Eager

The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers & Why They Matter

my favorite podcast is Omnibus, by Ken Jennings & John Roderick. the topics covered on their show are broad and wide, and I’ve read several books inspired by an episode. this latest in my ever-expanding list of “books I read because they covered or referenced this in an episode of Omnibus” is Eager.

“Beavers, the animal that doubles as an ecosystem, are ecological and hydrological Swiss Army knives, capable, in the right circumstances, of tackling just about any landscape-scale problem you might confront. Trying to mitigate floods or improve water quality? There’s a beaver for that. Hoping to capture more water for agriculture in the face of climate change? Add a beaver. Concerned about sedimentation, salmon populations, wildfire? Take two families of beaver and check back in a year.” – Ben Goldfarb

I admit that I knew virtually nothing about beavers, at all, before reading this book; but Ben Goldfarb has made a beaver believer out of me. I greatly admire the work and research he put into this project — and I admire even more so the vast network of men + women advocates, scientists, researchers, and caretakers of this incredible animal. We need beavers!