Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-08-10

ponds generally benefited other Wild
hfe, including muskratE, mink, deer
ducks and upland game birds. There
were few areas on the Wasatch forest
where the beavers activities were not
beneficial
The beaver investigation was one Of
! II Utah projects being carried on with
the aid Of federal funds IN accordance
with the Pittman- Robertson act OF
1887. This act provides for federal pay
ment OF rs percent Of the costs Of Wild
/ life restoration projects approved by
the Fish and Wildltfe service and car
ried on by participating states In ac-
cordance with federal standards.
! Sometimes Detrimental
However, whether beavers are bene-
! fetal to an area depends In part upon
! the type of stream in which the colo
MES are located, officials of the Fish
and Wildlife service pointed out. AS
shown in the Utah study these fur
animals are usually beneficial IN rapid
mountain streams. In lowlands, how
ever, where streams are sluggish, the
presence of beavers can be detrimental,
as shown in a study conducted IN
Michigan by j. Clark Salyer chief Of
the services division of wildltfe refugees
when he was employed by the InSti-
tute for Fisheries Research.
In the Utah investigation, which
was made ON rapid mountain streams,
Phillip Haas, federal aid project leader
for the state commission, found that
dams had little effect on fish migra-
tons I'm spring" Haas reported,
water was as a rule sufficiently high
to permit the fish free passage up
and down streams"
Salyer. who conducted his Michigan
investigation in 1884 concluded that
trout can and frequently do go down
stream over a dam to spawn but that
in most streams the better spawning
areas are upstream near the head
waters. Trout do not pass upstream
over the ordinary beaver dam in
Michigan waters" Salyer declared In
report published in 1885.
In Salyer's Michigan investigation 1t
was found that beaver ponds eventual
ly upset the chemical balance of the
water, but in Utah observations at 157
chemical stations CLOS operated in
streams and 81 in beaver ponds) in
dicated that beaver ponds are de-
cidedly beneficial to trout"
1t was also pointed out In the
Michigan study that fish parasites in
crease as beavers become prevalent on
a trout stream. In Utah, however, all
fish examined were IN a healthy con-
dition.
Management Practices Needed
Why the findings of the Michigan
and Utah nVeStiga tons are divergent
IS explained not only by the fact that
The types of streams were different
out also by the fact that the beaver
ponds in Utah were comparatively new
Salyer found that in the first few
Years beaver ponds are beneficial to
,rout but later are detrimental TO the
ish. Beaver dams, he concluded, have
/ beneficial effect on impoverished,
sandy streams.
Beaver ponds are indispensable"
Salyer declared, "in maintaining con-
inuous trout fishing in the rocky,
hort, down-plunging streams"
Both beaver and trout are exceed
ngly desirable natural resources, Sal
Ter and Haas agree. Proper manage
nent techniqueS are necessary to bal
nee the supply of beavers and trout
o that optimum conditions are main
aimed Haas believes that the Uinba
rea, If properly managed, should sup
'ort 3,700 beavers and yield an annual
rop OF some 1900 pelts with value
f $4,000 to $4,000.