Activity 2.3.1 Ranchers, Anglers, and Beavers

Six-Point Critical Analysis Worksheet 1. Exploratory Lee Sqweeney the son of Winnemucca Buckaroo Hall of Famer Paul Sweeney begins by telling us about his childhood and how he would fish for troughs with his dad and how there used to be cattle running through eating all the green, but now the restoration brought back the green native grass. Next Jesse Brattz the ranch manager of the Sweeney Farm talks about how it is good to see the water tables rising because that means they are holding water longer, bigger flude planes meaning more plants growing, Jesse describes it as a big sponge holding water then letting it go. Then the video goes onto Jon Griggs the ranch manager at Maggie Creek Ranch in the North East corner of Nevada where the fish are called lahontan cutthroat trout, which they are very proud of because they created more stock water that brings more grass that helps them increase their herd number. Jon said “good trout habitat makes good cow habitat and good wildlife habitat.” The National Fish and Wildlife foundation granted the funding for these programs. conservation-oriented grazing is a lower-cost, lower-effort approach that can be applied to entire watersheds. Allai the author of the study said Allai. “It allows ranchers to continue livestock grazing and maintain their livelihood, allows BLM to meet our resource management mandates, and allows stream systems to really thrive.” But this takes hard work and patience because it may take years to see the results and a focus on collaboration with other creeks and cattle farms to strive for the same goal. 2. Diagnostic Restoration happens when there is a change in grazing patterns that allows vegetation to recover, creating an inviting habitat for beavers. This is good because the Beaver dams help water build up and the water gets stored in floodplains giving more water to the soil so more plants can grow. Restoration helps repair damaged ecosystems that have gotten overgrazed. A great example is Squano Valley Ranch which is now thriving! 3. Cause and Effect If a beaver builds a dam, it will slow down the flow of water in the stream which will cause the water to go into the floodplains which raises the water table and keeps the soil wet so more plants can grow. With more water and plants there is more room for a bigger better habitat for fish and wildlife and the land will less likely have a drought. 4. Priority I feel it is important to recognize that there are a few natural solutions and we do not need to rely on human engineered restoration projects. Instead we should first try changing grazing practices and keeping them motivated and do what we can to support beaver populations. I feel the most important issue is making sure there are sustainable land management practices, like conservation oriented grazing which will help start the process of recovery for nature, so basically watching the beavers activity. 5. Application This applies to real world agriculture and environmental management today and into the future, this research has shown that humans can work with natural systems rather than against them. I have also learned that small changes with how I interact with nature can make a huge difference so I will do my best to use nature resources to reduce my carbon footprint, which we learned about in early march. 6. Critical I assumed that effective stream restoration would be expensive and take lots of water from other water sources but I learned that with patience, group collaboration and good livestock management, entire watersheds can recover naturally!