{"id":569358,"date":"2026-04-07T07:22:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/569358\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T07:22:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:22:19","slug":"beavers-are-everywhere-in-denver-but-coexisting-with-them-may-prove-to-be-a-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/569358\/","title":{"rendered":"Beavers are everywhere in Denver. But coexisting with them may prove to be a struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Brandy Moe\u2019s 16 years living in Ruby Hill, she hasn\u2019t seen the neighborhood beaver \u2014 but she has seen plenty of signs of their existence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In and around Sanderson Gulch, there\u2019s obvious proof that the elusive beaver prowls the shallow waters. Felled trees, gnaw marks, and, of course, the signature dam.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Along the stretch of the Sanderson Gulch near Florida Avenue and Raritan Street, Moe said beavers have brought down an unsettling number of trees along the trail.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want them to stay around, but the destruction of the trees was ramping up really quick,\u201d Moe said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WarmA beaver dam blocks Sanderson Gulch, save for a pipe installed by Denver Parks and Rec that allows water to pass through it. March 2, 2026.Kevin J. Beaty\/Denverite<\/p>\n

While the beaver is a mostly invisible presence in Denver waterways, their impact is obvious to anyone who lives near their habitats.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, finding ways to coexist with the webbed-footed, buck-toothed dam-building rodent is a growing problem in Denver and greater Colorado \u2014 and could get harder to manage as the beaver population explodes without natural predators to get it in check.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Look closely and you\u2019ll see signs of beaver all over Denver.<\/p>\n

Beavers are mostly crepuscular \u2014 meaning they\u2019re more active at dusk and dawn. But that doesn\u2019t mean you won\u2019t be able to spot them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you want to see one, pick one of Denver\u2019s many bodies of water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A PVC pipe was installed in a beaver dam to improve water flow at Sanderson Gulch.McKenzie Lange\/CPR News\"AA tree, stripped down by beavers, lies along Sanderson Gulch.Kevin J. Beaty\/Denverite<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’ll see them in Cherry Creek, South Platte River, Sanderson Gulch, Goldsmith Gulch, Bear Creek,\u201d said Vicki Vargas-Madrid, a wildlife program manager at Denver Parks and Recreation. \u201cWherever we have water, most likely you’re going to see beaver.\u201d <\/p>\n

(Ed. note: Beaver and beavers are both interchangeable when it comes to the plural of beaver.)<\/p>\n

Once there, just walk along the river or creek until you see signs of beaver. If it looks like something has been gnawing at the base of nearby trees, you\u2019re on the right track.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dams are easy to spot, but don\u2019t expect some grand architectural feat. Unlike Mr. and Mrs. Beaver\u2019s dam in \u201cThe Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe,\u201d Denver beavers make their dams out of whatever tree is at their disposal \u2014 meaning it can often look like a pile of mud with twigs on top.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBeaver are surviving on willows and they’re surviving on elm and other types of trees that we wouldn’t think would be their primary choice,\u201d Vargas-Madrid said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WarmA beaver dam blocks Sanderson Gulch, save for a pipe installed by Denver Parks and Rec that allows water to pass through it. March 2, 2026.Kevin J. Beaty\/Denverite<\/p>\n

There are also beaver lodges, which are also built on the water but don\u2019t block waterways. Look for large mounds of mud, with sticks or branches protruding outward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vargas-Madrid said the parks department doesn\u2019t have any accurate estimates on how many beavers live in Denver, but she does know that the population is \u201cdoing good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no natural predators in the urban environment, and that is probably one of the reasons why their populations are doing so well,\u201d she said. \u201cThere’s nothing here to keep their population down, except people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denver wants to coexist with beavers<\/p>\n

Vargas-Madrid described beavers as nature\u2019s \u201cecosystem engineers.\u201d Colorado Parks and Wildlife\u2019s website says that beavers are second only to humans in terms of a species\u2019 influence over its surroundings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey provide a lot of value to creating an ecological balance to our landscape. So I try to help people understand that,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Volunteers Ken Lane, right, and Connor Plant, left, clean trash out of Sanderson Gulch to improve beaver habitat in Denver, Colo., on Tuesday, March 31, 2026.McKenzie Lange\/CPR News<\/p>\n

But beavers are often a double-edged sword. While beavers create rich ecosystems and improve water quality, they do that by felling trees for shelter and food. That creates a tenuous relationship with humans who want to maintain the tree canopy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Vargas-Madrid said stories of beavers felling an entire tree canopy are mostly myths, there are still situations like the one at Sanderson Gulch, where the city has been trying to protect the few mature trees left around the beaver\u2019s dam. There, young trees are wrapped in a crude metal cage, and some tree bases have been covered in a sand-based paint to deter beavers from chewing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn’t always work,\u201d said Emily Zeller, the volunteer and stewardship program manager at Denver Parks and Recreation, who frequently hears from residents concerned about beaver activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Emily Zeller, volunteer program manager with Denver Parks and Wildlife, plants choke cherry trees with volunteers at Sanderson Gulch in Denver, Colo., on Tuesday, March 31, 2026.McKenzie Lange\/CPR News<\/p>\n

Recently, the city is trying a different approach. Last week, neighbors and parks workers came to Sanderson Gulch to plant dozens of new tree saplings. The new trees both fortify the shoreline and provide vital tree canopy in Denver\u2019s urban heat island.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that solution is still a gamble and could take decades to pay off.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s really challenging because they want to eat everything that we put in,\u201d Zeller said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AEmily Zeller, a volunteer program manager with Denver Parks and Rec, shows off fencing set up around cottonwoods.Kevin J. Beaty\/Denverite\"AMetal fencing surrounds a cottonwood along a stretch of Sanderson Gulch in Ruby Hill, attempting to protect it from nearby beavers.Kevin J. Beaty\/Denverite<\/p>\n

And even if the current solutions don\u2019t work out, the most extreme solution \u2014 beaver relocation \u2014 isn\u2019t really something Denver officials like to consider.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be bad for the beaver, and it could be bad for the receiving party who is taking another beaver, but our primary goal is to help people coexist with wildlife,\u201d Vargas-Madrid said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The state has new guidelines on beaver management.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vargas-Madrid said beavers are a \u201chot topic\u201d in the state of Colorado. While state wildlife officials are expanding efforts to protect them, lawmakers haven\u2019t yet decided whether they will step in with even greater protections for the keystone species.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has published a new conservation and management plan for beavers, establishing a statewide framework for dealing with the large rodent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new plan responded to a call from conservationists and state officials for a \u201cmore proactive and coordinated approach to beaver conservation and management.\u201d It also aims to increase beaver populations across the state and maintain their habitats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A beaver swims in Sanderson Gulch, near Ruby Hill. March 13, 2026.Kevin J. Beaty\/Denverite<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reduction of beaver and beaver wetlands on the landscape has resulted in losses of ecological function in Colorado\u2019s watersheds, with negative ramifications for our people and ecosystems,\u201d the report said. <\/p>\n

While the management plan calls for the standardization of a relocation strategy, it places high thresholds before that can happen. It would require approval from numerous CPW staff and developing a relocation permit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, state lawmakers are also debating how to protect beavers<\/a>. One bill introduced this session would ban the killing of beavers on Colorado public lands, a concept that hunting and trapping advocates have opposed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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