resources Subcommitte. To find out who your state legislators are and get their email addresses, go here.

Your email does not need to be long. It's best to use your own words and personal experience, but here is a template you could use:

Dear [Representative or Senator ____________]

As a constituent, I hope you will support HB 3143, which would create a fund to help pay for nonlethal solutions to the property damage sometimes caused by beavers. This is important both because it would lead to more humane treatment of beavers and because the dams beavers build improve watershed health by filtering pollutants and creating functioning floodplains that prolong flows in dry periods and increase streamside vegetation that cools streams with shade.

Thank you for considering my comments.

Thank you for helping us advocate for animals!

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