Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter
Ben Goldfarb
4.28 goodreads rating of
4,936 ratings 873 reviews
Winner of the 2019 PEN/EO Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing
In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers”―including scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens―recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them. From the Nevada deserts to the Scottish highlands, Believers are now hard at work restoring these industrious rodents to their former haunts. Eager is a powerful story about one of the world’s most influential species, how North America was colonized, how our landscapes have changed over the centuries, and how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction, and the ravages of climate change. Ultimately, it’s about how we can learn to coexist, harmoniously and even beneficially, with our fellow travelers on this planet.
There has been a lot of controversy about beavers lately...daming up acequias and hurting farmers and others reliant upon the water from acequias...what to do? This is a very good book, very highly rated.
And Double Dragon's dinning room is now open for table service. Please bring cash if you can. They have tons of vegan options!
