
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Wisconsin has long had mixed feelings about America’s largest rodents. Beavers have been hunted, trapped, had their dams blown up, and were generally considered to be a nuisance by many of the state’s human residents. Once hunted for their fashionable pelts, they’re now removed by the thousands across the state for a variety of reasons. Madison Parks says beaver dams could cause flooding in nearby soccer fields, golf courses and parking lots; beavers also chew trees at their base, creating potential safety hazards in public areas. Beavers have also been blamed for making streams too warm for trout.
Yet many other states welcome beavers, even importing them for their ecosystem benefits. Among other things, they create wetlands, which can act as fire breaks, reducing wildfire damage. They’re known as a keystone species, because they create habitat for many other animals. So why is Wisconsin an outlier?
Susan Lampert Smith gives us the lay of the land (and water). She wrote about Wisconsin’s fight over beaver management for Isthmus.
Read more:
Leave it to the beavers [Isthmus]
Also mentioned on the show:
Madison Public Market Open House [City of Madison]
DNR Looking to Buy Red Pine Cones [WI DNR]
Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter.
By City Cast4.4
8282 ratings
Wisconsin has long had mixed feelings about America’s largest rodents. Beavers have been hunted, trapped, had their dams blown up, and were generally considered to be a nuisance by many of the state’s human residents. Once hunted for their fashionable pelts, they’re now removed by the thousands across the state for a variety of reasons. Madison Parks says beaver dams could cause flooding in nearby soccer fields, golf courses and parking lots; beavers also chew trees at their base, creating potential safety hazards in public areas. Beavers have also been blamed for making streams too warm for trout.
Yet many other states welcome beavers, even importing them for their ecosystem benefits. Among other things, they create wetlands, which can act as fire breaks, reducing wildfire damage. They’re known as a keystone species, because they create habitat for many other animals. So why is Wisconsin an outlier?
Susan Lampert Smith gives us the lay of the land (and water). She wrote about Wisconsin’s fight over beaver management for Isthmus.
Read more:
Leave it to the beavers [Isthmus]
Also mentioned on the show:
Madison Public Market Open House [City of Madison]
DNR Looking to Buy Red Pine Cones [WI DNR]
Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter.

38,430 Listeners

11,617 Listeners

7,890 Listeners

4,113 Listeners

3,792 Listeners

12,130 Listeners

941 Listeners

16,512 Listeners

4,832 Listeners

445 Listeners

502 Listeners

271 Listeners

1,788 Listeners

156 Listeners

208 Listeners

205 Listeners

4,294 Listeners

118 Listeners

137 Listeners

118 Listeners

1,005 Listeners

79 Listeners

60 Listeners

51 Listeners

113 Listeners