on September 15 – exactly two days from now – Timberborn Early Access begins. To keep you up to date with what to expect from the game in its new incarnation, we’ll be counting down to the release date with daily previews on different aspects of our beaver city-builder.
Today, let’s look at Timberborn’s core feature, droughts, and how they affect the game’s flow and difficulty. Because you know, we’ll have different difficulty modes at launch. We were planning to add that later, but since it was often requested, we moved it up on our priority list.
Not only that, we’re giving you an option to create a custom difficulty . You can choose how many beavers you start with, how much water and food they need, how many resources they have at the beginning of the game and how long the droughts will be. If you want to, you can make it an ultimate sandbox experience, or an ultimate hardcore desert world.
No no no, you’re saying. I can hear you. Heidi made this up. She’s did some kind of graphic and now she’s pretending this is real. But she’s not. It’s totally fucking real.
It’s post-apocalypse now, which means the drought (previously: “dry season”) eventually comes. The strength of water sources on the map begins to fade and after a while, the water sources “turn off” completely while the evaporation continues. The river beds gradually dry up and with them – the surrounding areas. Fields and forests turn yellow and will wither unless you have a way of preventing that with a clever combination of dams, floodgates, irrigation towers, canals, water dumps etc.
If you do not prepare for a drought properly, you will also end up with useless pumps and water wheels, so unless there’s a lot of water in the tanks and you have alternative power sources, your population might wither too, if you catch our drift. Here’s a note for our demo players – we’re evil and we made the second drought in the demo a little too severe on purpose. That’s not what will happen to you in the normal game. Sorry, not sorry.
You would think i made this up. Especially the dialogue where the beavers reflect on the end of the stupid humans who caused a world that they could not survive. But i did not. it’s real.
The question is really getting to be, how long can you wait for another Emily Fairfax beaver update? Obviously the answer is “hardly any time at all.” And that’s good, because it’s summer vacation and we might as well keep her busy on the airways. This dropped last night.
Wild beavers play a critical role in the fight against climate change by creating wetlands that combat drought and wildfire.
Lovely! Hmm… the narrator has me a little puzzled…”Wild beavers? Do you mean “Beavers in the wild”? That epithet sounds a little like a spring break movie. Also. just to clarify, beavers do get trapped in Oregon and Washington but never mind. Oh and nobody knows how many beavers in California are depredated because no one counts. We can only count how many PERMITS are issued. Which was more than 2500 last year. Hold onto the narrative as long as you possibly can because someone eventually is going to bungle it up and blame you anyway. That’s my motto.
Anyway it’s nice to see a reminder that beavers matter to climate change and stream temperature. We need lots more of these reports every day. Thanks Emily!
Rusty Cohn, Napa beavers Mother and child
Rusty shared this photo this week and I loved it at once. Aside from being the sweetest dam moment I’ve seen on film. it also looks EXACTLY like our beavers. Sometimes beaver coloring and shading looks so different, but these are clearly kindred to our own. Enjoy!
A while ago I wrote about the Virginia writer who noticed beavers on his land, thought briefly about their friend’s comment on their value and ended up killing them anyway. Now that same writer has had a longer conversation with his friend and is really starting to think, I believe these are the conversations that everyone who loves the land needs to be having, and it makes me enormously happy to read. Maybe I’ll even send them a copy of Ben’s book.
Aerial image of the Rappahannock river above Fredericksburg, VA
A while back, I met with my friend, Bill Fletcher, to have a bite and pick up where we had left off so many years earlier. Listening to him talk about water as Rappahannock’s most precious asset, I was reminded that change happens when need and experienced-based insight converge. What follows is Bill’s thinking about what we can do next to protect what we all cherish about Rappahannock:
Tommy Bruce: When did your family come to settle in Rappahannock?
Bill Fletcher: My family has been here since the 1740’s. I remember my father telling me that generations back, our forebears came up from the Tidewater area in the summertime to get away from the malaria and mosquitoes. Over time, summer houses became family homes for the family.
Back then there were no real roads and even fewer bridges. Only ferries and low water crossings. My father said that the rivers were navigable and barges transported people and material up from Fredericksburg. In my own time I remember canoeing with my father on the Thornton River on a regular basis. That’s not possible today.
Okay now THAT’S what I would call an old-timer. Family lived in the area since 1740. I sense that in every possible other way Bill and I might hate eachother. But in this are we are of like minds. Wonderful.
Tommy Bruce: Water is a theme in your life. Is it one for Rappahannock?
