Report submitted to: FWR instructor Doug Ransome and Doug Wilson, Manager, Parks Department Fraser Valley Regional District, Chilliwack, BC. Submitted by: Michelle Knaggs, Stephanie Wall, Eric Brownrigg. Under Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA) mountain beavers (Aplodontia rufa rufa) are designated as a species of Special Concern, and in the province of British Columbia are a red-listed species because of its limited distribution in BC. Because little is known about the mountain beaver's habitat, the purpose of this project was to compare relative abundance of mountain beavers, using burrow counts, in young and mature forests. This study was done on Sumas Mountain, the western edge of their distribution from October 2004 to March 2005. Mountain beavers were only found in young stands. There was no evidence of mountain beaver activity in the mature stands, which suggests that mountain beavers are an early seral stage species.
