Aldo Leopold wrote wisely about the value of ecosystem health with his phrase "thinking like a mountain," and beaver habitats can help us to see and embrace that holistic view, too. Photo Credit: Rob Rich

In late May, colleagues honored the retirements of Sarah Bates and fellow NWF director Tom France. These two have made astounding contributions over many years together, and Sarah was also awarded the Arnold Bolle Award for her distinct conservation achievements. Sarah and Tom prepared a great path for the future of NWF, which Shelby Weigand (to their left) is eager to embrace as the organization's new Senior Coordinator of Riparian Connectivity. Photo Credit: Tara Castelucci

On Being a Beaver Leader

Seven years ago, when Sarah Bates came to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), conservationists around the West were just starting to (re)discover the extraordinary impact of an ordinary rodent. In Oregon, the Bridge Creek Project began publishing its series of game changing research on beaver dam analogues, which led to the first edition of the Beaver Restoration Guidebook. The next year in Washington, the Methow Beaver Project got the press that would go on to spark Ben Goldfarb’s award-winning tome, which has since converted myriad beaver believers around the globe. As the right person in the right place at the right time, Sarah was primed to help Montana take part in this growing movement. 

Now, with Sarah’s recent retirement, it is obvious how her inclusive, collaborative approach to leadership has established a remarkable legacy for beavers and people alike. Early in their longtime partnership, beaver mimicry expert Amy Chadwick could see how Sarah “not only excelled at spreading responsibility and credit, but also at setting the framework to help the whole effort to grow.” A few years later, when the Montana Beaver Working Group became ready for an institutional home, Amy was confident that Sarah had prepared the NWF to be ripe for that role. 

As NWF’s Regional Director Erin Farris-Olsen has noted, Sarah has shown us how to find common ground and meet objectives through and with each other. From pivotal summits and meetings to applied workshops and field trips, Sarah has consistently, graciously, and thoughtfully convened countless stakeholders that would not have met otherwise. And, thanks to her steady vision, we have collectively developed constructive, inspired steps towards restoring beavers in our state. Drawing on her deep background in water policy, Sarah crafted cohesive, functional beaver restoration planning strategies, not only for NWF’s internal programmatic goals, but also on the public lands and in the partnerships so vital to us all.

It is hard down to pin down a single example that captures the breadth and depth of her work, but Will McDowell of the Clark Fork Coalition sees the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Project as one of the best. Now entering its fourth year, McDowell is not shy to say that “a key reason it is succeeding in its goals is because Sarah willed it to life with relentless optimism and nurturing.” The same is true for Sarah’s work catalyzing new low-tech process-based restoration efforts with the Bureau of Land Management, which is now empowering integrated, varied contributors and galvanizing community-based support in eastern Montana and beyond.

Sarah reminds us that being a leader for beavers is less about being a solo-hero, and more about presence, patience, and curiosity. By showing up, embracing change, and actively seeking the good that comes from working together, Sarah’s approach has incrementally supported an effective community of beaver restoration practitioners. As Sarah enters this new phase of her journey, we can be thankful she has worked for beavers, and emulated the best of their benefits. Together they have provided the leadership our watersheds need, improving resilience relationship by relationship, and stick by stick.  

Registration is still open for the second, Maryland-based BeaverCON event! BeaverCON 2022 will feature a presentation on Montana's work to restore beavers and resolve conflicts, as well as panel discussions, demonstrations, and networking opportunities with the beaver community. Learn more here.

The map reflects completed beaver conflict resolution projects since 2019 and reported conflict locations, some of which are planned to be mitigated in summer of 2022. Map Credit: Clark Fork Coalition & Defenders of Wildlife.

Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Project 2021 Impact Report

Clark Fork Coalition / Defenders of Wildlife / National Wildlife Federation

June 2022

Through partnership and collaboration, the Clark Fork Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and National Wildlife Federation continue to support the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution project since efforts began in 2019. Through three seasons of work, Beaver Conflict Resolution Technician, Elissa Chott has successfully completed 30 on-the-ground projects, delivered eight hands-on workshops and reached 595 people through webinars and trainings, all of which are documented in the new 2021 Impact Report. These outstanding accomplishments are just the start of what will unfold in the coming years, and another successful field season is well underway in 2022.

This image compares species diversity for eight different taxonomic groups and the overall community at ten research sites across forest (green), river (gray), and beaver pond (blue) habitats in Germany's Bavarian Forest National Park. Transparent shading represents the 95 percent confidence intervals and solid symbols the actual sample size. Image Credit: Orazi V, Hagge J, Gossner MM, Müller J and Heurich M (2022) A Biodiversity Boost From the Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber) in Germany’s Oldest National Park. Front. Ecol. Evol. 10:873307. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2022.873307

A Biodiversity Boost from the Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber) in Germany's Oldest National Park

Valerio Orazi, Jonas Hagge, et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

May 13, 2022

We spend a lot of time thinking about the interaction of beavers and fish, but beavers' connections to other animals are no less significant. Given the appeal of freshwater to diverse terrestrial and aquatic species — and the threatened state of these ecosystems across the globe — researchers in Germany set out to provide a comprehensive assessment of the beaver's impact on the health of a range of wildlife. Their insights add merit and depth to the outsized impact of beavers, and you can check out the full results here. 

