“The Fish and Game Commission brought seventeen beaver from Merced Friday morning to plant in this area. Glen Willingham of the Forest Service, accompanied them to the several spots picked out to put in the beaver, but most of them were too dry. Seven were planted in Lost Valley, five in Mendenhall Valley on Palomar Mt. and the other five will be taken to Pine Hills.” (Ramona Sentinel, October 21, 1949)

Why beavers? A 1947 article explains:

Beavers to the Rescue

“Every so often Soil Conservationist Lee Hunt at Julian finds a badly eroding gully that can’t be controlled economically by the Soil Conservation engineers. Sometimes it’s because there is no foundation material to hold a dam; other times the cost is more than the value of the land. Rather than see the soil and water continue to be wasted and lost it was proposed that some experimental work be tried to cheaply check the erosion and conserve water. Beavers had been observed to build dams that brought back mountain meadows and held back flood waters. But could they adapt themselves to San Diego county climate and conditions?

“In cooperation with the State Game Commission, four yearling beaver weighing about 26 pounds each were brought to Julian in March of 1945, arriving shortly before midnight. They were taken to a small stream on the Santa Ysabel Ranch that night and liberated. A light rain was falling so that by morning no trace of the ‘plant,’ as liberating beavers in a new area is called, could be noticed.

“The first few months the beaver explored the entire length of the stream, cutting only enough willows for food; living in old windfalls and log jams or burrows in the bank. As the summer approached and the stream grew smaller, the beavers began building a series of small dams. The heavy storm of December, 1945, washed out most of the dams. Part of the colony moved to a smaller tributary and began again.

“The past summer and fall they have been very active cutting large numbers of willows some eight inches in diameter or more and building numerous dams. The dams hold back thousands of gallons of valuable water, catch silt and sub-irrigate pasture land. From the amount of work it is assumed that the colony has had an increase in population so that there are now probably six to eight beavers working for conservation in the stream.

“Two other plantings were made, one in Cedar Creek and the other in Cold Creek. To date these beavers have spent most of their time exploring the stream channel for several miles to find a location that suits them. If molested by too many cattle, humans or dogs, they migrate down or up stream to a quieter location. It appears, however, that they have adapted themselves to conditions in the county and should, as the colonies grow and spread, do a tremendous amount of good in controlling erosion, run-offs and floods, reducing silting of the San Diego City’s major watersheds and in conserving water.

“Beavers are, of course, fully protected in California and no fur or tanning company would handle a beaver pelt that did not have a state-approval tag on it. Adult beavers often weigh 40 pounds or more and with their thick coat, [and] sharp, strong teeth, would be a good match for the average dog. At present we know of no natural enemies that would keep the beavers from developing colonies here. In their new homes they are tireless workers that will benefit the whole country.” (Ramona Sentinel, February 28, 1947)

Lost Valley’s beaver colony was still much in evidence in the early 1960s, when the camp was being developed. They had dams along the main creek that runs from the lake up to the Nature area. But once the camp was open, they disappeared.

Then lo and behold, early in 1980, as flooding ravaged inland Southern California, a pair of beavers re-appeared in the lake! The couple built a small den along the shore, and could often be seen swimming around. They were there all the way into May; then as summer arrived, and the flood water receded, they headed back down Agua Caliente Canyon, and were never seen again.

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