Friends and professional associates of the "Beaver Woman" Dorothy Richards created Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife (BWW), a 501 C3 educational nonprofit, upon her death in 1985 to carry on her work as a wildlife advocate and environmentalist. Dorothy Richards studied beavers for fifty years at Beaversprite Sanctuary, and spent decades enlightening the public about the species (a photo of her is to the right.)
Mrs. Richards first became intrigued with beavers after reading Pilgrims of the Wild. It was written by Grey Owl, who is called the "first modern conservationist" because of his pioneering work to save beavers and wilderness. (The fine Richard Attenborough movie Grey Owl is available on VHS starring Pierce Brosnan, and a book about him can also be found on BWW's catalog.)
Hope Sawyer Buyukmihci, founder of 540-acre Unexpected Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey and co-author with Mrs. Richards of Beaversprite, My Years Building an Animal Sanctuary,was a founding member of our Advisory Board. She had founded Beaver Defenders, the world's first major beaver organization in 1970. In 1997, Hope merged her members with BWW and began to write a column for BWW's newsletter. Some of Mrs. Buyukmihci's books are available from BWW's catalog.
Originally called Friends of Beaversprite, our first project was to finish Mrs. Richards' reform of the mangement of 1400-acre Beaversprite Sanctuary, also called Florence Reineman Wildlife Sanctuary (After Dorothy donated her sanctuary to the Erdman Trust she was distressed by reports of management abuses.) We succeeded to the extent that a local manager and Philadelphia management company were ousted.
During the first 10 years, BWW grew from being a watchdog over a New
York sanctuary to becoming a recognized authority on the beaver,
Castor canadensis, the keystone species
of North America's wetlands.
For over a decade, BWW has researched specific solutions to beaver/human conflicts. We consult by phone, assess sites, give programs on "Living with Beavers" to communities with problems and to highway superintendents, and have literature and videos on overcoming conflicts available.
Scientific information provided by BWW has also stopped anti-beaver legislation in several states, and such harmful efforts are increasingly being replaced by lasting, environmentally sound solutions. BWW leaders Owen J. Brown, Ph.D. and biologist Sharon T. Brown, M.A. took a giant inflated beaver to Albany, N.Y. to symbolize the enormous importance of the beaver to the ecology.
We seek to expand our work, and currently do consulting both in the U. S. and in Canada, where the beaver is the national mammal .