A caged black cottonwood, protected with welded wire fencing by the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Project. Photo Credit: Elissa Chott

Relative Effectiveness of Four Different Guards in Preventing Beaver Cutting of Urban Trees

Cherie Westbrook and Kirby England, Environmental Management

May 9, 2022

While denying beavers their dietary staples may diminish their benefits in riparian habitat, there are times when special trees may be worthy of protection. Perhaps a stout trunk is affixed with a wood duck nest box to accommodate lacking snags on the landscape, or maybe a cluster of sprouting aspens would benefit from a few years regeneration before they can offer more benefits to beavers and other creatures. As a nonlethal tool that can broker a middle ground among complicated values and conditions, caging can be a promising solution. While the practice may appear simple, its effectiveness has been understudied, and the materials and methods used do matter. Check out this new paper to learn more about what works well and why. 

Can Beavers Save Salmon in Oregon's High Desert?

Oregon Public Broadcasting / NPR

May 3, 2022

A lot has changed since Oregon Public Broadcasting's Field Guide video series first visited the Bridge Creek Project in 2009. More beaver dam analogues have been installed, more beavers have returned to extend the effort, and many, many more fish are thriving in the recovering habitat. Along the way, the scientists exploring these impacts have published paradigm-changing science, and a bona fide beaver movement has taken hold. Oregon Public Broadcasting recently revisited Bridge Creek with their film team for an update, and their new video offers strong proof of the value of long-term ecological research, and the promise beavers pose for multi-faceted, enduring watershed restoration. Check out the video - and additional audio coverage from NPR's Short Wave program here.  

We Don't Deserve Beavers

Isobel Whitcomb, Sierra

April 30, 2022

Montana is known for its big skies, wide open spaces, and...the Berkeley Pit, which is part of one of the United States' largest Superfund sites. While heavy metal contamination at this site and major pollutants elsewhere in the state have left a toxic legacy, restoring beavers and the natural watershed processes they support can help us heal. That's a recovery story that's been advancing with leaders like the Clark Fork Coalition and the Big Hole Watershed Committee, which is increasingly backed by the best available science. To learn more, check out this new article from Sierra on the beneficial services beavers provide for remediating mine damage. And for applications in our state, you might wish to review this 2021 presentation on "Beaver Ponds as Catchment-Wide Retention Basins for Heavy Metals Sequestration" from Montana Tech's Carly Peach. 

This image compares riverscape feedback cycles with increased global temperature. Phase 1 indicates processes that are initiated by warming global temperatures and lead to either degradation or resilience. Phase 2 indicates processes that occur once riverscapes have already reached a degraded or resilient state. Left: Cycle of increasing riverscape degradation occurring without beaver or beaver mimicry. Right: Cycle of maintained riverscape resilience that can be achieved by partnering with beaver and utilizing beaver-based designs. Image Credit: Fairfax, E and Jordan, C. (2022) Beaver: The North American freshwater climate action plan. WIREs Water. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1592

Beaver: The North American Freshwater Climate Action Plan

Chris E. Jordan and Emily Fairfax, WIREs Water

April 28, 2022

It may seem trite to say that beavers are a key part of a national climate action plan, but the reality is that they are a force of 15-40 million highly skilled environmental engineers. We cannot afford to work against them any longer; we need to work with them." So say the authors in their introduction to their comprehensive, applied, and strategic paper on the vital role of beavers and beaver-shaped processes in North American watersheds. With clear, compelling evidence and rationales for healing our freshwater ecosystems, this is a paper worth reading, sharing, and putting into practice.

Water 4 Accomplishments 2021

Intermountain West Joint Venture

April 2022

According to Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV), wet meadows on irrigated land comprise 62 percent of the wetlands in snowpack-driven systems of the Intermountain West. Recognizing the multiple, vital benefits that these places offer to people and wildlife, IWJV launched Water 4, an initiative that has been on the cutting edge of conservation science and collaboration since 2019. Beaver and beaver mimicry processes are core elements in Water 4's restoration toolbox. To learn more about the impacts that Water 4 is having around the West, check out their latest report.

America The Beautiful Challenge (Grant Opportunity)

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Full Proposal Due July 21, 2022

The America the Beautiful Challenge is a public-private grant program for locally led ecosystem restoration projects that invest in watershed restoration, resilience, equitable access, workforce development, corridors and connectivity, and collaborative conservation, consistent with the America the Beautiful Initiative." Proposals are due July 21, 2022 and the full Request for Proposals can be found here. 

Author Ben Goldfarb recently accompanied researcher Joe Wheaton on a visit to some incredible beaver wetland complexes in Idaho and Utah, made all the more beautiful by the surge of spring. These sites provide stunning examples that highlight how the return of beavers can expand and enhance the watershed benefits initiated with low-tech process-based restoration. Replete with terraced ingenuity and a sandhill crane nesting atop one of the dams, these two photos provide a mere hint of the hydrological wonders and biodiversity benefits that beavers have created in an arid western landscape. For insightful observations (including the beavers' role in algal cycling and cutthroat spawning habitat) and more gorgeous photos from Ben's foray, check out his full Twitter thread here. Image Credit: Ben Goldfarb