Urban Beavers

Urban Beavers – Building Pathways to Coexistence in Fish Creek Provincial Park

Thursday, January 21, 2021 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Online using Zoom Video Conferencing Technology

View Recording – video will be posted for 1 month

Presented by Kirby England, P. Biol. Owner and Principal Consultant, You Betula Environmental Inc.

and Holly Kinas, B.Sc., B.I.T. Conservation Analyst, Miistakis Institute

In autumn 2020 the Friends launched the Beaver Coexistence project in Fish Creek Provincial Park which involved educational tours, events, hands-on volunteer activities, public awareness activities, and the construction of specialized structures in Fish Creek Provincial Park. These structures are already helping to protect park infrastructure so that visitors can continue enjoying the park’s trails and beavers can continue to build dams and raise their families in the park.

Beaver activity can decrease suspended sediments, filter out contaminants, recharge groundwater supplies and create habitat for a myriad of species.  In recognition of all the good beavers bring, land managers across the continent are turning to coexistence as a method of managing beaver activity on the landscape. Join Kirby England, Owner and Principal Consultant Biologist at You Betula Environmental, to learn about urban beaver coexistence tools and strategies, and to explore real-life examples of successful coexistence. 

During summer/fall of 2020, researchers at the Miistakis Institute piloted a new tree protection technique as part of their Putting Beavers to Work for Watershed Resiliency and Restoration program. This innovative and humane solution for managing beaver activity involved applying a textural repellent to discourage these animals from chewing and felling trees. The pilot took place in Fish Creek Provincial Park. They used a latex paint and sand mixture applied from the base of the tree to 4′ in height up the trunk.

The Friends would like to thank our project partners and supporters Alberta Environment and Parks, You Betula Environmental, Miistakis Institute, the City of Calgary, Humane Solutions, Cows & Fish, and all of the volunteers who helped out this year to make this project happen. We are especially grateful to the Alberta Environment and Parks’ Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program for providing financial support for the Friends’ Beaver Coexistence Project.

Free for Friends of Fish Creek Members, $10 for non-members, free for youth 16 years of age and younger with a registered adult.

Please note, you do not need to have a Zoom account to join.

150 tickets will be available, however only the first 100 participants/users will be able to join. If two or more people watch on one system/device, Zoom will recognize this as one participant. 

Zoom Guide to Joining a Meeting

Fish Creek Speaker Series programs are sponsored by