Stakeholders in the Leave it to Beavers project met recently to reflect on fall visits and to plan ahead for spring and beyond.Rachelle Haddock from the Miistakis Institute summarized the fall program including the great news that a few ‘nuisance’ beaver were located and trapped to be introduced to the reservoir. www.rockies.ca/blog/?p=697
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| New Resident to Goodwin Pond by Rachelle Haddock |
Recently volunteers at the site have seen evidence that the beaver are indeed still present and are busy logging the nearby forest. A blind has been built near the reservoir with a webcam focused on the beavers’ dam, but we haven’t been able to see the images yet. A new website for the project, which will include the scientific data produced by the grade 7 and 8 students, will hopefully host the webcam images.
We have plans to visit Goodwin Pond again in June to conduct follow up water tests, photo points and transect data now that the beaver have been introduced. We will complete a third year of testing at the reservoir in the 2013-2014 school year with all of our grade 7, 8 and 9 students.
Partnering with the Miistakis Institute, Cows and Fish, and the Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation area has been a wonderful opportunity for our students to carry out their science curriculum in an amazing labratory. The tests that they conducted assisted these organizations in making the Goodwin Pond an ideal location for beaver reintroduction. Real science in the real world with real consequences.