Wyoming
Fake beaver dams help restore Wyoming wetlands – WyoFile
My rubber boots squelched as I grabbed another 5-gallon bucket full of mud from a Wyoming Game and Fish Department herpetology technician. We performed an awkward handoff before I dumped the mud on the ground in front of my sinking boots. The squelching continued as I used my boots to mash the fresh mud up against willow branches woven among 4-inch-wide posts rammed in a streambed.
Our little team, the herpetology technician, a Trout Unlimited project manager and another volunteer like me, were finishing up the first in a series of nearly a dozen fake beaver dams on a creek on the west side of the Snowy Range Mountains in southeast Wyoming. They’re technically called beaver dam analogues — since with their complex patterns of sticks and mud, they’re supposed to imitate real beaver dams. Although I’m not sure my noisy rubber boots really compare to the efficacy of the beaver tail.
The dams’ purpose, as the name implies, is to slow streamflow, lightly flooding banks and providing the water more time to seep into the ground.
If we’re lucky, a family of beavers will come along and make this analogue their home, even tearing out our handiwork to construct something they like better that’s more permanent and sturdier. Beavers are, after all, professional furry engineers, who perfected their craft over millennia.
Our fake beaver dams aren’t meant to last forever. They’ll be maintained annually for about five years (unless real beavers take over earlier), but the result when established in the right place can be remarkable, restoring and rejuvenating wetlands, replenishing the water table, keeping water higher up in systems longer in the year, and providing habitat for everything from insects, frogs and toads to elk and moose, and yes, even beavers.
Stream restoration experts like Steve Gale, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s aquatic habitat biologist, can and do extoll the benefits of beavers and beaver dams. And while the rest of us standing in the stream bed see their utility, we also agreed with Gale when he said: “Who doesn’t want to play in the water with mud and sticks?”
Bigger than just beavers
Before European settlers streamed onto this continent, bringing an insatiable demand for beaver pelts, the rodents lived in streams, creeks and rivers almost everywhere. They dammed any flowing water they could find and had a hand in shaping large swaths of the nation.
While beavers can be a nuisance, falling ancient cottonwoods in parched areas and flooding creeks and irrigation ditches, they’re also one of the best examples of ecosystem engineers, Gale said, and their services have been missed. Without beavers and beaver dams, rivers run faster and cut down into the soil, they wash away sediment and move water faster from headwater states like Wyoming to other states downstream.
Biologists have tried reintroducing beavers across the country — the Army Corps of Engineers even famously airdropped beavers into an Idaho wilderness area — with mixed success.
So now watershed managers are turning to contraptions like the ones a team of nearly 20, including Game and Fish employees and volunteers from all over the state, helped build in mid-September.
We stood on the banks of the South Fork of Lake Creek in the Pennock Wildlife Habitat Management Area and listened to Gale walk us through the process. In the last few decades, the South Fork of Lake Creek had cut deeper and deeper into the earth, ultimately sinking lower than the floodplain and as a result offering little water to surrounding vegetation. When runoff hit each spring, the water rushed down as plants sat parched on the banks.
“We lost riparian habitat and riparian width, which is important for calving areas,” he said. “We’re doing this work primarily for the deer, elk and moose.”
Beavers had been reintroduced here before, but even the industrious rodents had a hard time building dams and ponds deep enough to keep them alive and safe through winter.
We were here to help, hopefully. We would spend the bulk of the day pounding posts made from trees across the width of the creek over a quarter-mile-long stretch and then weaving bendy willow branches through the posts. After building a wall of willows, we would use buckets of mud and sod to fill in the cracks. With any luck, water would begin backing up almost immediately, eventually filling and slowly trickling over the tops.
Life or death
As beaver dam analogues become increasingly popular, biologists with state agencies and nonprofits are teaming up to place them in streams across the landscape.
Austin Quynn, the Trout Unlimited project manager helping direct our team, worked with groups of youth corps members over the last couple summers building, maintaining and repairing hundreds of analogues on a stream called Muddy Creek southwest of Rawlins to help habitat for four native fish species: flannelmouth and bluehead suckers, roundtail chubs and Colorado River cutthroat. Last summer, beavers came from miles downstream and tore out dozens of analogues in one stretch. He sounded amused that his work was destroyed, because in its place, they’d built a massive dam that must have been what the beavers wanted and needed.
Some of the dams blew out from spring runoff, scouring the creek bed of sediment and leaving behind gravel that cutthroat trout could use for spawning.
Deep pools created by the analogues — and eventually beavers themselves — also offer fish refuge from the heat on mid-summer days.
On the east side of the Snowy Range, Wendy Estes-Zumpf, Game and Fish’s herpetological coordinator, and others built eight analogues in a creek which contains one of the last boreal toad populations in southeast Wyoming. It had been a stronghold for the creatures, but in the absence of beavers, the creek became incised, leaving little wetland habitat for toads to breed and survive.
A few seasons after Estes-Zumpf’s team erected the fake beaver dams, boreal toad populations have started to come back. She counted as few as four toads on past spring surveys and found almost 30 this spring including multiple age classes.
