New Mexico had the first beaver summit, and inspired all of us to follow along behind. Now they are plowing ahead and we can watch with delight:

For the love of beavers

WildEarth Guardians believes not only in protecting the Wild–whether that means roaming wolves, tiny mussels, or beautiful landscapes–but in healing it as well. For years, our restoration program planted willow and cottonwood to help bring waterways back to their complicated and vibrant best. Now, we are partnering with the world’s second most impactful engineer, the beaver, to improve ecological function, fire and flood resiliency, and biodiversity to degraded watersheds.

If somehow you haven’t heard, beavers can be our best friend in terms of fighting the symptoms (and even the root causes) of the climate crisis.

This year, the New Mexico legislature took note of their importance and specifically directed funding toward beaver conservation. And a bi-partisan group of legislators supported a memorial to create a statewide beaver management plan. Guardians advocated tirelessly for both of those measures. But we’re not done – we’re also putting skin in the game (or our boots in the mud) to help get more beavers in beneficial places, and importantly assist New Mexicans who live with beavers, which can be tricky.

Earlier this month, we co-hosted a two-day beaver coexistence training with our partners, Beaver Institute and Rio Grande Return. Attendees came from across northern New Mexico, some representing state and federal agencies, tribes, and NGOs, to learn how to coexist with our wide-tailed friends. Led by Dr. Aaron Hall, we learned important beaver coexistence technologies including tree fencing, culvert protection, and critically, flow devices. These relatively simple but nuanced installations can all play a role in helping beavers bring benefits to a landscape, without causing damage to infrastructure like roads and acequias.

As if that wasn’t enough, the day after our training ended, we again partnered with Beaver Institute and our friends INDIGENOUS LED to host Animal Medicine: A Gathering for Relatives. We welcomed nearly 100 attendees to join us for an evening of meaningful movement, short films, and a panel discussion, featuring people who partner with beavers, bison, and wolves to heal Western landscapes.

If hard scrabble New Mexico can do it, California surely can. Right?

This was an expansive event that probed our relationships with species that have been nearly wiped out and are now slowly making a comeback throughout their native range, despite hostility and misunderstandings. How we share a future with these ecological and cultural icons is going to inform how, and maybe if, we will continue to thrive in the West. Without the beings that enliven these landscapes and literally make them work–the beaver by engineering waterways, the wolf by balancing food webs, and the bison by wlowing and carefully grazing–the West just isn’t right.

Guardians and our allies will continue to not only defend these species and push for their restoration, but we will also work with them, learn from them, and deepen our relationships with them in order to fulfill our mission.

It’s a little bit challenging to life with wolves and beavers. And a little bit challenging to live in a democracy. What we know is that its worth it.

Way worth it.