Description
What is Bark the Beaver Helps the Black Hills Thrive?
This is a children’s picture book the Black Hills Parks & Forests Association (BHPFA) produced with the Black Hills Area Community Foundation (BHACF) to commemorate BHPFA’s 80th anniversary and BHACF’s 20th. The story is by Eric Zimmer, a Rapid City historian and the VP of Philanthropy at BHACF. The illustrations are by Ellen Devine, an artist and designer in Anchorage, Alaska, who volunteered her artwork as a gift to the Black Hills community.
It is sold only by BHPFA. You will not find it on Amazon or in chain bookstores. It is available through this online store, BHPFA-operated visitor centers at our partner sites, and a small number of local bookstores in the Black Hills region.
The story
Bark starts out along Rapid Creek, in the middle of Rapid City, doing what beavers do. Chomp, drag, build. One night a road-painting truck rolls right over her tail and leaves her with two bright yellow stripes. The next time a family spots her on the creek, the dad calls a ranger, who decides Bark needs more room to work. The ranger crates her up and drops her at the Willow Creek Trail on the edge of the Black Elk Wilderness.
Bark gets to work. Years pass. Her dams slow the water, raise the water table, and bring back the wildflowers, the trout, and a whole list of new neighbors: a family of deer, a fox, three raccoons, and even a woodpecker. When the same family hikes back through years later, the kids spot her again by her still-yellow tail. Mom looks around at what the creek has become and says, “This is such a perfect place.” Bark, of course, knows exactly why.
The book is a kid-sized version of a real lesson. When a beaver dams a Black Hills creek, the wetland she builds restores the land and water around her. That is why rangers in the Black Hills National Forest, the National Park Service, and state wildlife agencies treat beavers as a restoration tool, not a nuisance.
Specifications
| Title | Bark the Beaver Helps the Black Hills Thrive |
|---|---|
| Author | Eric Zimmer |
| Illustrator | Ellen Devine (DevineCreativeCo.com) |
| Binding | Softcover |
| Pages | 27 |
| Edition | First edition, April 2026 |
| ISBN | 979-8-9858856-2-0 |
| Recommended age | 3+ |
| Publisher | Black Hills Parks & Forests Association and Devine Creative Co. |
Who is this for
The kid in the back seat with a national-park map on their lap. Bark gives them a character to look for the next time you pass a beaver pond, and a reason to care when they see a chewed-down aspen by the water.
The classroom teaching Black Hills ecology. Teachers and outdoor educators at our partner sites have been asking for an age-appropriate beaver story tied to local geography. The book works as a read-aloud for keystone-species lessons.
The gift buyer who wants a book with local roots. The geography is real, the cause is local, and the proceeds stay with the parks and forests in the story.
About the author and illustrator
Eric Zimmer is a historian and prize-winning author of several books on regional history. He works at the Black Hills Area Community Foundation as Vice President of Philanthropy & Special Projects. He was born and raised in Rapid City, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. This is his first children’s book.
Ellen Devine is a nature lover, illustrator, and designer in Anchorage, Alaska. She volunteered her artwork for Bark the Beaver as a gift to the Black Hills community. Her work is at DevineCreativeCo.com.
Frequently asked questions
Is this book sold anywhere else?
Not at chain retailers and not on Amazon. BHPFA is the publisher of record and the primary online seller. A small number of local Black Hills bookstores and BHPFA-partner visitor centers also stock it.
Does buying this support national parks?
Yes. BHPFA is the official nonprofit partner of Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Scotts Bluff National Monument, and Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, as well as the Black Hills National Forest and Nebraska National Forests & Grasslands. Proceeds from every purchase support environmental education and visitor services.
What’s the BHACF connection?
The book is a co-production with the Black Hills Area Community Foundation, released to commemorate BHPFA’s 80th anniversary and BHACF’s 20th. The author, Eric Zimmer, is BHACF’s VP of Philanthropy.
Are beavers actually native to the Black Hills?
Yes. North American beavers (Castor canadensis) are native to the streams of the Black Hills region. They were trapped to near-local-extinction in the 1800s during the fur trade and have re-established slowly since, with active populations now on Spearfish Creek, Rapid Creek, French Creek, and many of the smaller drainages that feed the Cheyenne River.
Why does a beaver matter to a national forest?
Beaver dams change how water moves through a watershed. The slowed water raises the water table, recharges aquifers, traps sediment, and creates wetland habitat in places that would otherwise be dry meadow. For a forest like the Black Hills National Forest, where summer streamflow is the limiting factor for trout, songbirds, and large-mammal browse, that wetland-creation work is a measurable conservation benefit.
Is the Willow Creek Trail in the book a real place?
Yes. Willow Creek Trail sits on the edge of the Black Elk Wilderness in the Black Hills National Forest. The book’s geography is grounded in real Black Hills places, including Rapid Creek through downtown Rapid City and the Willow Creek Trail relocation site.
Is there a plush to go with it?
Yes. The matching 12-inch Bark plush is sold on its own, and you can buy the book and plush together as a set for a small saving over buying them separately.
Is the book signed?
Web orders ship unsigned.
The Bark family
- Bark the Beaver 12-inch plush (sold on its own)
- Bark the Beaver book and plush set (this book and the plush together, a small saving)