Beaver dam analogues aren’t a silver bullet for a drought-stricken West, Gale said, but for some species and some creeks, they could be the difference between life and death.
Plus, it’s hard to beat a day playing in the mud.
If you’re planning on visiting Wyoming, for a truly authentic experience, you must include at least one of the state’s awesome downtowns in your travel plans. Positioned at the southern end of the 60-mile-long valley known as Jackson Hole, the character-rich town of Jackson is one such place to consider. A wonderful place to explore on foot, Jackson’s unique downtown, with its Old West vibe, spreads out from the intersection of Broadway and Cache Street. While it consists of just a few blocks, it is jam-packed with fun things to do, no matter what time of year you visit. Its impressive elk arch makes for an excellent photo opportunity, while the charm of its Old West heritage exudes from the historic buildings, cowboy-themed bars, and art installations across town. The wild past also comes to life in Jackson during the Jackson Hole Shootout at the Town Square, a tradition that has endured since 1957.
Town Square And The Elk Antler Arches
Though Jackson’s Central Park is officially known as George Washington Memorial Park, locals and visitors alike prefer to call it Town Square. Dedicated in 1934, this centrally located public space occupies the block at Broadway and Cache and is famous for the elk antler archers set at each of its corners.
Made entirely from naturally shed elk antlers, the first arch was erected by local Boy Scouts and Rotary Club members in 1953, with the other three added a few years later. Each consists of around 2,000 antlers collected from the nearby National Elk Refuge and is among the most photographed landmarks in Wyoming.
For a truly memorable experience, try to time a visit to coincide with ELKFEST. Held in May, this community-wide celebration attracts visitors from across the country for events like the Mountain Man Rendezvous, a reenactment of the state’s early fur trading years.
The main event, though, is the highly anticipated Elk Antler Auction. Bidders from far and wide turn up at Town Square to purchase antlers, which are then used to make everything from furniture to jewelry (proceeds going back to the Elk Refuge).
Jackson’s Cowboy Heritage
From Memorial Day through Labor Day, Town Square becomes the backdrop of the famous Jackson Hole Shootout. This fun (and free) mock gunfight has been entertaining visitors since 1957 and includes several costumed outlaws and lawmen shooting it out (with blanks, of course). You can add to the experience by hopping aboard the Jackson Hole Stagecoach, a ride aboard a century-old coach that loops around downtown.
The Old West theme is evident in other spots around the downtown core, too. Steps from Town Square, the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar has been around since 1937 and is set in what was once the town’s first bank in the late 1890s. Highlights include its hand-carved bar top with silver dollars embedded in it, as well as its cool saddle barstools. Live music is regularly scheduled on the stage that has seen such legends as Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr. perform.
The Wort Hotel is another downtown landmark you’ll want to include in your Jackson itinerary. A local fixture since 1941, it’s here you’ll find the famous Silver Dollar Bar with its custom-made S-shaped counter inlaid with 2,032 uncirculated (and therefore rare) 1921 silver dollars. You’ll also want to check out its priceless collection of original Western art.
Other Fun Stuff To Do In Downtown Jackson
In addition to its iconic bars, downtown Jackson also boasts a world-class food scene. Highlights include Persephone Bakery, its old-fashioned stone hearth turning out delicious baked goods, including croissants and artisanal bread. Also yummy, Cafe Genevieve occupies an old log cabin and serves breakfast and lunch with a Southern-inspired menu.
Jackson’s art scene is also worth a mention. Art galleries are plentiful in the downtown area, with establishments like Astoria Fine Art and Mountain Trails Galleries, both on Town Square, featuring works by local, national, and international artists. The Center for the Arts is another cultural high point and features performance spaces, visual arts studios, and an outdoor sculpture park.
Snow King Mountain
Another unique feature of Jackson’s downtown is its proximity to some of Wyoming’s best (and certainly most accessible) ski hills. The base of Snow King Mountain is just six blocks from Town Square and has been in use since 1936, and really took off when Wyoming’s first chairlift opened here in 1946.
Dubbed the “Town Hill” by locals, Snow King now consists of 500 skiable acres, 41 named runs, three chairlifts, an eight-passenger gondola, and night skiing. In warmer months, the action shifts to a thrilling Cowboy Coaster, a zipline, a treetop adventure ropes course, and an alpine slide.
The Snow King Observatory and Planetarium is another excuse to head for the hills from downtown Jackson. Located at the summit of Snow King Mountain, in addition to its large telescope, this must-see attraction features a planetarium theater and a rooftop observation deck boasting incredible views over Jackson and the Jackson Hole Valley.
Explore Jackson’s Not-So-Wild Side
Downtown Jackson has so much to offer visitors seeking an authentic slice of Wyoming life. From its unique elk antler arches to its art galleries and cowboy culture, as well as its unique position steps from the ski hills, few towns in the USA’s Mountain Region can match the long list of fun things to do in Jackson’s downtown core.
