About
Beaver Leavers owner/operator Justin Jendza grew up in the St. Clair River Delta in southeastern Michigan where he learned to canoe, sail, hunt, fish and pick leeches off from a young age in abominable weather without proper gear. That start guided him westward to Yosemite National Park where he spent the next fifteen years building backcountry trails and custom homes in El Portal, California between exploring the fractured wetlands of the Central Valley and running the peaks of the High Sierra.
After many years of operating machinery and running crews building mountain bike and hiking trails all over the U.S., he united his abiding interest in wetlands and construction by taking a professional development course through the Beaver Institute in 2020. He currently splits his time between Harsens Island, Michigan and Lake Tahoe, California. |
Beavers are the only species that rival humans in their capacity to drastically alter landscapesThis historical map (above) from the now famous The American Beaver and His Works by Lewis Henry Morgan recorded the sites of beaver dams near Ishpeming, MI in 1868. A 2015 study (below) found that many of these dams were still visible on the landscape and some of the ponds were still in use. Talk about staying power!
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