Ephrata grad brings beavers to Columbia Ridge classrooms
A 2021 Ephrata grad brought beavers, pelts and presentation materials to Columbia Ridge Elementary on Friday for a hands-on lesson in Washington's busiest engineers.
EPHRATA — Kindergarten and second graders at Columbia Ridge Elementary were introduced to Washington's busiest engineers last Friday (April 24) morning.
Jenna Riggs, a Trout Unlimited field technician and 2021 Ephrata High School graduate with a bachelor's degree in wildlife and wildlands conservation, spent a half-hour with each class explaining how beavers shape the landscape and how her crew helps them do it.
The slideshow opened with photos from Grant County and the Columbia River, showing students that the animals live practically in their backyards. Field shots documented struggling creeks, dams plugging culverts and the tools Trout Unlimited uses to help beavers and landowners coexist.
Riggs then introduced the "Douglas family" — seven beavers her crew trapped for a Douglas County farmer whose domestic water well kept freezing over due to beaver flooding. After two weeks of monitoring, the family was released into a different Douglas County creek.
The beavers moved into beaver dam "analogs" — artificial dams the crew had built to restore the creek, and raised water levels more than a foot in places, recharging groundwater and reviving creek vegetation. Riggs told students the photos show how fast beavers can turn a struggling creek around.
After the slides, students took turns handling a beaver skull with its orange incisors, pelts, plaster track casts, scat samples and a gnawed stick supplied by Riggs.
Schools or districts interested in booking a similar presentation can reach out to Trout Unlimited in Wenatchee.