The expansion would open the spigot for 550,000 barrels per day of crude, the company says. Although the crude would mostly pass through eastern Wyoming, the venture opens opportunities for Wyoming oil producers in the region for more transportation access to U.S. refineries and shipping ports, according to Bridger and local industry officials.“It would be the biggest project in our history, if it comes to fruition,” Bridger Pipeline spokesperson Bill Salvin told WyoFile on Friday. “We are, however, in the really early stages of the project. But we’re very excited about it.”Industry trade groups speculate the Bridger Pipeline Expansion is part of a competitive scramble to fill a gap left by TC Energy’s Keystone XL project. That company, in 2021, abandoned the controversial project in the face of major opposition and protests. It would have transported Canadian tar-sands oil into the U.S. market via a route extending through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Among many challenges for Keystone XL was acquiring new rights-of-way easements. Though the Bridger Pipeline Expansion proposal requires some new rights-of-way, that’s not the case for the 210-mile Wyoming segment, according to Salvin.“All of that distance is within, or parallel to, existing pipeline corridors,” Salvin said.
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The Wyoming segment would pass through Crook, Weston, Niobrara, Goshen and Platte counties.Bridger Pipeline, a subsidiary of Casper-based True Companies, submitted a notice of intent to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in January and noted it will formally initiate environmental applications to the agency. Salvin told WyoFile he’s uncertain about the full spectrum of regulatory requirements in Wyoming.However, the company regards the Cowboy State as a great fit for the project, he said. “This [project proposal] just highlights how important the region is and how Wyoming is a very good place for energy projects like this.”Reached for comment, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming said the proposed pipeline only stands to benefit Wyoming producers and the state.“Investments like these, along with continued growth in areas like the Powder River Basin, show Wyoming will continue to play an important role in the nation’s energy markets,” PAW Vice President and Director of Communications Ryan McConnaughey told WyoFile. “Connecting in Guernsey allows product to be transported to refining hubs like Cushing, Oklahoma.” WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
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LARAMIE — Nasir Meyer converted a three-point play with 35 seconds remaining to give Wyoming Cowboys men’s basketball the lead for good, and Wyoming held Air Force Falcons men’s basketball scoreless over the final two minutes to secure a 66-62 victory Saturday night.
The win marked the 13th home victory of the season for Wyoming, which improved to 16-13 overall and 7-11 in conference play.
“Air Force deserves all the credit and let’s talk about a team that has every reason not to fight, but thats why they are Air Force and the cadets and I have a lot of respect for them,” Wyoming coach Sundance Wicks said. “They were not going to quit, and I didn’t drive that message home enough and hats off to Air Force because they deserved to win. We snuck away with a win. Adam Harakow showed when we need him and he was massive for us. Simm-Marten was made big plays and Naz was clutch for us late.”
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Wyoming shot 35% from the field and went 7 of 28 from 3-point range, making just two from beyond the arc in the second half. Air Force shot 49% overall and 44% from 3, hitting eight shots from long distance. The Cowboys made 13 of 16 free throws (81%) and scored 22 points off 15 Air Force turnovers while holding a 39-36 edge in rebounding.
Damarion Dennis led Wyoming with 16 points and three assists, going 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. Meyer finished with 14 points and tied a career best with eight rebounds. Adam Harakow added 14 points off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting, his first double-figure scoring game since the first meeting with Air Force. Simm-Marten Saadi had nine points in 13 minutes, and Kiani Saxon grabbed seven rebounds.
Air Force opened with back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 6-0 lead. Meyer scored Wyoming’s first basket, and Leland Walker added a 3-pointer to make it 8-5 with 16 minutes left in the first half.
Wyoming responded with a 9-0 run over nearly four minutes, with Saadi and Harakow each connecting from beyond the arc to give the Cowboys an 11-8 lead with under 14 minutes remaining. Air Force regained a 12-11 advantage as Wyoming went scoreless for more than two minutes.
Harakow’s second 3-pointer pushed the lead to 22-16 with nine minutes left in the half, and Wyoming used a 6-0 run while holding the Falcons without a field goal for more than four minutes to build a 28-18 lead with six minutes remaining. The Cowboys closed the half on a defensive stand, keeping Air Force scoreless for the final two minutes to take a 35-25 lead into the break. Wyoming scored 15 first-half points off turnovers.
The teams traded 3-pointers early in the second half, and Air Force cut the deficit to 40-31 with under 17 minutes left before trimming it to seven 90 seconds later. Walker answered with a 3-pointer to make it 43-33 with 15 minutes to go.
Air Force used a 9-0 run during a stretch in which Wyoming went more than 3 1/2 minutes without a point to pull within one with nine minutes left. The Falcons later tied the game at 51-51 with 5:30 remaining after forcing six straight missed shots.
A pair of free throws by Meyer and a basket from Saadi gave Wyoming a 57-53 lead with under four minutes to play. Air Force answered with three consecutive 3-pointers from Kam Sanders to take a 62-59 lead with two minutes left.
Meyer scored with 90 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one. On the next trip, he converted an and-one to give Wyoming a 64-62 lead with 35 seconds left. The Cowboys added late free throws to close out the 66-62 win.
Sanders led Air Force with 16 points and nine rebounds, going 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Eli Robinson added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Wyoming closes its home schedule Tuesday against Nevada Wolf Pack men’s basketball at 8 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the Cowgirls.
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