Bill Fletcher: I’ve always been a bit fascinated with water. When I was 7 or 8 years old, I’d sneak out of the house and go down to one of the little streams on the property and try to build dams out of sticks, reeds and grasses. I’d wait to see how long they lasted. Not very long of course. Later in the 1980’s, a geologist told us the water levels in the 1700’s was maybe two or three feet higher on the Thornton River. That made me curious about where all the water had gone. Since then, I’ve talked to various experts.
Tommy Bruce: So, what is the situation today?
Bill Fletcher: Well, I can tell you what is happening on my land. The old artesian well, down at what we call the Jail House, was drilled in 1980, and is now down 100 feet. We have had to dig additional wells to make do on the property. The challenge these days is… we need to retain water on the land for the good of our lands, but also to build up our aquifers. I’ve been trying to find out the depth of our wells relative sea level. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any records tracking the replacement of wells and why it’s happening.
Let’s talk about your wells. Let’s talk about your water. Let’s talk.
Tommy Bruce: What should we do about it?
Bill Fletcher: Water is life. It is the most important thing you have in life. We can’t just sit by and watch our lands dry up. We need to envision a different future for Rappahannock County. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an old timer and I believe in the old time ways. But, we’ve got to change with the times and learn from what some of our neighbors are doing. This is just my personal opinion.
Tommy Bruce: What are you thinking?
Bill Fletcher: Rappahannock is about water. So, we need to think about ways to slow down the flow of water away from our county. If the water stays longer on our lands, it’s good for the soil, vegetation, the wildlife and will help reverse the very real depletion or our aquifers. If we do nothing, we’re going to be the first ones to dry up.
Tommy Bruce: What do you mean, “be the first”. Who else would be affected?
Bill Fletcher: We are the headwaters for everything east of us, downstream all the way to the Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation also tells us our waters help carry the silt and pollutants that are now affecting the health of the Bay. So, we need our aquifers to remain plentiful and flowing at a more appropriate rate. That’s where my idea about bringing back beaver dams and what they call Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs). This is where Rappahannock could actually set itself apart and be more beneficial to our citizens, our state and our nation.
Oh Bill. I’m liking where the water and the Chesapeake is taking you. Stay in that stream and lets flow together.
Tommy Bruce: So, how can BDAs help landowners in Rappahannock?
Bill Fletcher: I learned that there are four things beaver dams and the analogs can do for us. First, they slow the flow of water and mitigate flooding damages. They filter sediment which cleans the soil and allows the water to sink in to replenish the water table. They help the wildlife habitat. Fourth, dams help increase vegetation. Also, keep in mind what they call pollutants we call fertilizers. When the ponds overflow, the sediment –to which the pollutants are attached- is then deposited on the ground thereby improving it.
Tommy Bruce: But I seem to remember you liked to blow up beaver dams?
Bill Fletcher: Let me tell you a story. When I was 10 years old, the beavers would build dams on the best crop land we had at Montpelier. When the flooding got to a certain level, my father would tell Ollie Dodson to go down and blow them up and I would go with him. It was a tremendous amount of fun. I loved loud noises. All these years later, I took a friend of mine, who happens to be an avid hunter, down to these same fields where beavers had again been hard at work. The place was transformed and wildlife has come back. We saw a big brunch of turkeys in the field and then 30 feet away, we came upon 20 or so deer and then we drove a little further and a bunch of ducks came up on the pond as geese flew off another pond. I realized this place had become excellent hunting grounds. Now, I rent land on Thornton Hill and Miller farm for hunting and get more money that way than I did from using or renting it for cattle grazing.
Sure it’s fun to blow things up when you’re 10, but it’s also damn fun to see the wildlife come back to an area and realize you’re sitting on a hunting gold mine. Let the rodent do the work. Let beavers be beavers.
Tommy Bruce: When did you really start to think differently about all of this?
Bill Fletcher: My “aha moment” came last year when I went to see my daughter who lives on the Miller farm. We had put up a dam to create a small one acre pond. The beavers had gotten into it and repaired the pond to a certain extent, and expanded it by three or four times. I thought it was really pretty and might be good for both farming and the natural habitat. But, then my daughter pointed out that a spring she hadn’t seen before had come back. That was my “aha moment”. From that moment on, I started to explore my own ideas about what to do to slow down the flow of water away from Rappahannock. I talked to a lot of people. I met with Amy Johnson from the Smithsonian Institution who told me about all the rare orchids and birds we had. Together we’d compare notes with other land owners. I reached out to Jim Abdo to talk through my evolving thought process. He introduce me to Bill Somerlot who is an expert in the field and has helped me through the whole process of discovery. Eventually I met with John Odenkirk, an expert with fisheries and a personal friend, who lives in the County. That’s when a lot of this really started to come together for me. I then met with Bryan Hofmann, Deputy Director with Friends of the Rappahannock, who confirmed that, yes, beavers retain water on the land, something we really need to do in Rappahannock.
