Yesterday someone asked me about coming to Martinez to see the beavers and mentioned in passing that it was a great article in this issue of Outdoors California, the magazine of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. I said we did not have beavers anymore but I would introduce her to a friend in Fairfield if she wanted to visit theirs and I went hunting for the article which I knew nothing about,
I asked all my beaver buddies including the ones that hired the beaver lobbyist that pushed for the funding and they knew nothing about it either. So I wrote the editor and asked if he might share the article with me. Apparently its in the current issue because I heard from other wildlife buddies too. At the days close I had my prize. And what a prize it is. You are not going to believe this. Sit down. Back away from high windows. Put down anything sharp. Brace every part of yourself that might need bracing.
Trust me.
We Agree: Time to Embrace California Beavers
Beavers are having a well-deserved moment in the discussion around climate solutions. Healthy beaver populations improve their environment in so many ways—from reducing wildfire risks, to making water conditions more hospitable for our native salmon and trout.
In fact, humans have so admired the skilled work of beavers they have spent millions of dollars trying to replicate the benefits they create. As managers of the state’s natural resources, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is embracing the opportunity to elevate beaver restoration as part of a larger effort to help mitigate the impacts of wildfires, climate change and drought. Thanks to Governor Gavin Newsom’s leadership and the State Legislature, funding for beaver restoration is now part of our playbook, with funds approved in this year’s budget.
Are you crying yet? You will be when you have read this. My arm is turning color because I keep pinching myself over and over to see if I’m dreaming. I wish our original mom beaver was sitting here right now so I could read it to her because I never would have walked this path if it hadn’t been for her implacable courage.
The program funds dedicated scientists who, once hired by CDFW, will begin working on projects that help the environment by bringing beavers back to California rivers where they once thrived.
Beaver dams raise groundwater levels and slow water flow. Slowing down the flow allows water to pool and seep, creating riparian wetlands that support plant, wildlife and habitat growth. Another benefit of beaver dams is the rejuvenation of river habitat for salmon and aquatic insects. The dams also improve water quality because they capture sediment, resulting in clearer water downstream.
Additionally, beaver dams help keep groundwater tables high which can help mitigate drought impacts by keeping vegetation green. This effect can also help fires burn less intensely in riparian areas, which, in the long run, can aid streams and habitats in recovering from fires more quickly. These positive ecosystem benefits are especially true in areas where there are intermittent streams or where streams can disconnect. Once beavers build dams in those areas, the habitat tends to hold water more effectively and allows it to percolate into soils.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!! We’ve only been pounding this into the table over and over and over at every roomful of people who were fool enough to listen. Some rooms that were more hostile than others. How wonderful to see it trickled in through the hard cracked soil of agricultural management. Did I ever think this day would come?
Shh this is has my favorite part:
Unfortunately, beavers were eliminated from much of their range by the late 1800s due to unregulated trapping and habitat loss. Environmental scientists have tried to duplicate the effectiveness of beaver dams utilizing human-engineered structures called beaver dam analogues. Through this, we have learned that human-created beaver dams can achieve similar carbon sequestration and habitat benefits to that of real beaver dams, but at a much higher cost. Nothing’s better than the real thing, and that means bringing beavers back to their historic habitat and teaching Californians how to coexist with the scientifically named Castor canadensis.
NOTHING IS BETTER THAN THE REAL THING! Be still my heart. Do you hear that Enos Mills and Grey Owl and Hope Ryden? Do you hear that momma beaver who was brave enough to move right into the middle of town and start a family even though dad thought it was a crazy idea?
California’s next step is to expand partnerships with California native tribes, non-governmental organizations, private landowners, state and federal agencies, and restoration practitioners to lay the groundwork for implementing beaver restoration projects. The new funding will help develop a framework for these beaver relocation efforts. CDFW and its partners are looking at the feasibility of taking beavers from areas where they are causing conflict and relocating them to areas where they would have ecosystem benefits. CDFW’s new beaver restoration program allows California to advance on all these fronts—we’re continuing collaboration with partners and stakeholders, continuing to work on restoration sites where we’ve funded beaver dam analogues and continuing to lay the groundwork for re-introduction of beavers in areas where such a move will benefit the ecosystem.
And we’re going to teach people how to live with beavers. The money is for education too. I’d lead with that. It’s the most important part.
Scientists are confident that beaver restoration has the potential to be a nature-based strategy that can aid in reducing wildfire risk, mitigating drought and combating climate change. It’s another piece in the puzzle as CDFW works to implement solutions to some of our greatest environmental concerns.
Allow me to say that it was in October of 2020 that I first dreamed we could possibly even HAVE a California beaver summit and it was in September of 2011 that I really started to pay attention to the crazy idea of the fish and game saying that beavers in California weren’t Native and it was in 2007 that the city of Martinez nearly split itself at the seams to find out of a city could live with beavers and here we are today with the head of fish and wildlife writing WE AGREE! It’s way past time to Embrace Beavers!
