Al was a graduate of the first class of the New York State College of Forestry in Syracuse and a veteran of World War I.

[7][3][8] At the time, New York State was making efforts to restore the North American beaver population in the Adirondacks, which had nearly been extirpated due to overtrapping.

[9] A college friend of Al's was involved with finding suitable places to release beavers, and during a visit to the cottage declared the area ideal.

[10] Al made a request in 1935 to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to release a pair of beavers on a creek near the Richards' cottage, which was approved.

[9] Initially waylaid by business concerns, Dorothy later became fascinated by the pair, whom she named Samson and Delilah ("Lilah").

[17] The Richards began purchasing adjacent land to establish a nature sanctuary, initially using borrowed funds.

[18][9] This was not entirely welcomed by their neighbors; the Richards had to replace their "No Hunting" signs with metal ones after paper ones were shot full of holes.

She wanted more extensive first-hand experience, so in 1943 she asked the Department of Environmental Conservation for permission to keep beavers in her home.

[28] The outdoor beavers did not appear to hold a grudge after their children were taken, nor after two more kits were taken by Al's college friend to stock a reserve elsewhere.

[31] The new pool was accessible from the basement, and a windowed panel in the living room allowed the Richards and their visitors to view it.

CBS aired a documentary on Beaversprite in 1972,[3] and Dorothy later appeared on NBC's Real People[8] and in the National Wildlife Federation's Ranger Rick magazine.

[37] In 1966, Dorothy donated her home and 900 acres of land to the Florence Waring Erdman Trust, a Philadelphia-based sponsor of wildlife sanctuaries.

[7] Watkins, who was an avid hunter and author of a book titled "Guide to Adirondack Deer Hunting", was disliked by animal rights advocates at the sanctuary.

[7][39] Around 2005, the sanctuary was still owned by the Erdman Trust and used by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry for studies of the American beaver.