WASHINGTON — Young beavers are snacking on D.C.'s iconic cherry trees at the Tidal Basin. While the National Park Service estimated about a dozen trees have been damaged by beavers, it's not necessarily a crisis.
Mike Litterst, a spokesperson for the NPS, said rangers have seen evidence of beaver damage to the cherry trees over the past week or so. He estimates as many as 16 trees have been showing gnaw marks, missing bark and other clear signs of damage from beavers.
Litterst said it's not a new problem, and happens once or twice a year.
"Usually in the spring or the fall, as the young beavers leave the nest, as they say, and are heading out on their own," Litterst said. "Usually those transient beavers aren't looking to establish a colony at the Tidal Basin, but they're passing through on the way Potomac River... So they're just stopping to get a snack as they pass through."
He said the park service is not looking to interrupt what beavers naturally do, but they are working to make the trees a little less appetizing. Over the next week or so, you may see some protective guards and netting going up around the trees to keep the beavers from getting too snacky.
"We're not at this point looking to capture the beavers or relocate them somewhere else," he explained.
Litterst said beavers are not a cause for concern in the grand scheme of things. The number of trees damaged is less than 1% of trees around the Tidal Basin. From his perspective, it's all part of nature.
"We lose about 90 trees a year to old age and disease and other natural causes. Beavers are just part of that natural cycle," Litterst said.
Reports of the damage to the trees comes about a week after the National Cherry Blossom Festival announced plans for its 2024 celebration. The beloved celebration of spring in the District will take place from March 20 to April 14, 2024.