It’s wonderful that not I don’t recognize a single name he mentions but I know exactly what they talked about. And I talk about it all the time.
Tommy Bruce: Do you have a specific proposal you want people to think about:
Bill Fletcher: In a nutshell, I think we should get some grants together to plan how to bring the beaver back and deploy Beaver Dam Analogs (BDA’s) or leaky weirs to slow the flow away from our lands. Hopefully, we’d create the conditions for nature to do its thing.
Tommy Bruce: What would you like to see the state of Virginia do?
Bill Fletcher: Well, Virginia has a program, and a good one I’m sure, to fence the streams and rivers, but I don’t think fences alone will replenish our aquifers or stope the erosion down into the Bay. The State should get involved in a BDA program, and provide economic incentives to farmers who help keep and clean the water in Rappahannock. Maybe, even make water conservation a condition of land use. We also need some help with record keeping. For instance, the reports to the county on average rainfall differ by a lot. Without adequate record keeping there can’t be a reliable determination of what’s really going on.
Okay, the purists in me says you don’t need BDAs you just need to stop blowing up B’s. But I appreciate so much your peering into the light and I can understand why it’s valuable to exercise a little more control over where the B’s make themselves at home.
Tommy Bruce: At heart you are a farmer. What are the challenges for farmers in Rappahannock? What else should they consider doing with their land?
Bill Fletcher: I love the land almost as much as I love my children, but, the cost of doing business keeps going up. We don’t have Fauquier loam in Rappahannock and some of our lands have been polluted by heavy metals from coal fired plants. So, we have our challenges. We have no prime agricultural land. Besides, the cost of farming keeps rising along with the taxes that have tripled at least since the 1970’s. Actually the tax baseline is higher than the agricultural value of much of our land. We have tried everything. We tried crop land, beans, corn, wheat, oats, rye, and yeah it is crazy.
I also believe everybody should be self-sufficient. I mean, if the world goes to hell, I keep enough food and fuel and generators to run my farm for six months. It is expensive but I don’t trust the government. Everything’s a vote away from going to hell.
I’d love nothing more than to keep Rappahannock pristine and beautiful and lush. But, we’ve got all kinds of pressure now on us. I think farmers should be able to look at other uses, including solar, to keep the land as open as it is today while still making a living. Personally, I want a solar field on my farm to run my farm efficiently, energy-wise. That being said, I’m not an expert but it makes sense to look into these ideas. I think Rappahannock needs to be open to this kind of thinking.
What’s your mailing address? I think I’m sending you a book today. Keep an eye on the mailbox.
Tommy Bruce: Will it be a challenge to bring along people in the County?
Bill Fletcher: Well, I just say use your common sense. Do your own reading and check out the research being done in the US. I’d start with “Beaver dam analogues drive heterogeneous groundwater–surface water interactions” from the journal Hydrologic Processes. That piece told me a lot. Not so long ago, I didn’t know about beaver dam analogs or even the leaky weirs they’ve been using for a number of year in England and Australia. And, water seemed to be plentiful. But, all that has changed, and we need to seize the opportunity to lead the way.
Tommy Bruce: Any last thought?
Bill Fletcher: We could be the greenest county, we could have the healthiest environment, and Rappahannock could be a tremendous asset. But, our land needs to be healthy with plenty of water for farming to flourish and preserve the viewsheds we all care about. It’s a trickle down economy… just like water. If all our water goes away then all our money will go away. We’ve got to do something to stop that and bring Rappahannock back. You know me, I don’t want to change anything, but like the rest of us, I’ve got to survive. And, if the farms can’t survive, Rappahannock ,as we know it, won’t survive.
And that’s it. If the water doesn’t survive the people won’t survive. And Beavers will help you keep water on the land. And all you gotta do is stop blowing them up. That seems a fair trade doesn’t it?
When the old timers come to Beavers, I get very very happy.
Who would believe over the last ten years Lincoln has been issued the single most depredation permits for beavers? Well this story couldn’t happen to a nicer town. Great work Damion Ciotti who talked them into it and all the people who are taking credit for the idea they resisted on camera.
Another great news story from Lucy Sherriff in the BBC today. You’ll remember she’s the one that wrote the fantastic piece recently in the Smithsonian and that great one in the Sierra Club. I knew she was working on something about beavers and deserts and connected her with Carol Evans of Nevada, but this is wayy better than I expected.
