Rivers and streams, when fully connected to their floodplains, are naturally resilient systems that are increasingly part of the conversation on nature-based climate solutions. Reconnecting waterways to their floodplains improves water quality and quantity, supports biodiversity and sensitive species conservation, increases flood, drought and fire resiliency, and bolsters carbon sequestration. But, while the importance of river restoration is clear, beaver-based restoration—for example, strategic coexistence, relocation, and mimicry—remains an underutilized strategy despite ample data demonstrating its efficacy. Climate-driven disturbances are actively pushing streams into increasingly degraded states, and the window of opportunity for restoration will not stay open forever. Therefore, now is the perfect time to apply the science of beaver-based low-tech process-based stream restoration to support building climate resilience across the landscape. Not every stream will be a good candidate for beaver-based restoration, but we have the tools to know which ones are. Let us use them.

Published in Ripples in the Grande Ronde, Quarterly News from the Grande Ronde Model Watershed, Summer/Fall edition.

Examines current climate conditions and levels of public anxiety at increased drought and wildfire and the contributions beaver make to helping minimize impacts by storing water, creating complex habitat, and creating safe zones for wildlife and livestock during wildfire and afterwards.

Reducing nutrient runoff in streams is an important task to reduce algae blooms and associated environmental damage in large waterbodies. Beaver Dam Analogs (WTBDA) are an means to address this problem. These Water Tight Beaver Dam Analogs (WTBDA) present a novel approach to this technique that also aim to restore eroded seasonal creeks to perennial wetlands.

Study to gather and produce human dimensions-inclusive, basin-centralized beaver knowledge through an explorative, benefits-maximizing approach to landscape-scale BAR opportunities assessment in the Salinas River.

Jeff Burrell with the Wildlife Conservation Society with demonstrates how installing inexpensive woody debris in streams to mimic beaver dams can encourage beaver damming to mitigate the negative effects of  less snow melt summer runoff due to climate change in Montana streams.

The Beaver Trust presents a webinar on Climate Change effects on farming in Europe and how beavers can help mitigate some of the resultant drought and flood damage. 2021.

Idaho rancher, Jay Wilde, and Joe Wheaton from Utah State University use BRAT, beaver restoration assessment tool, and identified good beaver habitat to help restore Birch Creek to year-round stream flow.

Idaho rancher, Jay Wilde, partnered with Anabranch Solutions to build BDAs, and the USFS and Idaho Fish & Game to relocate beavers into Birch Creek to help restore year-round stream flow.

An Introduction to the Role of Beavers in a Warming World. Dr. Emily Fairfax’s ASWM presentation on the ability of beavers to combat climate change, such as reducing wildfire damage.

The final webinar in the ASWM-BLM Beaver Restoration Webinar Series showcases research which indicates that beavers are able to create and maintain wetlands resistant to both seasonal and multiyear droughts and that this landscape wetting and drought buffering goes on to reduce or prevent burning in wildfire. Perhaps instead of relying solely on human engineering and management to create and maintain fire?resistant landscape patches, we could benefit from beaver’s ecosystem engineering to achieve the same goals at a lower cost.

Tested how assisting beaver to create stable colonies and aggrade incised reaches of Bridge Creek could create measurable improvements in riparian and stream habitat conditions and abundance of native steelhead.

This study demonstrated that beavers actively increase the volume-to-surface area ratio of wetlands by almost 50% and that their digging of foraging channels increases average wetland perimeters by over 575%. They concluded that exclusion or removal of beavers could limit ecosystem processes and resilience.

This study examined how temperature, precipitation and beaver (Castor canadensis) activity influenced the area of open water in wetlands over a 54-year period in the mixed-wood boreal region of east-central Alberta, Canada.

The U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management blog reports that in arid, high country Oregon, a series of manmade beaver dams (Beaver Dam Analogs) have created a watery oasis.

To estimate the extent to which beaver dam building activity could provide transient water storage with a decreased snowpack.

This study reviews three literatures in an effort to evaluate the potential for beaver to adapt to and to mitigate anticipated changes in California’s higher elevation land- and waterscapes.

Impact of beavers regarding drought and wildfire in the Methow River Watershed

Study of how beaver ponds make nearby vegetation more resilient towards wildfires

Study on how beavers effect water storage and drainage in Eastern Washington

This study provides empirical evidence that beaver can influence hydrologic processes during the peak flow and low?flow periods on some streams, suggesting that beaver can create and maintain hydrologic regimes suitable for the formation and persistence of wetlands.