Blog: Beaver Institute News

Beaver Institute’s 2022 Annual Report is here!

Our first-ever Annual Report is here!

Introducing Loren Taylor: Ornithologist Turned Beaver Enthusiast

Hailing from the soggy bottomland hardwood forests of Kentucky, it didn’t take long to observe the magic and diversity of life found near water, even as a child.

Meet Beaver Institute’s New Executive Director – Adam Burnett

Beaver Institute is excited to introduce you to our new Executive Director – Adam Burnett!

Celebrating World Wetlands Day Today!

Why Wetlands Matter, and How They Can Be Restored Naturally. (Spoiler Alert: It’s Beavers!)

World Wetlands Day, which takes place today, February 2, aims to raise global awareness of the vital role wetlands have for people and our planet, with a call to action to save the world’s wetlands from disappearing and restore those we have degraded.

Now Headlining: The Beaver!

The past month has been a watershed (!) moment for beavers making a splash (!) in the news. From the New York Times to the LA Times to the Washington Post, beavers are front and center and burrowing (!) into the consciousness of the general public.

Reflections on summer, embracing autumn

It’s been a busy and productive summer here at the Beaver Institute. Our 2nd biennial BeaverCON held outside Baltimore, MD in June was a rousing success with 45 presenters and 200 attendees. All the presentations from the conference are now available for free on our YouTube page.

Highlighting B.I. Supporters – A Guest Blog from Animal Welfare Institute

AWI has long supported the Beaver Institute’s outstanding work. Early on, in 2009, AWI provided financial support to Beaver Solutions, a sister organization to the Beaver Institute, for the development of an educational DVD providing instruction on the manufacture and installation of pond levelers. In 2012, Beaver Solutions received a grant from AWI to fund a project to develop and install effective fishways to permit the unimpeded passage of threatened adult salmon through beaver flow devices at sites in California, Alaska, and British Columbia. In 2017, AWI provided startup funding for the development of the Beaver Institute’s website and expert training program. Later, AWI helped sponsor BeaverCON 2020.

Colorado BeaverCorps Members join forces in Gunnison National Forest

Colorado BeaverCorps members Paul Planer (RangeWorks), Alli Del Gizzi (Arable Earth), and Mark Beardsley (EcoMetrics) came together to work towards the restoration of a Stage-0 beaver wetland complex on Trail Creek in the Gunnison National Forest.

Presentation at International Conference on Ecology & Transportation

In September 2021, our President Mike Callahan presented at the 11th biennial International Conference on Ecology & Transportation (ICOET). ICOET is the foremost interdisciplinary, interagency supported conference addressing the broad range of ecological issues related to transportation systems in all modes.

Connecticut Beaver Initiative

While beavers build dams that create biodiversity and have many other benefits, sometimes these dams can cause serious flooding problems for people. When this happens the beavers are all too often killed and their dams removed. To improve this situation, the Beaver Institute Inc. is excited to announce an innovative program for the state of Connecticut to help property owners and municipalities resolve these human-beaver conflicts nonlethally.

BeaverCON 2020 Wrap Up

We were extremely fortunate that the inaugural BeaverCON 2020 east coast beaver conference was scheduled just in time to beat the Coronavirus shutdown! How wonderful the gathering of 160 international beaver experts and beaver curious seemed at the time, and how much more precious those 3 days seem during these ensuing days of pandemic social distancing!

Kids and Beavers: A Natural Match – a guest blog by Frances Backhouse

Beavers have been a huge part of my life as a freelance writer for the past decade, providing me with subject matter for a book, several magazine articles, a radio documentary and various speaking gigs. But all of those were aimed at adults. It wasn’t until a publisher invited me to write a beaver book for middle-graders that I considered reaching out to a younger audience. If I had known how fun—and rewarding—it would be, I would have done it sooner.