Getting these beaver populations to thrive in Utah’s desert landscape has been a challenging task for Emma Doden, a masters student in translocated beaver ecology at Utah State University. Doden and several other researchers set out to reintroduce beavers to the drought and fire-stricken land. Water shortages are severe here, and much of the river ecosystem is degraded. Doden’s primary goal is to restore the quantity and quality of water in eastern Utah, whose waterways sustain an array of wildlife, riverbank vegetation and endangered fish species.
“In desert environments, water can be very limiting, but it serves as the lifeline to so many species that live out there, including livestock,” she says.
Ahh Emma Doden is getting plenty of mileage out of her beaver thesis. Let’s hope it leaves a mark.
As the world heats up and extreme weather becomes more frequent, scientists have been rushing to reintegrate beavers into struggling ecosystems and dry landscapes.
Emma’s finishing her master’s and handing the work to another beaver disciple. Good Lets keep the good news coming. All the way to California. Cue Emily Fairfax,
North America is facing an intense battle against wildfires, which raged across the American West in 2020 – including in Utah – burning 8.8 million acres (3.6 million hectares) of land, and could be even worse this year.
Beavers, some scientists believe, could provide the key to reviving watersheds and mitigating wildfire risks. In a paper published last year, Emily Fairfax found that areas where beaver dams were present were better at surviving wildfires than regions without beavers.
“I thought that beaver dams would work sometimes,” Fairfax says of the creatures’ impact on wildfire-ravaged regions. “But in every one of the sites I studied, if there was a dam, the land was protected from fire.”
Nice. Can someone please shout this from the mountain top? Now let’s hear it for Castor Fiber too.
“We do have farmers – and fishermen – who are very keen to see beavers coming back, who recognise they are great for fish and the livestock and irrigation,” Brazier says. “But there is a group who doesn’t want to see beavers back in the landscape, and one of the key things has been knowing where farmers are coming from, knowing what their concerns are, and engaging with them. It’s an ongoing process and we’re working with them to manage any negative impacts.
“It’s about learning to live with these animals again in a renewed co-existence.”
Beavers might well incur costs to landowners, but Brazier believes they can be addressed by providing adequate compensation for any flooded fields higher in the watershed. He believes it’s a small cost in comparison to that of other flooding prevention, or the value of the other benefits that beavers bring such as water quality improvement, carbon storage and enhanced biodiversity.
That’s the way with spreading the beaver gospel. First your the only one. Then there are two lone voices in the wilderness. And suddenly you can barely pick up a copy of Teen Monthly without reading another great story about how much they matter. Good.
With beaver releases happening in South Downs, Wales, Cornwall and Cheshire, across the pond in Utah, Idaho and on Indian Reservations in California, Washington and Oregon, and even more on the horizon, many more of us could soon be feeling the effects of beavers flourishing in the wild.
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd scene. Who will be writing about the good things beavers do tomorrow? I can’t wait to read all about it.
When we make the space for them to thrive, these wetland engineers support biodiversity, defend the landscape from fire and drought, and even promote carbon sequestration.
Beavers are easily underestimated. Between their big buck teeth, their strangely shaped tails and their status as a “rodent,” many people overlook their remarkable engineering skills and view them as a nuisance. Their plump, round bodies belie a tenacious work ethic that leads to the creation of wetlands and healthy riverine habitat that benefit diverse plant and animal life. The talents of humble beavers also include fighting wildfire, drought, and climate change. As we seek out “natural climate solutions” that tap into the power of nature to help mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, it’s time we recognize beavers as curators of biodiversity, protectors of the water, and climate allies.
Ohh I’m going to like this article. You are too. Settle in. Jenny Sherry went to beaver con 2 years ago. Looks like she learned a lot.
In today’s drying landscapes, climate-exacerbated hazards like wildfire and drought are ravaging the West—making the region less hospitable to people and animals. Western wetlands have been reduced to just two percent of the land surface, while supporting around 80 percent of the area’s biodiversity. In the search for solutions, beavers are gaining a reputation as inexpensive firefighters and water storage engineers. Beavers’ dam-building capabilities can replenish a dry floodplain, similar to how a sponge soaks up water. Recent research has shown how beaver ponds support wet soils and green vegetation–even during periods of drought—that are less likely to burn during a wildfire and more capable of bouncing back afterward. Beaver-created wetlands and riparian areas can also provide refuge for animals to escape to during a fire. Given that wildfires make up 5 to 10 percent of annual global CO2 emissions each year, the lush, wet fire breaks created by beavers could also be considered for their potential to impact wildfire spread and emissions, but only if we make space for beavers to thrive across the landscape.
