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Living with Beavers

Industrious beavers and  humans share common ground: an innate desire to shape landscapes, not merely as architects of shelter but as providers for their respective communities. 

Image of a mountain wetland ecosystem with a beaver dam.

In a dry corner of the western United States, the Yurok tribe has been working to revive the Klamath River Basin through habitat restoration and encouraging beavers to return to the land by building dam analogs. And it’s working like a charm.

This is an illustration of a river running through a passage lined with green trees. There is a dam analogue placed across the river to encourage beavers to come build a dam on that river and support the stream system.

According to Roger Boulby, Yurok Watershed Restorationist,


“The first beaver pond we built was five years ago, and we saw that their presence helped with the fish populations. And so last summer we built another analogue, and now we’ve put in a few of them. They’ve changed the landscape into this lush environment, which is great for the fish. This little creek is now this huge, deep body of water.”

Despite the success of the project, beavers are still categorized as a detrimental species in California and only recently escaped the label of “predator” on private lands in Oregon. Because of this, efforts surrounding their prioritization have only been able to go so far. While challenges remain, Yurok Tribe biologist Sarah Beesley is proud of the way Tribal Nations are breaking down barriers and leading with solutions to work alongside natural efforts of wildlife and the land. 

On the Smith Family Farm in northeast Nevada, beavers and Horace Smith antagonized one another for years over disagreements on what areas to flood or leave dry. But when Horace’s son, Agee took over, a chance emerged for a new beginning. ​One of the biggest problems the Smith family faced was during spring snow melt when the edges of beaver dams came apart. This sent sediments into the Smiths’ hayfields, which caused issues for the crop, but Agee wanted to find a way to coexist.

 

He began to keep his cattle away from the edges of the creeks where beavers lived allowing vegetation to grow which stabilized the area. The next time the spring snowmelt arrived, the stronger dam edges held firm, giving way only at the center ensuring the rush of additional water stayed in the creek rather than spreading to the hayfield. 

 

With this new season of peace established, beavers expanded the wetland landscape surrounding the creek. The water stayed clean, and animals like fish and frogs returned in celebration. Agee’s farm flourished, too, thanks to the beavers’ help with copious water storage throughout Nevada’s dry summers, even significant droughts. Despite the historic relationship of farmers at odds with beavers, many today are finding a way to coexist and help each other.

Case Study: The Smith Family Farm

Tools of Peace

Solutions like culverts became a popular choice among builders and engineers for managing flooding and erosion. They provide a way for water to flow underneath roads, railways and other structures. But when a beaver spies water running swiftly through an opening in the landscape, they see their next DIY project. A determined beaver colony will quickly pack a culvert’s entrance. Just asking the beavers to move won’t do the trick – most will either find their way back  or become replaced by another crew. That is, until the beavers met their (humane) match: the Beaver Deceiver. ​

This is an illustration of a Beaver Deceiver, which is a way of protecting specific zones of human development from the damming efforts of beavers by building out a protective cage around it that beavers can dam up instead. It keeps the human infrastructure, such as a drainage culvert, open and flowing with water, while also satisfying the beaver's need to stop rushing water. The illustration shows blue water and a very green shore surrounding a grey culvert structure.

Beaver Deceivers,

a flow-through structure, strategically built at an angle, allow beavers to enthusiastically dam nearby without obstructing water drainage through a culvert.

This is an illustration of a green deciduous tree with a brown trunk and branches. The tree is surrounding by a small fence at the base of its trunk to protect it from being chewed by beavers.

A tree with metal fencing circling its trunk to keep hungry beavers from getting too close​

When beavers and humans disagree which trees ought to be chewed today or cherished for years to come, fencing or painting can be viable solutions. A special formula of sand plus exterior latex paint [4] can be applied to the lower portion of trees. The sand’s grit and weird taste of the paint has been shown to help beavers adapt their behavior and choose different varieties or sections of trees to gnaw. 

This is an illustration of a tall birch tree with white bark and yellow leaves. The base of the tree has been painted with purple paint to protect it from beavers chewing it down.

A tree painted at the base of the trunk to deter beavers from gnawing

Beavers aren’t always the easiest coworkers to manage, but they can still bring incredibly beneficial changes to the landscape.  After all,

“Diversity can sometimes look messy if one doesn't understand the underlying patterns, and beavers are great at creating beautiful messes! Not only do beavers create lots of different water and soil conditions, but they also keep changing those conditions to create a dynamic mess that promotes the thriving of a multitude of plant species instead of a few or even just invasives.”
 
Jefferson Jacobs 
Riparian Restoration Manager for the Oregon Natural Desert Association

At this point, You've learned about the challenges beavers faced over the past few centuries and you've heard a few inspiring accounts of what collaborating with them could look like.

 

But let's not stop there. It's time to take action.

Are you ready to change the world, beaver-style?

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