Maggie Creek is famous. And for a good reason.
In addition to their wildfire- and drought-mitigating capabilities, beaver-created wetlands and riparian areas promote ideal conditions for soils to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide—a major driver of climate change. Although wetlands hold an outstanding amount of carbon—storing 20 percent to 30 percent of the global soil carbon—they have been reduced to less than 8 percent of the earth’s land surface today. One recent review paper explored the relationship between beaver activity and carbon sequestration in the Northern Hemisphere and estimated that current beaver-created wetlands may be worth up to $75 million per year in greenhouse gas sequestration (depending on a variety of environmental factors). Other researchers have estimated that beaver ponds across the planet store up to 470,000 tons of carbon a year. There is much we have yet to understand about the net effect of beavers on carbon storage, but there is good reason to believe that the widespread restoration of beavers to the landscapes where they once thrived may have a beneficial impact on the global climate.
Well sure. Beavers can help climate change. What can’t they do? Do you think the governor’s reading this?
Despite the great potential of beavers to benefit human, plant, and animal life, relentless trapping still kills an untold number of beavers each year—likely in the hundreds of thousands. Too often, beavers are considered a nuisance or a resource to be exploited, with no consideration of the collateral damage that widespread beaver trapping poses to water storage, hazard mitigation, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity. Because beavers create and maintain critical wet habitats, many other animals, such as salmon, moose, songbirds, and amphibians, are impacted by their presence—or absence. With all that we’re learning about the diverse benefits of beavers, it’s clear we need to start working with—rather than against—these stewards of healthy waterways.
Listen up buddy! Did you hear that in the back? Beavers can help you if you just stop killing them for a little while. Or for good.
When we protect natural places and conserve the wildlife that makes them function, we protect the very life support systems we depend on. In order to build a safer and healthier future, governments must take bold action to defend intact, functioning ecosystems and protect at least 30 percent of our lands, freshwater systems, and oceans by 2030. This goal is about so much more than climate change mitigation—it’s about forging a new, more mutually beneficial partnership with nature. The eager beaver is ready to get to work when we are.’
I’m ready. Aren’t you ready to work with the beaver? Call on us!
What a fantastic article. NRDC is a cluster of lawyers who have been slowly picking up the beaver mantel. Looks like they’re fully committed. Good. Because we need them.
on September 15 – exactly two days from now – Timberborn Early Access begins. To keep you up to date with what to expect from the game in its new incarnation, we’ll be counting down to the release date with daily previews on different aspects of our beaver city-builder.
It’s post-apocalypse now, which means the drought (previously: “dry season”) eventually comes. The strength of water sources on the map begins to fade and after a while, the water sources “turn off” completely while the evaporation continues. The river beds gradually dry up and with them – the surrounding areas. Fields and forests turn yellow and will wither unless you have a way of preventing that with a clever combination of dams, floodgates, irrigation towers, canals, water dumps etc.
Wild beavers play a critical role in the fight against climate change by creating wetlands that combat drought and wildfire.
Tommy Bruce: Water is a theme in your life. Is it one for Rappahannock?
Tommy Bruce: So, how can BDAs help landowners in Rappahannock?
Getting these beaver populations to thrive in Utah’s desert landscape has been a challenging task for Emma Doden, a masters student in translocated beaver ecology at Utah State University. Doden and several other researchers set out to reintroduce beavers to the drought and fire-stricken land. Water shortages are severe here, and much of the river ecosystem is degraded. Doden’s primary goal is to restore the quantity and quality of water in eastern Utah, whose waterways sustain an array of wildlife, riverbank vegetation and endangered fish species.
“We do have farmers – and fishermen – who are very keen to see beavers coming back, who recognise they are great for fish and the livestock and irrigation,” Brazier says. “But there is a group who doesn’t want to see beavers back in the landscape, and one of the key things has been knowing where farmers are coming from, knowing what their concerns are, and engaging with them. It’s an ongoing process and we’re working with them to manage any negative impacts.
In today’s drying landscapes, climate-exacerbated hazards like wildfire and drought are ravaging the West—making the region less hospitable to people and animals. Western wetlands have been reduced to just two percent of the land surface, while supporting around 80 percent of the area’s biodiversity. In the search for solutions, beavers are gaining a reputation as inexpensive firefighters and water storage engineers. Beavers’ dam-building capabilities can replenish a dry floodplain, 
When we protect natural places and conserve the wildlife that makes them function, we protect the very life support systems we depend on. In order to build a safer and healthier future, governments must take bold action to defend intact, functioning ecosystems and 
